How many times have you gone to IP?

2x longest stay 10 days.

IP twice, once at age 12 for 24 days, and again at age 13 for 24 days, and 1 time PHP age 24 for 21 days, and age 24 on a crisis residential unit (voluntary program by my counties crisis center) for 6 days.

twice in one episode. 6 days in, 6 days home, 6 days back in...like others, there were at least a couple of times I should have gone, the first time I didn't use the magic S word and they didn't admit me...the second time my drs were able to see me several times a week outpatient for the two weeks it took my meds to kick in. I had supervision at home as well that time too.

5 times. Longest stay 14 days which is a really long stay on the mood disorders unit I go to. Average there is 5-7 days. I've been in 14 days twice. The last one was planned to be about that long though due to a complicated med change. My unit also doesn't seem to get a lot of people who have been in there so many times but most of the patients have depression, not bipolar and that probably makes a difference as many of them are newly diagnosed and just need to get on a med that is working and then they go home.

I've been in 8 times during the 22 years I've been diagnosed. It's pretty tough to talk about.

If you really are in crisis and need to go, the last thing you're thinking about is costs because your life may be at risk. IP twice, IOP/PHP 3 times

Excellent point Gina.

8, i think. (or is it 9)

my longest time is 1 month and a half (the end of november, and the whole of december)

but then i say **** christmas anyway. it sucks

think my shortest time was maybe back in april of this year, i went in because i'd tried to kill myself- and was only their for about a day

5-6 times in the past 11 years between ages 18-29. Always five days and if I didn't have insurance, they would sign me up for Medicaid and it at least covered my whole stay up to 2 weeks after release. Now I have full Medicaid though. It's not that bad like people are saying. Depending on where you go, it could be a positive experience and should be if you care about your own health. You have to do the work in there to get better.

I've been in once where I got diagnosed and it was awful, I never want to go back.

That's a good point, gina.

I've gone 4 times in the last year, each time was only about 3 days though. My experience was good but I'd like to not go back

Once. I was on medicaid from having my son, and they labeled it as ppd so medicaid covered it as part of birth complications.
I probably should have gone 3 times i can specifically think of, but was too stubborn to.

I dont remember much of it because i was soooo drugged. I remember thinking it was a lot nicer being there able to sleep rather than home with a 13 month old and a newborn.

But once i was stable, i was beyond ready to go back home. 5 or 6 days in i think.

Hm. I guess I'm different because I'm over $100,000 in debt and behind in payments. I'm afraid of adding more debt to my name and getting my *** sued.

I don't always think straight when I'm in crisis. I tend to think more about short term (debt, money) than the long term (saving my life from sui).

It kinda makes sense tho. I mean, you basically want to commit sui because of the current circumstances. Your head is thinking about why your life sucks right *now* -- you're not really thinking long term (i.e., "everything will be okay"). You're so focused on the present (debt, money, current feelings, etc) that everything in the future, for all intents and purposes, becomes irrelevant.

tl;dr--
I think it's normal for some people to be concerned about money since money can tie back to current, personal feelings. Sui ideation is all about current feelings, even if your sui ideations include future feelings. So money can definitely influence your decision to go to IP

I would put my MI first and go to IP because like I said... When I went and was uninsured, a social worker came and talked to me about filling out papers for Medicaid and they ended up paying it all and sometimes keeping me on it. And these days in MI, Medicaid pretty much has to accept you even if it's just for two weeks to cover the visit and fill a months worth of meds and never asked for any type of payment.

I've been IP once for suicidal ideation and intent, which lasted seven days. There were two other times I should've gone in for mania, but somehow I was able to convince my pdoc that I wasn't all that bad off and we managed to contain it with increased doses of medications I was already on. My experience with that one hospitalization was good, so I'm not afraid of the place anymore and would go back in if I needed it, but I've been stable for the better part of a year and a half and would like to avoid it if at all possible.

If you are in a situation where paying student loans is difficult (such as because you have medical bills) you can get a forebearance on the student loans.

Most hospitals will work with you to make payments possible. Even when mine have gone to collections as long as I kept making payments (sometimes a minimum required payment) they don't take action.

