Basic life skills

A repository for intrinsically valuable information

Re: Basic life skills

Postby skooma » Sun Mar 22, 2015 5:05 am

Apparently it's called "latrophobia", PSTN, and I've had it all my life too. Aside from severe generalized anxiety/panic disorder, I have two specific phobias, one of which I've talked about around here and got wonderful support.

The other is absolutely anything even remotely medical, to the point I refuse to watch shows or movies with it, no matter how good they're supposed to be, and will drive out of my way to avoid passing a hospital.

Having the constitution of an army of battle mechs meant this worked great for a really long time. More recently *infer all kinds of cussing here* I burst into tears for about an hour over getting checked in to one of those hideously terrifying places. Maybe I wasn't in the greatest mood to start with, but that was about getting checked in after hanging around an ER for awhile.

Orange is right, most professionals respond very well to knowing how you feel about these things. Not all, but most, and as hard as it can be, it's always worth finding the good ones, who are genuinely respectful and supportive. I have a two hour drive to get to a primary care I'm okay with, and that hospital was in the next town; it's rated the 5th best in my country, while everyone here knows to avoid the local one. Don't settle or compromise, is my point, I could talk for a year about all I went through to find medical I can trust, but it's your health and their job to help. I know it can seem impossible, but remembering what really matters can make all the difference too.
  • 7

Skooma seems the type of person to chase me down and force me at gun point to receive their encomium with good graces. ~Jack Road

* I got caught in the crossfire of one of skooma's fucking frisbees ~Sister Morphine
User avatar
skooma
TCS Necromancer
TCS Necromancer
 
Posts: 669
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2014 10:21 pm
Location: Stuck in your door
Show rep
Title: The Lightning

Re: Basic life skills

Postby Jack Road » Sun Mar 22, 2015 11:08 am

[Deleted]
  • 3

Last edited by Jack Road on Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Jack Road
TCS Guerilla
 
Posts: 3507
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 8:38 pm
Show rep

Re: Basic life skills

Postby TheCat » Sun Mar 22, 2015 12:29 pm

PSTN wrote:So that leaves the question, what is it, and how am I supposed to access it?

Which country? Because it matters. (Meaning I can pay a visit to psychologist/psychiatrist/therapist for free, but no idea how that would work in usa).

Regarding psychiatrist/psychologist(therapist)

psychiatrist: a tired and slightly nutty-looking person that prescribes medicine and gives you tests occasionally.
psychologist/therapist: a friendly-looking person that talks to you a lot, but rarely prescribes anything.

You meet psychiatrist if you attempt sucide or thoroughly depressed to the point where the system needs to keep you in sight, have mental illness (like schizophrenia) or personality disorder.
You meet psychologist/therapist if you're feeling lost or slightly sad or want to deal with phobia of sorts.

Normally I'd expect that if you wish to pay a visit to psychiatrist/psychologist, then your normal doctor could direct you to someone during routine checkup/consultation.
  • 0

TheCat
I'm new, be gentle
I'm new, be gentle
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:08 am
Show rep

Re: Basic life skills

Postby cmsellers » Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:37 pm

TheCat wrote:Which country? Because it matters. (Meaning I can pay a visit to psychologist/psychiatrist/therapist for free, but no idea how that would work in usa).

PSTN is in Canada, specifically the frigid, windswept, and desolate province of Alberta.
Thats why a lot of us can't quite help him with that. Because we're from the USA, and Red Canada has communized medicine.

(Actually, single-payer would be a good thing, except that we're not quite sure how he goes about finding a provider without an insurance company to tell you which providers they'll accept.)

TheCat wrote:Regarding psychiatrist/psychologist(therapist)

psychiatrist: a tired and slightly nutty-looking person that prescribes medicine and gives you tests occasionally.
psychologist/therapist: a friendly [bored]-looking person that talks [listens] to you a lot, but rarely [never] prescribes [or even suggests] anything.
[social worker: a friendly, possibly slightly granola, person who listens to you, asks pertinent questions, and can provide useful feedback in a non-judgmental context.]

Fixed it for you.
  • 1

David Wong wrote:7. "But this is the last non-terrible forum on the internet! The rest are full of trolls and Nazis!"

