I was seriously ill since the age of 17. I had an EEG at age 17 following a neuro-psych trauma which I didn't understand. It rendered me very ill. Since I was a minor, my mother met with the neurologist and I got things 2nd hand. My mother told me the results were "normal, with one lead off". That was a lie. She couldn't explain. About every 8 years, I would descend into a deep depression and would seek an intervention. Public mental health, phd psychologists, psychiatrists and even another neurologist who said my blinding migraine auras were not harmful and he had "bigger fish to fry." At age 56 I had my own EEG and it showed I had significant pathology in my temporal lobe consistent with a history of epileptic seizure. In spite of having recently taken an early retirement from a decent job, I was told I was disabled and given SSDI until I was 65. I had found a case history in a neuro research journal which identified the etiology of my illness, but none of those mental health professional recognized the fact I was epileptic. And it is more complicated because I guess I could be diagnosed with a neuro-psychiatric illness where my childhood abuse rendered me vulnerable to seizures. I don't see a psychiatrist anymore. When I told my last one I thought I had discovered the origins of my illness and I wanted an EEG, he said "Go ahead and get one, I don't care." I did, and that was the last time I saw him. In my opinion, mental health care is the biggest fraud in this country. ECT works, but they don't know why. Therapists are like a bunch of starving artists looking for a paycheck. About all a good one can give you is empathy, and I can't afford it. Psychiatry is the triage ward of neurology. If they don't know what's wrong with you, they send you to psychiatry where they don't care what's wrong with you. They throw darts at the medication board until they come up with a med or combo of meds that make you feel a little bit better. That's all they intend to do for you. Based on the meds that work, they may even give you a diagnosis. Then they remind the administration that they are doing valuable work for society and are worth every penny they charge because they are keeping tabs on the insane. People who are twice hospitalized are at a much higher risk of suicide, because they have come to realize the man behind the curtain doesn't have any answers. My primary care prescribes an SSRI. That, in conjunction with the understanding I acquired through my own research into my mental health and neurological symptoms is sufficient to keep me on track to exceed my life's expectancy.