Couch 232: Not Sully!

We are doing the same only opposite, later this week!

Are you still complaining about mon affaire gosling?

I was just cleaning my keyboard and somehow managed to flip the display upside down haha. Oh yeah, alt-ctrl-up arrow. Had almost forgotten about that.

Moo is much more of a threat than the Gosling and his triceps points were. You have this thing for straight-talkin' inhabitants of the British Isles.

What do poeple in other countries call a gathering of people doing communal work we call it a working bee but i said this on another forum and people didnt know what i was referring to. You know like a mass litter clean up

I've heard of a quilting bee and a spelling bee, but that's it, and for some reason have never even considered why those things are called that.

See i have heard of quilting bees and spelling bees so i was unsure of the confusion. I am sure the bee part refers to the social aspect of bee behaviour

In my country, because even depression and anxiety being "official" diagnoses can result in negative consequences with regards to a lot of stuff, psychiatrists etc like "adjustment disorder". It implies the situation is stressful and not "a character flaw or weakness". And the stressful situation can be deemed "long term". Even schizophrenia gets "psychosis" or something less stigmatising.

And here, insurance doesn't just want a diagnosis code but a detailed official medical report from the psychiatrist in question which often costs a few hundred dollars.

I was almost uninsurable just for "social anxiety disorder" and I have to pay easily 35% more money for significantly less physical health coverage.

There are also negative consequences to having a less accurate diagnosis recorded, of course. Good treatment providers will still treat according to the real problem, but I didn't get that from my psychiatrist medication-wise.

If I could redo stuff, I'd have gotten insured before I entered the mental health system and gotten any diagnosis. You can't refuse to declare, it counts as fraud or something like that.

Morning couch. We're still having to take calls all day Monday, and my positive attitude about that has really begun to run out!! I'm fighting with myself to get it back because otherwise it's gonna be a long day. At least I didn't get one immediately upon logging in, like usually happens. I've been in Ready for 6 minutes since I logged in and nothing yet. Hallelujah. Maybe it won't be back to back today - oh who am I kidding of course it will be once they start. Stop it Artie, be positive!


Hugs/headnods all around as appropriate.

HUGS Artie!

This weekend (Saturday night at like 730) I had an appointment with a potential new T. She's nice. She's a bit scattered I think but she seems to have a good memory. She's older than me by about 30 years and she says she has no plans of retirement but that she also cannot guarantee the future. She also said she has some health problems and that sometimes she has to cancel at the last minute because of it. But.....here's the good part, she says she can help me. She doesn't know how to set up Zoom so I set up the appointment for us and then admitted her into the call. But she says that she does text, which is how most of our conversations have started/continued. And she takes Zelle so it is super easy to pay her. Plus she takes my insurance. I'm not sold on her yet, as it's only been one appointment, and I'm a bit worried about her health and age and stuff and she said she is probably taking the month of December off. But that I could still text if I had a problem. I decided to ask her for a second appointment, since the first one is always so much information gathering. She talked a lot, and fast, she has ADHD too like me, and she said she has been in a mental hospital and has worked in a mental hospital, so she has been on both sides! I'm still hoping my case manager will come up with some names of people I can try because I'm not sure about her. But I am willing to give it another go and see how it is. She said she is pretty booked but she was willing to take me because I was anxious for a therapist. So she said as long as I could be flexible she could fit me in. She says with longer term clients she usually does every two weeks but with new clients she likes to do once a week. So we'll see. I'm nervous but I am also hanging onto hope that she can help me.


On another note, I'm not sure what is going on with IOP. I'm not sure if it got extended or what. And I was supposed to have group on Friday and I logged onto Zoom and was never let in. I contacted my case manager who got back to me half an hour later and said it must be technical difficulties so I didn't have group on Friday. It will be 45 days that I have been in IOP come Thursday so I am wondering what is up. My IOP individual T goes on vacation tomorrow. I asked her for a letter, or email, with some validation in it but I don't know if she is going to do that for me. I hope so but I am trying not to get my hopes up. I know she wants me to do internal validation which I really don't know what she is talking about but I am hoping she will give me a letter or an email or something that I can hang on to while she is gone and after I can't see her anymore. I'll be hurt and disappointed if she doesn't. But I best be prepared for that.

Hugs, Kit.

I'm so stressed and overwhelmed! I'm going through my stuff...I have a lot of carp! Downsizing is hard. L has been so supportive allowing me to call everyday. I need it. I feel like I'm going to pass out.

Hugs to you as well, Scarlet. It is hard to downsize. We did it back in 2010-ish when we moved from a 2 story rental house (that was way too big anyway) to a small manufactured home. It sucked. I'm so glad you have L to help you through this.

I hate moving. We have moved 7 times in 23 years of being married. I don't want to have to do it again.

HUGS Scarlet. That sounds really stressful.

Hugs, Kit. I can understand why you're unsure about the T you met with--especially if she's taking all of December off! But I'm glad she's fitting you in and you'll be able to see her again. I hope you hear about another potential T, too, just so you have options.


And the IOP stuff sounds stressful as well. I wonder if maybe you'd get longer in the program because you're only going 3 days a week? Not sure if insurance would pay a set rate per week or if it's per actual day that you're meeting with them. I hope you find out soon and that you get more time. Also that you hear something from IOP T.

And hugs to you, Scarlet. Moving and getting rid of stuff is very stressful to me as well. It's amazing how much we can accumulate.

Amusing Dr. T thing. He was talking about moving on/learning from mistakes, facing setbacks, etc. And he said, "A stone has to grind against something in order to get hard." My mind went to a sexual place with that, but I tried to just not acknowledge it and said "uh-huh." He must have realized what he said, because he added, "OK, just to continue the sexual innuendo, if we don't keep trying, we get flaccid." (or something like that). I said (laughing), "OK, I feel better that you noticed that, too!"

A few minutes later, I was saying something, then hesitated. I said, "OK, I guess this is just going to continue the innuendo, but the phrase that jumped to mind was 'we have to rise to the occasion.'" He said, "There are just too many phrases out there for it."

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Old man coat

Oh hes a sweetheart!

So cute!

Precious! Thanks for sharing!

Awww WFS how sweet!! Thanks for sharing!

H got a job to Seal Beach, CA that he has to pick up here at 5pm. He's sleeping now. I'm taking myself out to dinner tonight!! Phones have been incredibly busy today and I am too old for this!!

Does he have one of those heated cat beds? I put one by the radiator and my old man cat moves only to eat/litter box in the winter. I had to build a little barrier to keep the dogs off