“I am sorry we are not accepting any new patients at this time.”
If you are a victim to this, it is safe to say you got off the phone disappointed or discourage to seek treatment. You possibly called a few clinics for the last couple of days just to hear the same statement more than once. Leaving you more frustrated and confused about the mental health system.
“Contact your insurance company”
Another statement that is widely used and sorta helpless. You call and may be on hold for a few minutes, follow the prompts and let the representative know who you are and confirm you are not trying to be someone else. All to give you a list of clinicians who may not take your insurance, not the right place, or once again not accepting new patients.
After a number of failed attempts, you start to think, “my thoughts were not that terrible, maybe I was having a bad day,” you may consult with a friend, and because you “appeared fine” to them, seeing a therapist gets brushed off. They may reassure you that you were having a bad day and talking about it to them was all you needed to do. You might even go online and read a few articles about coping skills and how to manage your stress. You then think, “I can do that, I don’t need to see anyone just for them to tell me this.” And life continues.
Until another road block...
Then you find yourself at an emergency room or in front of a police officer who tells you, you need to get evaluated for psychiatric treatment. They might even sell it to you and tell you that you are going to go to the hospital, talk to a few people and go home the same day. Only hours your find yourself admitted into a psychiatric unit waiting to be evaluated by a psychiatrist. (Sadly this happens way too often). Hopefully this has not happened or won’t happen to you. I agree the mental health system, police and emergency departments need to do better.
It may not have seemed like a big deal before, but too much time has passed and the behaviors can no longer be ignored. You become terrified of going into a psychiatric hospital all because of the movies you seen, or what society says about “crazy people” in an asylum. But you tried to get help, you called just like you were supposed to, you even reached out to the insurance companies and called clinics back to be on their waiting list, but no success was made. You become mad at the system because you are in a facility filled with people you “think” are crazy, only to realize they need a little bit of help, just like you.
I heard this story more than once when I worked at a psychiatric hospital. People would tell me their stories and how they didn’t belong there…you know with the “crazies,” I assured them that our patients were people who needed some help and that’s what we were there for. To help. Some people became receptive to treatment after a day or two, and others…well not so much. They fought tooth and nail about being behind locked doors and refused to take any medication until they had an epiphany during one of the coping skills groups.
I often wondered why it was so hard to accept treatment. However, I had to realize their journey prior to our encounter. What they experience and went through was something I had no idea about. Their life story and how they were treated growing up, all came down to a point where they sat in front of me with hopeless looks in their eyes. The thought of hurting yourself may sound crazy to others, but at that moment, the time where life seemed to have nothing left to offer, appeared to be the right choice to make.
I am glad you stayed.
I completely understand the frustration when scheduling an appointment. For seven years my job was designated to schedule follow ups appointment for clients leaving the psychiatric hospital. I did this all day for eight hours, mastering the craft and helping people with one less thing they had to worry about once they received their discharge papers. I made connections with outpatient providers, talked to clients and discussed what was best for them, once their inpatient stay became a memory. I attended to their issues to find ways to implement follow up care to match their mental health needs. It becomes complicated on so many levels but I was up for the challenge. Majority of psychiatric practitioners have, a three month waiting list, which is disturbing for people who receive a thirty day supply of psychiatric medications, with no refills.
I understand the turnaround.
I also understand the relapse in treatment because there is not enough support in the mental health community. Offices are overbooked and therapist are even complicated to get a concrete appointment with. All of this is going on while being emotionally unstable and unaware of what the outcome may be. Not to add, being in the same environment which may as well be the initial reason for the mental health breakdown.
I get it.
It’s complicated and that is why I created Helpful Living Magazine. It’s a resource, for people to connect. To read other stories and have access to the life of others as they talk about one of the most vulnerable moments of their life. Our goal is to give you hope, to connect readers with that therapist that wrote an article about the very thing you struggle with. To get a glimpse of who they are and understand how they can help you.
I am tired of the lack of services when it comes to mental health access. There are so many people in this world that have issues mentally, it’s time to stop throwing it under the rug and wishfully thinking that it will go away.