Mental Health Services - are you getting any?

November 17, 2010

The reason why I ask is because I was shocked to discover that I basically

CAN'T. Or to be precise, I can get mental health services, but only about four

months after I actually needed them. No wonder it's so hard to get someone with

BPD into therapy. You can't even get help here if you actually want some!

Basically I got a referral to the local mental health clinic because I showed up

in the emergency room feeling suicidal. So within a couple of days I get a call

from the clinic - fabulous! Finally I'm going to get the help I need to deal

with what I've been through! Or not. Because they tell me, " We can get you a

meeting with an intake counselor on January 10. " Of course, that's just the

intake meeting, they explained: if, after that, they think I need some therapy,

I can expect another 4-6 weeks' wait in between.

Umm . . . okay . . . I mean, I guess I'll take it. But either they have

absolutely no system of triage going on here, or half the population of my city

is suicidal. I'm seriously considering coming up with a suicide plan, not to

actually commit suicide, but just to tell doctors about it so I can get some

help! It's almost worth my while to get committed!

I suppose I can't really complain, because at least I live in Canada, where you

can actually get health services without paying for them out of pocket. Not sure

what the situation is like in the States, but any mental health services I'd

have to actually pay for would be completely out of my reach financially.

Getting therapy next February is better than getting no therapy at all, I guess.

But really . . . I sort of thought they'd start taking you a lot more seriously

once the s-word came into the conversation. Apparently only if you're

stockpiling pills or something.

So it got me to wondering, what's the mental health situation like where you

are? What system is in place to help you deal with the ramifications of your

background? Where does it help, and where does it fall short of the mark?

Psyclone

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