Do you have a treatment plan???

I was wondering if anyone has a treatment plan. If you do, did you do this with your pdoc or tdoc, family or on your own?

I'm slowly working on one kind of - currently doing it on my own for my boyfriend to help him out because he goes into a panic when I have an episode and can't tell him what I need. Maybe once I get my version done he'll update it and will work on it together more.. but I need to get it done ><

I have a crisis plan, but as far as a treatment plan, I think once I find a good p-doc, I can get together with my T and the doc and make sure everyone is on the same page.

My boyfriend's crisis plan currently: cuddles

We both have trouble picking up when the line has been crossed and that I should go see a professional/go to emergency. Then again, with the **** public hospitals it makes it harder to want to go there for help.

My psychiatrist and psychologist work together in a Case Management system so they both work with my on my care plan. But I also see another psychologist and we tend to free-wheel a lot more, in a more "organic" way and the mix of all of it work well for me - it took ages to get that balance. And now I'm moving to another town so I'll have to start again!!

Wendy, why do you see two different psychologists?

Anne, I am very isolated as my immediate and extended family are not in my life, some through their rejection and stigmatisation of me because of my mental illness, and some whom I've had to turn away as they won't get help for their own addictions or mental illness. So I'm going through a period where, aside from one friend who lives far away (friends have gone too for the same reasons), it is largely my GP, the mental health professionals and to a lesser extent AA (it's very insular where I live and there's no contact with me outside the meetings, which is very different from where I got sober where there is a thriving social life) that I have contact and support with.

I chose to pay for a private psychologist as well as the public psychologist (both are excellent but have different approaches and skill sets) so that when one isn't available I see the other and they really do complement each other.

But the real over-arching reason is that I nearly died at my own hand (5 day coma, many medical interventions to save my life) two years ago in a 100% serious attempt (not a "cry for help" or a "call for attention"). So seeing two psychologists is part of my risk management strategy to get as much support as possible so I don't go down that path again and to get the best mental health possible for me. And it is a very real risk. I came to the town I am in 20 months ago and found my new psychiatrist who quickly established that I should NEVER EVER have been on SSRI's and that, in addition to my illnesses themselves, made me suicidal daily, for years, before I actually made the attempt - 3 months before I moved here.

Had he not made that discovery and taken mr off SSRI's I'd be long dead now. I have improved but I can plunge into suicidal thinking very easliy, partially due to the residual psychiatric effects of the SSRI's and also because this whole scenario ripped my life apart from end to end, I will never realise the potential and the great career I had had for 14 years, the financial losses are staggering, all my child bearing years have been chewed up. So the two psychologists are part of my desperate daily effort to have some sort of a life. Long answer, sorry.

My treatment plan cost me $70k+; 63 days in a private psychiatric hospital!

Did it help?

I am currently working on a treatment plan because I recently had a meltdown during which several issues came up that I did not know how to deal with. Like what is the emergency number my Pdoc wants me to call after hours or weekends when I am in crisis. What does the Pdoc want me to do if I can not get through to his office (called 5 times) during office hours during my crisis. What to do when my normal phone support system is not available. Plus, I decided to keep these numbers in my wallet with some steps or techniques that I can take. For example, I ended up having a full panic attack at work and it didnt occur to me at the time I could take some medication to help calm me, maybe if I had a list I can refer to the list instead of allowing my mind to spin out of control.

Nothing in writing, but definitely have a protocol in place with my t and my pdoc. Call them. Call them. Call them. That about sums in up.

Actually, since my husband and I both have bipolar disorder, we have really worked to define and recognize symptoms in the early stages of problems and be as proactive as possible. I can call my t first, but the first words out of his mouth are always to call my pdoc. He's my Yoda. Whatever Yoda says, I do. Sometimes it's let's give it a few days. Sometimes it's a med change. Sometimes it's the hospital.

I"m newly diagnoise to biploar disorder,

I guess this is sort of like my treatment plan, never labled it such, I am currently on no medications (I find it very hard to stick to them and I'm needing to do so) I go to T every two weeks, we track my moods with mood charts, and discuss if I've had any big mood swings, and what could have triggered that, if I'm severly manic or sevely low, I have a support system and a friend that I could call for help aka my "saftey" buddy as T puts it. I"m working on finding a pdoc that I will work well with and to start medication, I've also found regular exercise to help stablize my moods.

trose, you've just prompted me to do something. As I mentioned I have this excellent psych team in place, which took a lot of work and self-advocacy to attain. So now, of course I'm leaving to go to another towen and I'll have to start again. I'll be confused and disoriented, so while I journal and keep a lot of stuff in my PC, I am also going to use your strategy of putting the key numbers and contact details (and the hours I can call any of them) i my wallet too. Excellent idea.

I am just getting started in the CCS (Comprehensive Community Service) program here in Wisconsin, and we just did a treatment plan. The program is great; they help you find ways to meet your goals and don't push you to go further or faster than you think you can. I'm looking forward to starting the peer support program, where someone who also has a mental illness but is doing really well (and has been through a training program) will come over to visit with me, or take me out into the community, or help me find support groups. I did the treatment plan with a social worker, a mental health consumer advocate, and a treatment plan supervisor. They will also stay in contact with my pdoc and my therapist (I'll be starting therapy next month).

Anyhow, we set up my goals, what steps I will take to try to achieve them, a crisis plan, what my first objectives will be in therapy, changing to a new pdoc (the consumer advocate is going with me so I won't be scared to tell him), what coping skills I will use when I'm stressed or overwhelmed, who I will contact for support, and what my barriers might be and how we will deal with those if/when they come up. Very detailed!