My brother ordered me out of his hospital room.

Just some insight I had with my primary care MD when I was dealing with anorexia before I left Calif 16 years ago. He told me that the only thing he can care for in his patients is their physical health. He took care of the physical issues the anorexia was causing & said it was a psychitrists job to take care of the traumas & other issues causing it. I am thinking this is common practice for MD's these days. They are very specialized even when they are GP's.

Seriously, my best help did come from a wonderful T who also led the DBT group I was in for over 2 years. It was intense work on my part & 4 hours a week group along with individual T on top of that.....but it was the only thing that helped me after 13 years of suppisedly the highly educated T's I saw in Calif. Never figured I would find the help I needed in a small town in Ky

@eskielover - thanks for sharing your experience. It sounds like you overcame a lot and finally did get the right support.

In the healthcare system that I'm in, the psych dept has always been overwhelmed with demand. I do believe that the primary care providers, like my new doctor, are under pressure to be rather slow to refer patients to the psych dept.

I'm not a trauma survivor. I don't think I need more medication. Mainly I would like a psychiatrist to recognize how distressed I am.

Maybe I need to ask for help in a more assertive way.

Maybe be specific in the request for a referal instead of just mentioning being depressed. I was lucky because I just called a number for the group & described the issues I had & the dx from Calif & they put me with the psychologist that was very experienced & she got me into the DBT group with the other outstanding psychologist. The first one retired but I truly was blessed by the 2nd one & followed her to her private practice when she left the group.

I couldn't take medications because of all the bad side effects so therapy was my only solution & it also proved that my depression was situational & once I got out of the situation I could focus on what I needed to learn to heal & how to handle situations better in the future.

From my years in the MH system I found that basically psychitrists just throw meds at you hoping it solves the problem, psychologists actually work with us to help us understand ourselves better & help us resolve the issues & our ways of handling situations that cause our distress. Both can sometimes be necessary other times not. I never bothered getting a psychitrist after I moved because I couldn't take the meds anyway & the one I had in Calif was only there because I was on disability at the time

@eskielover - it goes to show how big a role luck can play in getting hooked up to support that really helps. You did get lucky in getting the two psychologists that you found so helpful. You had the good sense to maintain your connection to the 2nd psychologist.

Psychologists do have a very different focus from psychiatrists. The latter prescribe, and that's about it. I briefly was seeing a psychologist at a community clinic about 20 years ago. She took a sincere interest, which felt very encouraging. I think she moved on and the clinic closed.

It's also true that we sometimes have to make our own luck. I'm a strong and effective advocate for others. Somehow I get way less effective in advocating for me. I'm starting to ask myself what I'ld be doing, if someone close to me was mentally distressed and in need of professional attention. I'ld keep a cool head, but I'ld hold the doctor's feet to the fire and convey that a problem needs to be addressed. When I did that for others, I tended to prevail. Your story illustrates another thing. One connection can lead to another. The first psychologist hooked you up with the second. The important thing is to start somewhere. Where you start may not be exactly where you need to be, but it can be a stepping stone. Sometimes you have to jump thru a hoop or two before you land where you need to be. There can be resources you don't even know are out there. You find a door, knock on it, and see what's on the other side. It may be a corridor leading to another door.

I actually had a very good day. I use the services of a professional organizer once in a while. She came today for a 3 hour session. My apartment has been in disarray since Christmas. Well, we got this place whipped into shape pretty good today. My living room looks so nice right now. We threw out a big pile of stuff. Just having my home environment made orderly greatly helps my state of mind. So I may have really turned a corner today. Getting chaos sorted out does wonders for my state of mind. I'm tired, but tomorrow I'll wake up to a neat apartment, which will help me focus on what I want to look into by way of activities that will get me out of the house. There is a lot available where I live.

I think I'm going to make progress, if I make some effort every day. I thank all who've posted to this thread. It has kept the little flame of hope lit inside me, while I was feeling so defeated.

Well done on achieving that tidy space!

Tidy spaces are important even when we are doing well. I have a huge house I live in alone & over the last 16 years have just tossed stuff in piles or swept things into piles in my basement. I am finally filling a box or 2 a day & sorting through it all & putting things I may need into another box to go through on the next pass. I have filled trash bags & totes of trash mail to recycle. I actually reclaimed my computer desk last week. Best feeling ever. Had to clear out the area around where they were installing a room heater/AC & that is starting the ability to continue working in that room now it will be comfortable to work in there. Just getting that monentum going feels good then the results inspire. Lol.....workers coming in that need the space to work definitely pops up the priority to get the work started.

Hope this all works the same for you too

@eskielover - Momentum truly is wonderful. Congrats on what you've achieved. Once we get rolling, things do get easier. The main thing is to not lose the momentum.

My momentum builds inside the house in winter in the cold & in summer when really hot & humid. But on warmer days I get distracted outside on my farm. The transition to get momentum happening each time is a challenge & I usually need a priority reason to kick start it.

@eskielover Sounds a lot like me.

For me this is normal & not tied to depression at all. My depression was mostly gone when I moved here since I left the "situation" that had me trapped that was causing it.

Lol....I have always been slow getting into things probably because I am not sure where or how to start. Once I break that barrier the momentum starts flowing. I used to work through the night because I knew if I didn't get it done then it would never get finished. Now when I get exhausted I stop & yes, sometimes things don't ever get finished cause another priority bubbles up to the top