I know it's hard. I'm paying nearly 10% of my income before I pay anything else for my 2 hospitalizations and surgery from the last 2 years. Medicaid is supposed to pay some of it but I'm beginning to think it will be lost in red tape until I"ve paid the whole bill (same as after my surgery). My hospital gives a year to pay and has a way to get no-interest financing as well. And they also have financial assistance programs.

But you have to do what you have to do. If it is pay a medical bill or die the medical bill is always better. I understand the anxiety; there was a time before mental health parity that I had a $10,000 mental health deductible. That has nothing to do with my other regular health deductible or the very expensive way it covered meds. I avoided the hospital then but if it had been suicide or deductible I would have paid the deductible.

To put it another way, I have limited dental insurance. It's ok but not great because it's an indiviual policy. A few weeks ago I found out I needed $1200 of work. This means some serious financial issues and borrowing money from my mom which I HATE. But I can't say "well, that costs too much" and not do it; I'd lose my teeth. Teeth are nothing compared to life.

That doesn't seem like crisis mode if you're thinking "hmm I want to off myself, but I don't I want a huge bill just in case I change my mind"
Just sayin.
That is all.

Edit- what Rainbow said. It's literally a life or death situation. I have over $70k in student loan debt, plus car, mortgage, etc. But if I know that I will not be safe, that is the only option. I have medical bills I'm still paying from last year. As long as you're paying something every month, it will be ok. It's your life we're talking about here. Please take care and go if you really think you need to go. Believe me, as you grow older, you will always have some debt.

Another edit: could be a matter of passive or active suicidal thoughts, big difference. Too lazy to find a link to show the difference...

@RxQueen: Thanks for the info, but does Medicaid consider debt as well? I think I'm above the income cap ($50k?) for Medicaid.

@BeyondtheRainbow: Hm. I didn't know about forbearance. That's really good to know. I was assuming I'd have to pay my student loans *and* medical bills at the same time.

What is your minimum payment usually? I know it depends on the person and duration of your stay, but I was just wondering what the min pay was for one of your stays.

I'm not too knowledgeable about health insurance or any of that since I'm a recent college grad and signed up recently for my own insurance plan (or however you say it). I've been trying to learn more about insurance plans and related things, but I've just been lazy. I shouldn't be lazy.

I have a PPO plan and I only seem to have co-pays... no deductible. I just know it's $750 a day with my insurance. So I try to call my pdoc before my depression worsens or my mania worsens (e.g., I get hallucinations again) since the call is free.

@gina_re: If by "active sui thoughts", you mean plan... then yeah, I had a plan, but it's gone now. I had it for one day and I kept ruminating on it until I talked to someone about it and they talked me out of it. I was still thinking about it for a bit, but luckily (and coincidentally) the sui thoughts turned passive again since the depression started to lift. (I basically bought "supplies" on Amazon, but then cancelled the order before they ever made it to my house.)

Call the insurance company. They should be able to explain it to you.

Medicaid doesn't ask about debt but if you inquired any bills in the past three months, they'll cover it. You may be over the income limit but blue cross has plans that go by your income. Once I had blue cross and only paid $50 a month.

Once. I came as close as "the skin of my teeth" to go IP the second time about three years ago. What kept me out was the thought of the State taking my mother away who has dementia and needed allot of home care.

Tucson

None yet. There's two times I should've gone, but didn't because I wanted to die instead. But I'm still here

Most of the time if your plan doesn't mention a deductible it will have an "out of pocket maximum". That is usually maybe $1500-$2000. There is bad insurance out there but chances are good that you have some cap on what you'd have to pay. As suggested, call your insurance company and ask questions about deductible, out of pocket max, coverage of hospitalization, etc. until you really understand.

My hospital gives a year to pay in theory but it really gives longer than that based on how they do the billing. If you meet certain requirements you can get financing with 0% interest and a longer payment term.

You can apply for a forbearance any time you have undue financial stress. If you can keep paying your interest then it just adds repayment time. If you don't pay interest it is added back on at the end. I used it a number of times when I was on disability. You don't have to give specifics, just check a box that says something about medical as the cause and it will auto-approve eventually.