Posted by Karen44 on July 6, 2006, at 23:15:01
In reply to Re: mental health centers, posted by helpme on July 5, 2006, at 17:08:21
> Well, I lost my job some months ago due to missing work over panic attacks and other physical manifestations of anxiety- I couldn't manage and it was a stressful office with manipulative management who had us spying on each other. I was also working on my grad degree at the time. I feel I have burnt out and can't figure how to respark. I still have COBRA until December- it's PPO and quite good. Mostly, I want someone to take the time and to be inquisitive and open minded enough to help me try to figure out why all of the antidepressents I've ever tried failed. I have "atypical treatment resistant depression". Medical doctors say my deblitating physical symptoms- mostly severe nausea and fatique- are "psychological". Maybe..maybe not. I want to go somewhere where I do not have to be scared of the other patients, that is, I do not want to have a screaming schizophrenic who threatens to kill me to be my roomate. I want a calm and nurturing environment, but still no-nonsense. I want to be able to relate to the other patients, and not have them be picked up off the street and dropped off nightly by the police- that was a culture shock and I simply could not relate to them in the group therapies. This indeed happened at the private teaching hospital where I last stayed. I do not want staff members to be burnt out, brush me off, or to treat me disrespectfully or scornfully. Many people were judgemental, I was surprised to discover, after they incorrectly deduced I tried to kill myself. I also experienced a staff member who challenged me that there was no way I, a mental patient, could have earned a masters degree. I want doctors to take their time and not rush to conclusions or pile me up with a new drug cocktail. I want to take as few drugs as possible, but know some will be unavoidable at least for now. My recent kidney and liver tests suggest that they are strained. I have been given cocktails of up to 9 drugs in the past, and that is nothing but one side effect on top of another. I do not want to be a professional Mental Patient. I am interested in therapies like DBT rather than psychoanalysis, and I would like practical guidance for getting my life back together- like finding a job after a long and hard to explain unemployment, and reconnecting with friends who lost patience with me for being vaguely unwell so long- or help for finding new friends. I would like to be able to go outside. I am not planning to kill myself, and do not want to be treated like a criminal. I am in pain. I'm open minded to a variety of situations- I wonder about places like Mayo because I heard they are interdisciplinary. I guess I'm just looking for a good treatment center, I am open to a variety of ideas- my # 1 concern is to feel ok and functional. I live in Chicago if that makes any difference, but am open to travel for a really good center elsewhere if that need be. By the way, I have had a near impossible time trying to find a DBT group here taking new people- there is too much demmand.
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> > You really need to be more specific--are you asking about a residential treatment center, outpatient mental health center, intensive outpatient, does cost make a difference, do you have insurance for what are you hoping to be treated, do you expect to need medication and psychiatric intervention. Does it really not make any difference where it is located? I ask these questions because I am familiar with a number of programs in the country--I have run a number of community mental health centers, done a fair amount of consulting, and recently had to find a place for my daughter who has coocurring addiction and MH problems--and yes, I am also a consumer of MH services
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>I would highly recommend the Menninger Clinic; used to be in Topeka, Kansas but moved to Houston, Texas.
Karen
poster:Karen44
thread:664155
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060701/msgs/664702.html