[Yoda]

My son was receiving money from social security until the age of 19 because I was (am) disabled. After he stopped receiving the money he then qualified for our county's free mental health care. The psychiatrist who had been treating him for $85 cash per appointment then conveniently said when my son qualified for free care that he only would treat children and would no longer treat my son. So my son was then treated by a PA at the same organization. We didn't like the PA's personality and didn't think he did good assessments but he prescribed okay.

Then the PA left and we were transferred to a nurse practitioner who had done her masters degree training in diabetes. She is very knowledgeable about diabetes, mental health not so much. We have seen her for four separate appointments now and some of the stupid things she has said makes my jaw drop.

She is not knowledgeable about some of the meds she is prescribing and one drug (mirtazapine) she prescribed at a dose four times higher than what my own pdoc prescribed for me. My pdoc had explained to me long ago that the drug works better at low dose which is counterintuitive but that is what the studies confirm. I think a pdoc with 35 years experience is probably more knowledgable than a diabetes trained NP but the NP doesn't even like me being in the room with my son, let alone discuss the treatment plan.

And there are some other problems with the NP like she refuses to sign a form so that my son can get special accommodations to take the GED (he has written learning disability and ADHD and needs extended time on the test) but oh no, she says, I've never had to sign those before and I'm not starting now. I could go on about her but you get it, I think.

I have tried to get my own pdoc to treat my son but he is not currently accepting patients. It would be nice if he could because he treated my son for five years until the hospital restructured and my pdoc left to go to a VA center for a couple years.

So in May or June this year I found out where another pdoc that I know is practicing at a mental health center. The soonest they said that he could get an appt for my son was Jan 2012 but I agreed to do it because I am running out of options here. So several months ago when I talked to them they set up an intake appt in September (it was for yesterday). It was a four hour round trip but I was thinking a competent pdoc would make the long drives worth it.

When I got there the person who was to do the intake said that they recently had two pdocs retire and now it would be March 2012 until my son could be seen. She had my telephone number. I even called last week to confirm the appt. Why could she not have called me so I didn't drive four hours for that?!???? She didn't even do the intake so if we do go with that option it will be another four hour drive for what she should have done yesterday.

I'm mad.

I seem to be surrounded by idiots. The only competent pdocs aren't accepting patients. My son's NP currently has him taking one dose per day of Adderall regular release (not the extended release of which one dose would suffice). The regular release Adderall controls symptoms only for four hours. The prior PA had given him enough regular release Adderall for two to three doses per day. There is no way my son can work at a job or go to school if he only has meds that will treat four hours only.

[missbelle]

and you should be mad.....thats a long trip to take....the only thing I can say is that March will come quickly sort of......and at least he is on the list and hopefully something else will come up in between
I think all these people are so darn overworked with so many clients etc that they can barely breath. It however would have taken a second to call you....She should have!!! Would not hurt to call her supervisor because no matter how busy, she should have stopped to call you!!!

[Astridetal]

I am sorry you and your son are struggling so much and the NP and other people are so incompetent. I hope you'll find a way to get him some other help as soon as possible.

[Omers]

OMG I am SO very sorry. My experiences with insurance and clinics is very similar and it just breaks my heart to hear more stories of people who cannot get QUALIFIED care.

I have nothing to offer except that I am so sorry you and your son are going through this

[(JD)]

Be angry only so long as you can put it to work on finding a solution. Otherwise, get rid of it, it only injures.

Please know that the vast majority of professionals in the fields of psychiatry and psychology do know about the issues of incompetency within the system. I daresay it's why so many of the psychiatrist's are leaving the system (thus your inability to get an appointment.)

We can only hope that within 14 months things will change for the better.

Have you tried ONLINE therapy, and a regular MD for scripting?

[Visioneer]

My word, what a fiasco! I haven't suffered that many setbacks, thank goodness, but I understand your pain. It seems like the only people who can get access to qualified care are those who can pay (a lot) for it. Here in Canada our health care system is getting spotty, but mental health care has slipped through the cracks, and it's a struggle for so many people here. I see people getting poor or improper treatment, getting bad attitudes from "professionals" that turn them off of getting help entirely, getting into trouble because of the incompetence of their care, and ridiculously long waits to get in to see someone who - finally! - knows what the heck they are talking about and what to do about it.

It must be especially hard because he's your son, and you're trying so hard to do what is best for him, dealing with your own challenges at the same time, and swimming upstream in a system where life jackets seem hard to come by these days, unfortunately.

There are so many medical "professionals" that simply do not get it or want to get it. Those are the kind of people who just want to get paid, with no genuine desire to help people, and there are too many of them these days. In a government insurance system, professionals who do care can get jaded, too, and that leaves us with even less to rely on. The other sad side to that story is that people like you and I who have been through all of this, who have done our research as lay-people without medical degrees to be informed, make better choices than the NP you're seeing now. Leaves one scratching one's head.

After finally seeking help as an adult and getting laughed at by one doctor, told to go to AA and addictions counseling by an intake nurse at a hospital on a night I did something stupid instead of counseling me, and that no psychiatrist would see me until I had been sober for six months (total crap!), I got to the precipice of "I can no longer do this. Really." and showed up at my GP in a state that was impossible to hide, and he immediately referred me (what a relief). I then waited six months for an appointment, but thank goodness I did, because I'm getting good help for the first time in my life.

Don't give up - I know you would never give up on your son, just try not to despair and have patience in the hope that the next person who comes along is the one you've been waiting for. I'm so sorry you are both dealing with this right now. I wish you strength.

[Rohag]

I'm sorry, Yoda. I fear the day my pdoc retires.

Ideas?

• Drink coffee tomorrow morning?
• Talk to Dusty?
• Send your post to all your elected representatives?

[Daonnachd]

I like Rohag's idea of airing the system's dirty laundry. Share this with the newspapers in your area, too. Maybe make a suggestion to your local television inverstigative reporter.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by (JD)

Please know that the vast majority of professionals in the fields of psychiatry and psychology do know about the issues of incompetency within the system.

They know about it? What do they do about it?

[popeye]

I a ma former psych nurse and I agree that the treatment for the mentally ill is more than terrible...I would use stronger language if allowed on this site.