<p>Get a second opinion.
Also see if techniques like meditation or psychotherapy or neuobiofeedback can help you so you don’t need the ADD meds.</p>
<p>I am ADD, and have taken ADD meds. I did not like the meds because they made me feel manic. I have since found that a regular meditation practice helps greatly with my focus.</p>
<p>Are you seeing a psychologist, EK4, for the depression? Since you are reluctant about medication in general (I, too, only take medication when definitely necessary), it seems you should investigate what therapy can do for you alone, and then re-evaluate your need for medication.</p>
<p>I have been treated for depression in the past its true- but I think that was a misdiagnosis exacerbated by living with someone who is an addict( who is now in recovery) and was abusive, compounded by lack of outside support( according to both my and his family, the addiction wasn’t relevant and the abuse was my fault) & not only a high need spouse, but kids who were high needs.</p>
<p>Im not currently diagnosed with depression as far as I know now.
In any case I am eating and sleeping ok</p>
<p>I am going to look into restarting the yoga classes I was taking with my 16 year old.
She got pretty busy with rugby and school work, and my gym has yoga included ( although only if you are 18)- it is relaxing though, and helps with my breathing.</p>
<p>I also have to get back on my vitamin regimen, which I have been neglecting since I have been so busy ( I know)</p>
<p>Im also looking into getting a life/ADD coach.
I think I can use some help with setting/working toward goals</p>
<p>But really, my intent upon starting this thread wasn’t to air my dirty laundry, but was to express my concern about the difficulties in getting “help”.</p>
<p>Even if someone is inclined to get “help”, which is a huge step, as many feel they don’t need it at all, dealing with logistics let alone paying for it can be daunting.
And what when we have * great* concern over someone, what can we do?
An “intervention” only helps when they are ready for it, what if they aren’t ready, but we are afraid of lawsuits & stepping on their legal rights?</p>
<p>I am thinking of all the other Chos out there, who are being pushed by an increasingly stressful society, but we don’t have a safety net for some.</p>
<p>If someone has untreated diabetes, or a heart condition, those things are going to be checked for, ( hopefully) during an annual exam, at least once you get to a certain age.
But psychological conditions, some that don’t present until adolesence or later, aren’t obvious and we don’t have good tests for.</p>
<p>I suppose my doc would say this is a sign of increased anxiety, but the numbers of young people without much safety net or ins, who may be at risk for these diseases , and the numbers of people already on the streets, many of whom are veterans, and the likelihood of their numbers increasing once more troops come back to the states worries me as well.</p>
<p>We should be able to care for our weakest citizens.
[you’re going to Iraq, soldier](<a href=“http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200608/babylon-by-bus-5.html”>http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200608/babylon-by-bus-5.html</a>)</p>
<p>( and is anyone else having difficulty posting? I have to refresh the page each time, instead of just hitting post)</p>
<p>I am so sorry for your problems and agree 100% that mental health services are scarce these days, and difficult to access.</p>
<p>One thing you wrote caught my eye, in particular, in post #23, which states that you were held responsible for your husband’s abuse. Was this a typo, or am I reading it wrong? I always thought that someone was accountable for his own actions.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I wish you luck. Sounds like you have not had good, centalized care.</p>
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<p>I agree that this is worth a try. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work. Two years ago we had health insurance with the nation’s largest provider. We needed to have our D seen by a psychiatrist to be evaluated for drug therapy in Tallahassee, where she attends school. We discovered that there was not a single doctor in that city who would accept our insurance plan. We called to see if they would make an exception and cover the doctor recommended by our D’s psychologist. They refused. We were told that she should try to get an appointment with a doctor in Georgia, 50 miles away. That doctor was the closest one to Tallahassee who accepted the plan. We decided that our D did not need the additional burden of making a 100 mile round trip on a regular basis. We ended up paying the full cost, out-of-pocket for her to see a doctor in Tallahassee.</p>
<p>My husband and I were shocked to learn that there was not even one psychiatrist in the capital of Florida that was on our insurance companies plan. As I said before, the company was the largest health insurance company in the country!! I think it’s outrageous. If my daughter had diabetes or some other chronic health condition, I don’t think we would have had a problem. Because she had a mental health problem, she was treated in a manner I consider quite unreasonable.</p>