That's just not true at all.
User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Basic life skills

Postby CarrieVS » Sun Mar 22, 2015 4:05 pm

cmsellers wrote:PSTN is in Canada, specifically the frigid, windswept, and desolate province of Alberta.
Thats why a lot of us can't quite help him with that. Because we're from the USA, and Red Canada has communized medicine.

(Actually, single-payer would be a good thing, except that we're not quite sure how he goes about finding a provider without an insurance company to tell you which providers they'll accept.)


Well I don't know about Canada specifically but I do live in a country with socialised medicine, and over here a good place to start is going to see one's GP. They should know how you can access help, and may be able to give you contact details, or a referral if needed.

If like me 'your doctor' is a practice with various doctors, see if their areas of expertise are listed anywhere - they might be on the website if there is one. There may be one who specialises in mental health, and you may be able to ask for an appointment with that specific doctor (they shouldn't ask why you need to see a specific doctor, it's a perfectly normal request).
  • 3

A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
User avatar
CarrieVS
TCS Redshirt
TCS Redshirt
 
Posts: 7103
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:43 pm
Location: By my wild self in the wet wild woods waving my wild tail
Show rep
Title: Drama Llama

Re: Basic life skills

Postby PSTN » Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:38 pm

The problem with getting a referral from a doctor is that I don't have a doctor. I used to, when I was little, but he retired when I was twelve or so, and I just haven't gotten a new one since. Mostly because there's just not that many doctors (or professional anythings) here. Whenever we do get a new doctor, they usually fill up their patient list pretty quick.

If I have an emergency, we have a hospital, but beyond that I'm mostly on my own, medicine-wise. This is a pretty sparsely populated area, my town has some 56,000-odd people, and it's by far the biggest city within at least a three or four hour drive, so I might have to look into something like tele-medicine.

Spoiler: show
Fun fact about Canadian population statistics:
There are fewer people in all of Canada than in just California, and 90% of the population lives within 100 miles of the border. Most of them in Ontario and Quebec, so the rest of the country is essentially Siberia.
  • 6

User avatar
PSTN
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1422
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:24 am
Show rep
Title: II

Re: Basic life skills

Postby NoodleFox » Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:13 pm

Maybe you can check a local hospital and see if they have mental clinics on file? Or they may have a group session kind of thing they do. I've been seeing a psychiatrist/therapist since I was....5? It was for painc and anxiety disorder in the beginning. I don't remember much, but as I got older, I moved onto different psychiatrists/therapists until today (I'm still seeing them, but not very often as the medication I'm on makes me what constitutes as normal in society). Basically, therapists are people who you can talk your ear off about your problems and life and not only help you, but not to judge you. Mine is super awesome at not judging people c:

They do do a six month check up of sorts (where I go, at least); have you had racing thoughts, thought people were out to get you, questions like that to get a guage of your condition and how well you're currently faring.
And it may take years to find the right medications. I can't remember how many types of anti-anxiety/depression meds I've been on, but I finally found the right combo a few years ago. Might be because puberty is a bitch and hormonally screws you over until you're in your 20s...at least, that's what I thought in my case...

Anyways, I hope you find the help you need!
  • 7

User avatar
NoodleFox
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
 
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:16 pm
Location: Kekistan
Show rep
Title: Third Person Facepalm-er

Re: Basic life skills

Postby Tesseracts » Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:20 pm

I hate to give this advice because it's not very realistic advice, but... you should move. You live in the middle of nowhere and that doesn't give you many options. I live in a highly populated area and it still took me a long time to find good mental health professionals.

Here is some slightly more realistic advice: don't give up. There are people out there, you have to find them.
  • 7

User avatar
Tesseracts
Big Brother
Big Brother
 
Posts: 9653
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:31 am
Show rep
Title: Social Media Expert

Re: Basic life skills

Postby PSTN » Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:49 pm

Moving is probably not an option in the near future, and probably not even considerable until I get my anxiety issues dealt with, but I am aware of the general shittiness of my town.

