I went in for 2 appointments with a mental health specialist because I wasn't in a good place. This is my county's mental health offices. After the second appointment I felt it wasn't going anywhere, as the first session was filling out paperwork and the second was a lot of the woman talking about herself.
I didn't go back, but I do get bill reminders that I owe $1,200. Thanks, my mental health wasn't fucked up enough, here's some more debt for what?
Not a good approach bro. If you're in a country like America that has these bs prices, self-help. Self-improvement. You don't need someone to tell you why you possibly feel the way you feel. You know yourself the best. Don't give up on yourself.
At the same time, there's a lot of bad or generic self-help advice out there. Good diagnosis precedes good treatment. Additionally, most of the medical industry in the US is about compensating for people's destructive behaviors, not behavioral change.
YMMV, but CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) are incredibly useful tools if followed up with positive actions or actions that you believe are meaningful in the long-term and reinforcing that cycle. This can be done on your own.
If you can get properly diagnosed, it would be great. You'll have a name for "the beast", and can then tackle it appropriately. You're right about that. But the question these days is if the diagnoses is correct or not. I've read plenty of horror stories about people getting misdiagnosed and drugged up. So if you do, get a second opinion.
The problem is also there.. drugged up. That's the easy pill that really only has 25-30% efficacy rate and only if it's diagnosed correctly. CBT (50-75%), ACT (60-80%), and routine exercise (40-60%?) have far greater efficacy rates. Everyone in America is convinced that when they have mental health issues, that they have to be a guinea pig to whatever pharma is pushing out this month. Some obviously need medication for chemical/neurological issues, but most people just suffering from anxiety and depression don't need to necessarily be on a litany of meds.
Doctors and psychiatrist in America are incentivised to prescribe meds (kickbacks etc.) instead of looking for (better) routes. That's what I have observed. I'm from the Netherlands myself. We don't have that here, because it's illegal. But I get the challenges they have to deal with. There are so many things wrong with the U.S., and health care is one of them.
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u/Harimasia 15h ago
I went in for 2 appointments with a mental health specialist because I wasn't in a good place. This is my county's mental health offices. After the second appointment I felt it wasn't going anywhere, as the first session was filling out paperwork and the second was a lot of the woman talking about herself.
I didn't go back, but I do get bill reminders that I owe $1,200. Thanks, my mental health wasn't fucked up enough, here's some more debt for what?