<p>As it turned out, my D was diagnosed with epilepsy. The undiagnosed epilepsy had caused her all sorts of emotional problems, including depression. The depression led her to the mental health system and the epilepsy was diagnosed by the psychiatrist at her first visit. The seizure disorder has been confirmed by a neurologist at home. D still sees her psychiatrist fairly regularly to have her anti-seizure meds monitored. It took years for us to get D’s problems diagnosed correctly. We are pretty confident that her psychiatrist has gotten it right. Since D has been taking anti-seizure meds, her life has improved greatly.</p>
<p>I agree it’s very difficult getting help. Even if one has insurance that covers a therapist’s treatment, where I live, one may have to wait for months for an opening. My insurance covers 26 mental health visits a year with a $25 copayment each time. Twenty-six visits would be enough treatment to help many people with mild to moderate problems, but isn’t enough to cover people with severe mental illnesses.</p>
<p>Without insurance, the costs are extremely high: $100-$125 an hour for a social worker or psychologist where I live, higher to see a psychiatrist. Add to that, my area, a mid sized college town, probably has less than 5 psychiatrists in the city. I know people who drive more than 2 hours to see a psychiatrist. Those are people who are well off, have well running cars, and have jobs with flexible hours. Most people aren’t that lucky. Certainly, a family like Cho’s would have had a very difficult time getting help in most areas of our country. More than likely, they lack health insurance. </p>
<p>They also would have had a hard time finding a psychiatrist , psychologist or social worker who also would be able to connect with them on the cultural issues. It’s important for patients to feel comfortable with their therapists, and there are not very many Korean psychiatrists or psychologists.</p>
<p>It is extremely hard to get into see a psychiarist in my town. There aren’t very many of them and most of them don’t take insurance. Also as Northstarmom pointed out many aren’t accepting new patients. When my ADD son was having problems with medication his pediatrician wanted him to see a psychiatrist but said good luck finding one who will see him. Luckily we had a connection and were able to get him an appointment right away. We pay out of pocket a large sum and get just a token amount back from the insurance company.
While meeting with the Disabilities director at one of the schools he was considering the woman told us that he would have a hard time finding a psychiartrist who would be willing to take him on and write his prescription. They could give him assistance in finding a nurse practioner who would write his prescription. I know for my son it took lots of trial and error to find the med that works best for him with the least side effects. I think if he had continued to try with the pediatrician he would have stopped taking them altogether since he hated how they made him feel.
With my insurance you get a certain number of visits but that can be increased depending on the diagnosis.</p>
<p>Try a reputable university clinic, where grad students train. Way back in the '70’s my brother had serious depression. I remember I referred him to Yale, and they had a very reasonable sliding scale.</p>
<p>Good hospitals often have clinics with excellent staff also–again, sliding scale.</p>
<p>EK,
Sending lots of hugs and support your way. My two cents: please, please, please make sure that you are checked out by a good GP or internist to make sure there’s not some underlying medical cause. </p>
<p>I went to my doc complaining of extreme fatigue, general pain and overwhelming sadness. I had been laid off of my job two months previously (from a mental health advocacy group, no less), so it was not a big leap to consider depression. She prescribed an antidepressant, thought I might have fibromyalgia (which antidepressants can help), and sent me on my way. Six months later, no change. Went to a rheumatologist, who did blood work and for the second time in six months, the lab couldn’t get results because of a “cloudy sample” (lipemia). Both docs blew it off, even though I raised the issue and looked up lipemia on the web. After another six months – turns out it was leukemia. The cloudiness was an elevated white blood cell count. The onc thinks I was subclinical when I saw my GP and in active disease when I saw the Rheumo.</p>
<p>It irritates me to no end that for all the talk about bringing equity in coverage to mental illness, there is still such a gap in the reality – whether it’s doctors who will accept insurance, medication coverage or hospitalization.</p>
<p>ek4,
The phenothiazines are an older class of antipsychotics, and can have side effects. I can understand your hesitance. Any reason he isnt considering the newer antipsychotics (Respirdal, Abilify, Seroquel, etc)?</p>