[Kat605]

Hi.
My friends are experienceing this as well as I suppose myself though I'm doing well right now.
If I could pick just one thing that infuriates me and breaks my heart about issues faced by those with mental illness it's the pure lack of options, or adiquate options, for those in the public mental health system. By this I mean those who are low income and so are recieving treatment paid by medicaid or medicare. Or in the case of those outside the US the public mental health sector so anything not private pay.
I'm sure states vary on this. I wasn't really in the mental system while in massachusetts and was able to pay out of pocket for therapy and didn't need the care and support services I now do. But I am in IL. I'm very lucky though there are pros and cons that there are psychiatric intermediate care facilities here in IL. I guess they were created as a kind of apology/ let's make things really better after having some of the worst state hospitals in the country I'm told. It's basically long term care/ supportive living with nurses C.N.as medical doctors/ psychiatrists coming to the facility case management 12 hours a day ETC. I've been here in this one facility for two years and have done quite well. Still there are a lot of improvements to be made and even the clinical director who is my therapist is upset all the time that they don't have the money and other resources to make it better.
Still compared to other mental illness living situations they're better than the alternatives I feel of group homes that are very much understaffed and for those trying to live in their own housing so often the community resources are very lacking. Geting into see a psychiatrist or even medical doctor can take like months and months. Right now in california I have a friend who got out of the hospital a couple months ago. Was promised all these services for behavioral health from county care really the only option for those without money to get care. It's taken like a month for her to even get a case manager who's nice but for some reason geting through all the hoops to get a her meds set up, as in geting a refill from her time at a hospital is proving impossible. There's no way for her to get into her PCP until december or get an emergency appointment with her psychiatrist til sometime then as well. So long story short this girl with bipolar, psychosis and other issues if left with no meds for a month. She'll I'm sure be back in the hospital pritty soon due to this inadiquate treatment.
Similarly I have another friend in rural IL so a couple hours from where I live in Chicago. She's unable to be able to access the intermediate care facilitys due to severe self injury and BPD borderline, which is a diagnosis they tend to turn their noses up at as not being willing to treat in such a setting which makes no sense to me. They, different facilities keep referenceing that she needs specialized care but can't lead me to any resources that are covered by medicaid. Anything I find is thousands of dolars a month.
So she's stuck at this shelter care home, not adiquate for mental illness but at least there's staff nursing she gets her meds, food ETC. But she only gets a half hour of therapy a week because the therapist comes to the home and can't see anyone for longer than that. She's so earnist and wants help for her borderline and now eating disorder issues. She wants residential treatment but every single place I look at is for private pay only literally no medicaid options. The only option she can find is this supposedly free christian organization called Mercy ministries that I've heard very bad reviews about. Yet she feels she has to go there due there not being any options.
I hear these stories again. People just left with scraps of services that's amounting to basically nothing. And then people wonder why so many people are roaming the streets in and out of hospitals, which then medicaid will say they can't keep paying for, or people who kill themselves because they have come up against so many barriers for care and have gotten nowhere. Basically if you don't have money you're screwed. The system is killing so many people. I just hope I'm not alone in feeling this way.

[precaryous]

You are not alone.

I am grateful I have a caring ethical therapist. But recently I have been looking for a psychiatrist who has admitting privileges and takes Medicare and Medicaid.

One medical group (who admits at hospital#1) said all the resident doctors were full...try back in March or April.

The next group (hospital #2) wouldn't recommend a doctor at all.

The third group (hospital #3) said I cannot ask for a particular psychiatrist even with my therapist's referral...that I have to first see *their* therapist and I would be referred to the satellite office of their choosing and see whichever psychiatrist they want me to see. That means they want me to be go to county mental health....which I am trying to avoid.

When I called the last phone number they gave me, the person I talked to said, oh, no, you have to be established with a psychiatrist first before you go there. Argh! I told her that was why I was given her number. That was what I was trying to do!

My therapist has recommended psychiatrists she has dealt with before. I have called all five and none take my insurances.

I give up. And that's what the private doctors want.

[gayleggg]

The new insurance policy I was forced to take only has one psychiatrist on the list and I've heard bad things about him and his office. Mental health care is a joke if you don't have money or have to go through health care.gov for insurance.

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[Kat605]

Hi.
I'm glad I'm not the only one, me and my friends. Precarious, yeah that kinda run around with psycdhiatrists isa exactly what my friend is going through and what I went through before moving to where I am now. Even then I had to fight with geting out of the hands of two bad psychiatrists going to bad psych units before I got with the one good psychiatrist that comes here who has a good unit she goes to! Strings were pulled good thing I have the clinical director as my therapist! He also got me out of the hands of a medical doctor who comes here, supposedly, but is often out of the country! I never actually saw the guy. I have one that's weird now, he made me take a pregnancy test when I was having period problems even though I've never had sex! But at least he's firmly in the US LOL!
Galick I'm sorry about the psychiatrists not taking your insurance at all so often that's the case. I still don't get how anyone can justify just having my friend be without lithium and other drugs for almost a month!

[precaryous]

I have had enough bad psychiatrists. Some of my past posts will give you an idea.

Here's a new story (actually happened) ..I was inpatient at a good free standing hospital in California. I had a good, ethical psychologist who actually was the one who admitted me. But I was also assigned a psychiatrist, which was fine.

The psychologist asked how things were going. I mentioned that the psychiatrist was doing his rounds ungodly early...like at 6am..having to wake me up. I told her I had to write notes of things I needed to ask him the night before because i could not function or *think* at 6am. I asked her, "Could he be high?"

I never saw him again. No explanation was ever given.

[Victoria'smom]

I go to a private hospital with Medicaid for ip. The psychiatrist is great there. You are him daily including weekends. Now my normal team is hecktic. My psychiatrist is the only one in our center. So good luck getting in. My therapist sees me weekly but it has to be 3+ weeks in advance to get in. If I need a quick Med change I have to go IP.

[divine1966]

Originally Posted by precaryous

I have had enough bad psychiatrists. Some of my past posts will give you an idea.


Here's a new story (actually happened) ..I was inpatient at a good free standing hospital in California. I had a good, ethical psychologist who actually was the one who admitted me. But I was also assigned a psychiatrist, which was fine.


The psychologist asked how things were going. I mentioned that the psychiatrist was doing his rounds ungodly early...like at 6am..having to wake me up. I told her I had to write notes of things I needed to ask him the night before because i could not function or *think* at 6am. I asked her, "Could he be high?"


I never saw him again. No explanation was ever given.

Just out of curiosity why did you ask that? I couldn't help but chuckle. High? As on drugs?

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[The_little_didgee]

Unfortunately, I have been around.

Who wants to live in a group home? I have and hated it. I lasted 6 weeks in there. All the stealing, drug abuse, and ODs were too much. The dysfunction in the place was incredible. I'm not sure how that place was supposed to help me. My history and background was very different from all the other "inmates".

Psychiatry doesn't really promote recovery especially in the hospital setting. Sure they have access to all kinds of resources such as social workers who can help patients get support in the community, but does it really help? Often their suggestions are very inappropriate and/or horrible which increases stigma. They also promote heavy emergency department use. I don't understand this at all. Sometimes people just need someone to talk with.

I'd like to see the psychiatry assist people reach their full potential, not become dependent on the service (some clients develop a dependency on them). None of them ever told me to finish high school, get involved in the community, find employment etc... I had to do it all on my own. I've realized that is how things get done. All the professionals seemed to offer was medication, hospitalization and services that ostracized me.

Community based psychiatry has helped me a lot more than all my hospitalizations. I actually found a superb psychiatrist who has helped me, because I was motivated and got a proper diagnosis. I see my psychiatrist in a community health center. The place is nice and has a pleasant atmosphere. I found it more suitable for my situation. I have access to outreach too. It is nice to have the 'worker' come over, talk and have tea. We get along. She gets to see how I live, my reality. It is a more accurate image of me that clinicians who work in the clinical setting don't ever get to see.

I have rules. My psychiatrist must contact my mother if she admits me, and she cannot tell me to go to the Emergency Department. I refuse go to hospitals for psychiatric reasons, unless I develop psychosis.

I'm lucky I have family, a few friends and a good family doctor to back me up. These are the people who have helped me a lot more than any hospital ever has.

I've lost so many years to psychiatry and misdiagnosis. Now it is my time!!!!

[precaryous]

Good question. I can see where it seemed like that question came out of the blue. It was the way he just seemed hyper alert and moved fast at 6 in the morning. It was a feeling...

Plus I have never had a doctor wake me up that early doing rounds... There may have been other things that made me ask about him that I'm not remembering right now.

[Kat605]

Miguel's Mum you're really fortunate to be able to go to a free standing behavioral health hospital. Here in IL there's some policy from the 1960s that behavioral health hospitals free standing ones can not work with adult medicaid, as in 18 to sixty five year olds. I guess this was due to past histories of people being stuck in such places forever. However times have changed it's 2015 and all the hospitals I know of in the area have solid programs designed to give the client good resources not to keep them forever which obveously isn't even done anymore.
Now I feel the policy is backfiring because clients can't get access to the treatment they need. For example at a local behavioral health hospital they have many programs that people might need access to mood disorders, eating disorders and particularly self harm. They have a program for self harm recovery that's supposed to be pritty ground breaking in terms of research and therapy. Well so many can't attend it due to them not accepting medicaid.
Deji, your story is exactly how geting community mental health services should be. Having the support day to day to live in your own home and have the right amount of treatment that fits your needs. Friends and family are so important and anotherthing going against my friends is that they don't have any, at least in person. And I'm aware of the peer recovery movement which at least provides support in its own way with drop in centers with groups and peer counseling and advocating with patients with their psychiatrists doctors. I think it's a toss up though how well run these places are and how stable the peer counselors actually are. Was at a mental health center where a peer counselor lead a group and it became more about their own issues than anything else and it was a disaster. At another place I know they run a solid center guess it just isn't for me as it's very loud and chaotic. But I'm sure other places are awesome and that recovery movement has been alive for years so they must be doing something right and are filling a real need.

[wotchermuggle]

We have a good program here in Canada. If you get referred through your doctor, you can see a psychiatrist and get counselling for free (well, paid through taxes). The "catch" I guess is that the therapists are all CBT/DBT oriented so if you want something different, you'll likely have to pay for it (like I do). You may only be able to see a therapist once every 10 days, but it's free and accessible.

[Kat605]

Hi Watchermuggle. Well at least that's something. That they have that and you can get it for free. I'm glad that's there. I'm also glad you get to pay for your own therapy to have a choice.