question

Ok I'm needing to find out some info on inpatient care. My family and some of the doctors that I have been to have told me that I need to check myself into a hospital to get the care that I need. I'm scared to go cause it will be out of town. There is nowhere that treats panic disorder and depression around my town. My big thing is being away from my kids for a long period of time. And with things going the way they are in my marriage I'm afraid my husband will use that against me and file for divorce while I'm gone and take my kids from me. And my finacial situation is not very good either. Are there any programs you can go through?

Did you ask the doctor why he thinks you need to be inpatient? For anxiety and depression one is usually started on meds and maybe therapy, unless they feel you are a danger to yourself or others. If you are feeling suicidal then you do need to be hospitalized, and the sooner you get help the better.

Could you have your husband speak with your doctor to reassure him that if you start getting help, you will improve? If your husband isn't supportive of you then perhaps talk with your family, make plans for them to take care of your kids or at least stop in to visit them as often as possible while you are gone. That's assuming you need to be gone, if you aren't a danger to yourself or others then I don't understand why they want to hospitalize you?

If you are hospitalized they often have programs to get the family involved, so your husband and children or other family members can do that. Don't be embarrassed because you have a mental health issue, it's just like having a physical problem. You wouldn't be embarrassed (or worried about your husband taking the kids from you) if you had appendicitis or cancer or some other physical illness that required hospitalization.

Try fixing one thing at a time or you will overwhelm yourself. Start with YOU. If you aren't taking care of yourself then you won't be able to take care of your kids, or deal with money problems or potential marital problems.

As for finding in hospital treatment, I would think your doctor would have that information. Otherwise call your local mental health clinic or look in the phone book for NAMI (google it) and call them for help.

I have been through so many medicines and every doctor I go to treats me for a while and then tells me there is nothing they can do for me anymore. And I do have my bad thoughts. The only thing than keeps me from doing that is my kids. The doctors tell me they have ran out of options.

I know how scary it can be to be hospitalized, but for many of us it was the best thing that happened to us. It allows the treatment team to see your behaviors much more completely. They can see more in three days of in treatment then they would in months or even years in a weekly or bi-weekly therapy process. If you think about an hour a week every week it would take 72 weeks to observe the same amount of behavior in a therapy process. This way they can also monitor the effects medicine are having first hand. It really can be a very effective way of assessing and treating chronic and acute cases. I know those days I spent in were worth it for me. Good luck and make the best choice for the big picture for you and your loved ones, whether that is hospitalization or therapy.

Thank you. I'm looking into both. I've been looking through the internet.

Try here, angie: http://www.namitexas.org/

Thank you I will look that up.

http://www.nmha.org/go/help/finding-...tial-treatment

Thank you I will look that up.

Angie, I am hoping the best for you!! I think everyone else has given you great advice and avenues to pursue.

I have no personal experience with inpatient care.

Thank you.....

HI ! I was inpatient for panic/agoraphobia. It was the hardest, longest, most frustrating, lonely, fullfilling, refreshing, rejuvenating time of my life. I went inpatient because I lived so far from a specialist who deals only with PAD, and could not at the time travel back and forth to see him and this assistants - known as In Vivo Therapists. I was started on a medication, and had daily sessions with the therapists. I posted a long response in a thread about agoraphobia that might give you some insight into what worked for me. I am now an In Vivo Therapist, and have worked with panic/anxiety/agoraphobia clients for over 17 years. THERE IS LIFE AFTER PANIC! You CAN get better........its hard work, and you have to "feel the fear and do it anyway" to get better.

I have not been around the boards much lately, but plan to check in often. Feel free to contact me and I will help in anyway I can.

Ok thank you. You have given me a lot to think about. And I will look up your post and if I can think of anything I will pm you.