Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 1762

Shown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?)

Posted by racer on December 26, 1998, at 21:28:23

Hi, a couple of you have read some things I've posted here in the past, so I'll give the short version today.

I'm not working. At this point, I'm pretty incapacitated by major depression. My community has no resources for me: the county has one dr to see adult psych patients, the children's dr won't see me, I have less than no rapport with the dr I can see. There is no counseling program available, the lowest fee for the low fee sliding scale program is $34 per hour, pay as you go. The county recognises this. I've called the Psych Emerency hotline, and the only thing they say is that they can hospitalize me. (No thanks. Still no therapy, but lots of other s__t.) I have no insurance, so can't go to a private dr. The county medical plan covers only meds or hospitalisation. None of this is perception, by the way. They all admit it's a sucky situation.

The meds can't work without talk cure, I've been through this before (though every time it seems as though it's much worse this time, you know what I mean?). This drug doesn't seem very effective for me at all. The dr keeps telling me that the drug is working fine, but I'm not responding right to it (!!). My sleeping is disturbed, my eating is disturbed, my mood is disturbed, and I'm more hopeless now than ever. Today is the first day I've gotten out of bed for a week. This is not working, and I'm not coping.

Here's what I need: medication, talk therapy, and someone to give me some talk therapy about the medication. It's not made available to me. So, is there anything I can do to make it available? It's hard for me to sustain any sort of effort right now, because of the depression, but there are moments, like now, when I can try. There must be something I've overlooked. Is there a national depression group run like AA? Is there an organization like the lion's club that will assist in finding treatment options in communities like mine? Is there something I'm just overlooking, like instant therapy in the supermarket? Just add water? Please, I can't do much right now, but I can do something, but I don't know what to try.

This situation reminds me of that joke about there being a heaven for atheists: it's empty, because no one knows it's there. There's got to be something, it's just well hidden.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for any (non-commercial) suggestions you can make.

 

Support

Posted by DL on December 27, 1998, at 12:55:22

In reply to Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?), posted by racer on December 26, 1998, at 21:28:23

Hi,
http://www.ndmda.org/ is the National Depression and Manic Depressive Association. It's a very large group that sponsors support groups all over. If you follow the support group links at the site you come to a list by state. But I think there are groups not listed also. You may want to call whatever is the closest if there's not one near you to see. I know there is one at a nearby hospital to me that is not listed. It meets on Thurs nights. When I did a fieldwork in Portland ME some of the patients told me the group up there was great. I personally do not have experience with the groups so someone else might want to comment.

Also http://depression.miningco.com/msub12.htm has a list of on-line depression support groups by type (e.g. seasonal depression). That may be helpful.

Also, http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.sites.html has a list of personal web pages by individuals dealing with depression. I found this by searching under "depression, support". I checked out one "Andrews" and it looked great.

The search through Meta-Crawler pulled up a number more so you might want to try that. I know this isn't the same as the offer of personal therapy, but you may find something that helps and you can do this at home at the computer even when you don't have the energy to to out.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you come up with anything good.

I think the docs are on vacation. Hope they take care of themselves. All of us have benefited so much from their input.

 

Re: Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?)

Posted by Annie on December 27, 1998, at 13:40:54

In reply to Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?), posted by racer on December 26, 1998, at 21:28:23