I'd like to go to college or university eventually, but between having to move to do it (we only have a community college that mostly focuses on trades), somehow finding enough money to fund it, not being familiar with the "system" of post-secondary education, my anxiety issues, and the fact that I'm already 26, I don't think it's likely.
  • 6

User avatar
PSTN
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1422
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:24 am
Show rep
Title: II

Re: Basic life skills

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:16 am

It's no help now, I realise, but if you were at college or university you'd almost certainly have access to mental health services provided by them.
  • 8

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: Basic life skills

Postby PSTN » Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:50 am

Bit of a "chicken and the egg" situation, eh?
  • 4

User avatar
PSTN
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1422
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:24 am
Show rep
Title: II

Re: Basic life skills

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:57 am

Unfortunately.
  • 3

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: Basic life skills

Postby NathanLoiselle » Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:08 am

Although public colleges and university's try to make it difficult to access. They do have a health care plan, in fact it's better than mine and mine is pretty good, that includes access to psychologists, mental drugs, psychiatrists, and therapy. At least the ones in Ontario do, and I suspect across Canada.
  • 4

User avatar
NathanLoiselle
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 4484
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2014 3:49 am
Location: You'll Never Know!
Show rep

Re: Basic life skills

Postby Kate » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:14 am

Phone thing - I have a friend who I make appointments for sometimes because she gets too anxious to make the calls herself. If you have anyone like that, that might help a lot.

I found this link here and apologize if someone has already linked it. According to that, no referral is needed. As for your parents, make a good cover story if you can. Keep it true if you need to; "I'm going to the doctor. I have this psoriasis thing." Technically, there is not a lie in that statement at all.

If you don't have a friend who can help with the phone thing, this is what I usually do when I need to make a call. And believe me...it is not easy to do for myself. Or for other people but that's slightly easier.

I just pretend I'm ordering a pizza. I write down my statement, the same as I write down my order before I order a pizza. I read it off when they answer the phone. And then, when it's done, I honest to god heat up a frozen pizza or make myself pasta because holy shit do I not like talking to people over the phone and I need a reward XD

I have a lot of doctors I need to go to, so that works out to a metric ton of carbs, but hey, the system works! Sometimes I like to anticipate what questions they might ask; I'm in America so I need to have my insurance card ready just in case. My script even includes my birthday. Because apparently that's something I'm going to need to refer to a script for.

I'm sorry that you're struggling with this. It's really brave to take the steps you're taking. Here in the US, I managed to find someone by talking to my doctor, but I could have just as easily found them by doing a web search through my insurance company, which I had done before I got the guts to talk to him about it. Then I sat around on the number for about four months until a very good friend sat with me on IRC while I made the phone call. They emailed me forms, I filled them out, and then...I went in. I saw my psychiatrist first. It was difficult; she asked me why I was there. And that question was something I guess I should have expected, but didn't. And everything just kind of poured out. I saw my therapist next. She's the one who I refused to call for four months, but man am I glad I called. I went in and talked to her. The first session was a lot of me telling her what problems I was having, and what I hoped to get out of talking to her. Since then, like avi and cmsellers said, it's been a lot of "how was your week? How can we make your next week a good one?"

She talks to me by email, I never have to call her, and I like it that way XD
  • 10

JT's Art Thread - JamesT's awesome stuff.
User avatar
Kate
Gul DuKate
Gul DuKate
 
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:08 am
Location: Assembling Future Kate
Show rep
Title: Sheepwoman

Re: Basic life skills

Postby Learned Nand » Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:05 am

By the way, whether or not your bosses are your parents, they can't sack for you seeking therapy; that's not legal under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I don't know about you relationship with your parents, but this isn't necessarily something you even have to keep secret.

EDIT: never mind, just remembered you're in Canada. But I'd imagine there are similar protections there.
  • 5

Terry Pratchett wrote:The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

Click for a Limerick
OrangeEyebrows wrote:There once was a guy, Aviel,
whose arguments no one could quell.
He tested with Turing,
his circuits fried during,
and now we'll have peace for a spell.
User avatar
Learned Nand
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:18 pm
Location: Permanently in the wrong
Show rep
Title: Auditor of Reality

PreviousNext

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests