What is your experience with mental health services?

[sancta-simplicitas]

I'm here almost exclusively because of both psychiatric and therapeutic "care". Curious to see what it's like for the rest of you.

 

[Ln42]

I've had good and bad experiences of psychiatric care and mainly good experiences with therapy. It's too long a story to go into the details.

 

[DoubleUp8]

I'm done with all of it. I'm done with America and being disabled in inhumane America. I'm done with life. Period

 

[keg-ireland]

I'm from Ireland and our mental health services are a disgrace.

A few months ago, on a Friday afternoon, a young man presented himself to ER and begged for help as he was Suicidal. They told him "Sorry, mental health services are not available until 9am on Monday". The young man left the building and hung himself on a Tree on the hospital grounds completing suicide.

No help whatsoever.

 

[kindalone]

I'm from Ireland and our mental health services are a disgrace.

A few months ago, on a Friday afternoon, a young man presented himself to ER and begged for help as he was Suicidal. They told him "Sorry, mental health services are not available until 9am on Monday". The young man left the building and hung himself on a Tree on the hospital grounds completing suicide.

No help whatsoever.

Europe is always getting praised for having universal health care, yet they never really look into the quality or the availability of it. Mental health services are so fucking hard to come by. You get waitlisted to fuck and if you're stuck with a bad therapist, you have to go through all these hoops again just to try a new one. Suicidal ideation is a terminal illness with an unknown life expectancy. At this point, I'd rather support euthanasia than any kind of research.

 

[sancta-simplicitas]

Europe is always getting praised for having universal health care, yet they never really look into the quality or the availability of it. Mental health services are so fucking hard to come by. You get waitlisted to fuck and if you're stuck with a bad therapist, you have to go through all these hoops again just to try a new one. Suicidal ideation is a terminal illness with an unknown life expectancy. At this point, I'd rather support euthanasia than any kind of research.

I agree. I live in Sweden and I've been congratulated on it more than once because there is this idea that our healthcare is so excellent. Meanwhile people with psychiatric diagnoses have a 15 - 20 years shorter life expectancy here and we die in completely preventable things, because we are more often than not refused healthcare. Therapy isn't avaliable unless you want short-term CBT and/or have the money to go private (and even if you do, that field is so underregulated there is a very real risk of harm and when you do get harmed there is literally no help from society what so ever), psychiatry often leads to iatrogenic PTSD.

 

[Redleaf1992]

Europe is always getting praised for having universal health care, yet they never really look into the quality or the availability of it. Mental health services are so fucking hard to come by. You get waitlisted to fuck and if you're stuck with a bad therapist, you have to go through all these hoops again just to try a new one. Suicidal ideation is a terminal illness with an unknown life expectancy. At this point, I'd rather support euthanasia than any kind of research.

I feel this in the UK. Beginning of the year got a GP appointment and had to wait around 6 weeks (which is fast for uk) to see a mental health practitioner just to be sign posted to charities outside of the NHS and self help tools.

Very recently like an idiot realised I have get really good Private healthcare insurance via work. Got another appointment with a mental health practioner the next working day, and referred to a clinical psychologist all covered for, and was able to organise the first session for a few weeks after the referall (which I'm currently waiting for).

The difference between private and national health care is night and day.

 

[dinosavr]

My experiences were mostly good even though I haven't noticed much of a difference so far, but I definitely cannot blame it on my doctor and psychotherapist. They are qualified and good at their jobs, plus they are probably trying harder than I ever have :') I pay them good money to do it but still, I appreciate it.

 

[keg-ireland]

I feel this in the UK. Beginning of the year got a GP appointment and had to wait around 6 weeks (which is fast for uk) to see a mental health practitioner just to be sign posted to charities outside of the NHS and self help tools.

Very recently like an idiot realised I have get really good Private healthcare insurance via work. Got another appointment with a mental health practioner the next working day, and referred to a clinical psychologist all covered for, and was able to organise the first session for a few weeks after the referall (which I'm currently waiting for).

The difference between private and national health care is night and day.

The NHS us destroyed, has been for a long time. No longer fit for purpose.

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

Being hospitalised helped my eating disorder back when I was a teenager. Other than that I had very poor results. Antidepressants don't work on me.

 

[bunnyhugs]

In the US, I'd say my experience is thoroughly mixed. Both with psychiatry and therapy.

I've been in and out of both for the past 10 years. I'll get a bit better, and then worse again. It's quite disheartening, and led me to feel that the only way to "cure" me
is to CTB. Ups and downs are tiring.

It's fucked up, but I will say providers that don't take insurance are always 1000x better. Every single time. I used to pay $350/hr for a great therapist. As great as she was, I never lost my desire for ending it.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Beyond horrible.

 

[ctbcat]

they only like to constrict me and get rid of the little control i have over anything. i keep on trying to tell them it won't work. that i have control issues, et cetera... but fine, fuck you. i'll relapse into something else to get my fix of control through that, instead.

 

[Forveleth]

I have paid thousands of dollars to various shrinks over the years, telling them I need intensive therapy. First, I couldn't get any of then to diagnose me with what I actually have. All of them would just want to do talk therapy, which does nothing for me. The last one I went to, the "specialist", said I was too difficult of a case for them.

So, lots of money with zero return on therapy. All the meds I took had worse side effects than my depression.

 

[Lady Laudanum]

2 words: fuck them

That's all I have to say.

 

[penguinl0v3s]

Efficacy of treatment really depends on who your therapist and psychiatrist is. I've had very good results with professionals that were empathetic and listened, but professionals that were bad severely hurt my progress.

The takeaway is that if you think your professional is incompetent, don't be afraid to "fire" them and try someone else. I promise you that good professionals exist, it's just terrible that they're so hard to find :(

 

[UKscotty]

15 years ago it was great.

Now though, our government shut down most suicide prevention schemes and mental health services. You are lucky to get more than a few telephone appointments here, after like 9 months waiting.

The UK government wants us dead, not costing money.