Racer, I am not a doctor, just another depressive, who would like to help. I do not know what all your circumstances are or where you are located, but I would be happy to try and find information for you if you would let me. I have been unable to work for four years and I am on Social Security Disabilty because of the depression. I receive Medicare that pays for most of my therapist and psychiatrist bills. I don't know if you are eligible for these services, or if you are eligible for Medicaid. I am lucky enough to have a prescription plan from my former employer, but I am aware of low cost/no cost options in some areas or from some drug companies. Because I am treatment resistant and have tried most existing drugs and combinations, I have taken part in several clinical studies trying to find relief. While doing so, I have been given free treatment and received free follow-up care when I had to drop from one study. In my vicinity, there are many teaching hospitals, so studies are frequent and varied. I am even aware of a few studies that offered free counseling. Maybe these are also possibilities where you are located. CenterWatch on the web lists many of the studies looking for volunteers and how to apply. The URL is: http://www.centerwatch.com/studies/LISTING.HTM#Section17
The Hospital Psychiatry departments listed among Dr. Bob's links provided me with additional study information.
I also go twice a week to a support group for depressives which is one of the 275 chapters of National DMDA (Depressive Manic Depressive Association). Our chapter is very well run and of tremendous help to me. Maybe there is a chapter near you. They are listed by state on the web. The url is: http://www.ndmda.org/chapdir.htm
For other support groups there is also a Mental Health Self-Help ClearingHouse on the web, it's URL is: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/
I know you are looking for help from the Docs, so I hope I haven't offended you by jumping in here.
I resonated not just to the feeling of weary hopelessness in your posts, but to your wry humor in talking of the heaven for atheists and the Hindu concept of the god within the charging elephant. Maybe I could do some legwork for you while you are feeling so badly. Please email me if I can help you in any way. It would help me to feel useful for a change. I hope the Docs come through for you.

> Hi, a couple of you have read some things I've posted here in the past, so I'll give the short version today.
> I'm not working. At this point, I'm pretty incapacitated by major depression. My community has no resources for me: the county has one dr to see adult psych patients, the children's dr won't see me, I have less than no rapport with the dr I can see. There is no counseling program available, the lowest fee for the low fee sliding scale program is $34 per hour, pay as you go. The county recognises this. I've called the Psych Emerency hotline, and the only thing they say is that they can hospitalize me. (No thanks. Still no therapy, but lots of other s__t.) I have no insurance, so can't go to a private dr. The county medical plan covers only meds or hospitalisation. None of this is perception, by the way. They all admit it's a sucky situation.
> The meds can't work without talk cure, I've been through this before (though every time it seems as though it's much worse this time, you know what I mean?). This drug doesn't seem very effective for me at all. The dr keeps telling me that the drug is working fine, but I'm not responding right to it (!!). My sleeping is disturbed, my eating is disturbed, my mood is disturbed, and I'm more hopeless now than ever. Today is the first day I've gotten out of bed for a week. This is not working, and I'm not coping.
> Here's what I need: medication, talk therapy, and someone to give me some talk therapy about the medication. It's not made available to me. So, is there anything I can do to make it available? It's hard for me to sustain any sort of effort right now, because of the depression, but there are moments, like now, when I can try. There must be something I've overlooked. Is there a national depression group run like AA? Is there an organization like the lion's club that will assist in finding treatment options in communities like mine? Is there something I'm just overlooking, like instant therapy in the supermarket? Just add water? Please, I can't do much right now, but I can do something, but I don't know what to try.
> This situation reminds me of that joke about there being a heaven for atheists: it's empty, because no one knows it's there. There's got to be something, it's just well hidden.
> Thanks for listening, and thanks for any (non-commercial) suggestions you can make.

 

Offended?

Posted by racer on December 27, 1998, at 13:56:34

In reply to Re: Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?), posted by Annie on December 27, 1998, at 13:40:54

How could I be offended by your post? So you're not a doctor, neither am I. Your compliments felt good, and not only did you make very good suggestions, you also offered direct help. Sounds as if you're someone with a lot to offer, and I'd never turn that away just because you lack a specific credential.

You have my deepest thanks for your input, and I'm checking out the support groups right after I post this. Thanks again.

 

Re: Support

Posted by racer on December 27, 1998, at 14:01:52

In reply to Support, posted by DL on December 27, 1998, at 12:55:22

Thank you, DL, for your information. I'll check it out.

While individual counseling would be the ideal, if there are support groups locally, they'll be the next best. And if they're not, well, I won't know until I try it, right?

The real hell of all this is that it doesn't take much to bring a little hope back for me. It's only when I act on all the ideas that I have to get help, and find all the doors slammed in my face again that I fall apart. For instance, it felt hopeful to call around the counseling options in my community, but then I crashed again when none of them were anywhere near within my means. If there's something, anything, out there, I have to try to find it. I can't make it through this alone, and I really can't cope at all right now. Anything can set me off into the darkest despair. The flip side, of course, is that almost anything is enough to make me want to look forward again.

Damn. When I rule the world, depression will be outlawed. Except for people who tell depressives to "snap out of it."

 

I called and...

Posted by racer on December 27, 1998, at 14:49:50

In reply to Re: Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?), posted by Annie on December 27, 1998, at 13:40:54

There are no truly local groups, but there is one about 45 minutes away. I'll try to go there this week. (This is the NDMDA I called.)

Thank you for the advice so far, and don't think it means that you shouldn't continue to offer suggestions. Even if this is the right answer for me, there may be a lurker who still needs help. And this might not be the right fit for me yet.

But thank you so much.

 

Re: can you suggest?

Posted by Toby on December 28, 1998, at 9:36:56

In reply to Hey, Doctors, can you suggest? (Toby? Please?), posted by racer on December 26, 1998, at 21:28:23

I'm glad to see your postings again and that you are still with us.

I had one thought about a possible resource that may be able to help. Adult protective services is a part of the department of social services found in the blue pages of the phone book. They are able to provide case management for some people and may be able to help financially or help you apply for disability -- and with depression and anorexia, you should qualify; as well as be able to transport you to counseling and even seek out some of these services for you. It's worth a look.

 

Toby, thanks and...

Posted by racer on December 29, 1998, at 14:56:14

In reply to Re: can you suggest? , posted by Toby on December 28, 1998, at 9:36:56

I talked to a nurse at the county mental health office yesterday. I'd like to tell you about it (as well as everyone else here).

When I posted here before about the lousy care that I felt I was getting, I knew that the docs were at least considering that it might be my perception rather than truth, and wondering whether that was really the case made me doubt my abilities even more. The nurse helped put that to sleep for me. She said that she heard what I was saying and couldn't agree or disagree because of professional conduct rules, but she did hear what I had to say and she has a plan to help me. Of course, it helped just to know that the care I was getting really wasn't adequate. (The doctor tends to say things like, "the drugs are working fine, you're just not responding appropriately." Just absolutely cutting me off.) THe nurse is going to present my case to the adult team, and they'll explore options for changes in my medications and any other services that they can find for me. Already she's given me the name and number for the local vocational rehab counselor, and is helping me to look into social security disability. It's really hard for me, because I can't bear to think that I'm so "mentally ill" that I can't work, makes me feel as though I really ought to be out on the streets, digging through the trash, but I'm working on that so that I can avoid that option. Really, with a choice between homelessness and suicide, I'd pick the latter hands down.

I guess the part of this that really helps is that the doors are opening again for me. That one nurse, without really having to do anything excessive, has helped me more than all these months of that doctor. I don't feel so rotten, because the nurse agreed that what I perceive as problems really are problems. The doctor was telling me all this time that my sleep patterns seemed normal, and the nurse was appalled when I told her the same things I was telling the doctor. The nurse said that the presentation team will look at adding another drug to the serzone that may help with the sleep. Helping with the sleep, I think, will help with the eating, too. Right now, I ate dinner last night, and lunch today, but I hadn't eaten since Friday before that. It's too hard to talk about that with anyone, and after the response I was getting from the doctor I didn't even try to tell her about that. (BTW, that's typical of depression for me, not typical of anorexic periods for me: in an anorexic phase, I'm more likely to eat five meals a day, but only about 50 calories per meal.) Anyway, now I'm getting some help from the county, and someone is stepping in to watch and help me get the help I need.

I still think that the doctor I'm seeing should be beaten and made to receive the same sort of care that she gives, but I also recognize that she is not withholding her best from me: she is just not capable of giving better care. She would probably be fine for someone who does not want to be involved in their own care, but I need the information and I need to be involved.

Thanks for all of the help I've gotten here, and thanks just for reading what I've had to say.


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