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Kicking an old thread because I just discovered it now. My question to the OP (and to everyone else diagnosed with ADHD) is, who diagnosed you? Was this a specialist or a general practitioner? And I'm guessing it was someone in the private sector that you were able to see through an insurance plan - am I correct? I'm absolutely positive that I've always had some kind of diagnosable disorder, whether it's ADHD, autism spectrum, mild schizoaffective disorder, who knows. I know what you say. Don't self-diagnose, see a doctor, right? Well, not that simple. I don't have health insurance. And my city has a free public mental health treatment organization, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not really an organization that provides real, genuine mental health treatment so much as it is a public-relations prop for the city. They set me up with a psych whose only job is to prescribe low-level SSRI antidepressants, and a therapist with no ability to diagnose and who tried to blame everything on the way my parents raised me. Basically, they weren't providing real treatment so much as they were going through a charade. Any time I would try to press them on what I was struggling with, their response was a self-serving, "that's just a label, why is it so important for you to have a label?" (Translation: "Why are you trying to force me to make an effort to figure out your issues? Why can't you just let me coast my way to an easy paycheck like I'm used to?")
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Sep 18, 2009 23:27
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I used to be a frequent pot smoker and sometimes it did motivate me to do poo poo but not always. And I've cut down drastically because it often aggravates my emotional insecurities. Of course, maybe I don't have ADHD but something else (autism? schizoaffective disorder? mild bipolar?). You're right that I shouldn't self-diagnose. But if you're uninsured, you pretty much have no chance of getting access to qualified professional help that can diagnose you properly. As I said, the public mental health system is nothing more than window dressing. They don't get anywhere near enough of a budget to accomplish anything meaningful. In that respect, I'm no different from the millions of uninsured Americans with no access to decent health care. With our current health care system, if you have any kind of ongoing physical or mental health issues which aren't immediately life-threatening, you're poo poo out of luck. But that's a rant for a D&D thread, not here.
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Sep 20, 2009 03:18
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opie posted:I was uninsured in college when I was first diagnosed, and paid out of pocket and drove 2 hours round-trip to figure out why I kept falling asleep in my classes and couldn't get any of my projects done. Failing out of school and being unable to pay back my student loans was not an option. It would've been nice not to have to pay so much, especially since I was poor at the time, but it was worth it.
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Sep 20, 2009 14:38
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Absolutely. From what I've gathered, it seems like in order to get decent treatment for mental issues like ADHD or Aspergers or whatever else, you're very likely to pay a shitload of money out of your own pocket, easily into the four figures. My former roommate is bipolar, and he is able to get by okay and function independently thanks to a medication regimen. Apparently, the doctor he sees is someone that his older brother pays for out of pocket. He and I were comparing our stories, and he observed that when it comes to getting any kind of mental health treatment, far more than in other areas, you truly do get what you pay for. In college he'd tried to get help through his university's mental health services and he had about as much luck as I did when I went through the city's public mental health services. Edit: In fact, I'm honestly becoming more and more convinced that the reason a lot of so-called mental health programs, such as the ones offered by the city or a university, even exist at all is to provide window dressing and make the people offering them look good, and not so much to provide genuine, serious treatment. drumwolf fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Oct 12, 2009 |
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Oct 12, 2009 13:58
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RightedBalance posted:So, what would one do if they think they might have ADHD but don't have any health insurance? See my earlier posts in this thread. Even if there's supposedly a public mental health program where you live, chances are that it's nothing more than a phony front to make the local city and/or state government look good. It's almost certainly not going to be funded anywhere near enough to provide any kind of REAL treatment. The so-called "treatment" I got from the city mental health services was the equivalent to having symptoms consistent with diabetes or a brain tumor and then finding that the people treating you would only provide aspirin and a massage. It took me a while to realize that they had absolutely no intention of even trying to diagnose anything, and I got the sense they were trying to cover up the fact that they weren't going to try to diagnose me. It was as if they were trying to bullshit their way through their jobs and just wanted to pass themselves off as providing mental health treatment.
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Oct 15, 2009 02:08
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Qu Appelle posted:Oh, and can I add that Adderall is the biggest mindfuck in the world?
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Oct 16, 2009 00:14
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OK, folks. I don't have health insurance. So if I wanted to get evaluated by a professional to see whether I have ADHD and/or Asperger's, (1) who should I go see, and (2) how much money do you think should I expect to part with? EDIT TO ADD: Also, if I did get my own health insurance, would it help me any in terms of finding a good psychiatrist, or would you still recommend I be prepared to pay out of pocket? drumwolf fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Apr 20, 2010 |
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Apr 20, 2010 02:55
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Zhentar posted:You'll want to look in your area for a mental health clinic I assume you mean a private one? Like I said earlier in this thread, San Francisco residents have free access to a city-run public mental health clinic, but that clinic seems to be there more to make the city look good than to provide genuine treatment. The "treatment" they provided me was a cynical sham. The best way to describe it would be to use this analogy: imagine if you showed physical symptoms that could be consistent with diabetes, intestinal problems or possibly even pancreatic cancer, and you go to seek treatment only to find that the only thing they will do for you is to give you aspirin and they keep trying to convince you that no, all you have is a cold and this aspirin will make you feel better.
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Apr 20, 2010 11:43
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The worst part is that there are a lot of so-called medical and mental health professionals who aren't much more well-informed than all of these well-meaning laypersons who say poo poo like "you just need to snap out of it" or "everyone's all like that" in a misguided effort to comfort you. My own therapist seemed like he wanted to convince himself that he could help me with my issues using good old-fashioned old-school platitudes like "oh, it all has to do with how your parents treated you as a child," without having to bother himself with silly newfangled labels like ADHD.
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Jul 27, 2010 00:50
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TheGopher posted:I hope you don't keep going to that therapist. There's a certain amount of "ok snap out of it" with any kind of therapy, but it's not like you guys talk for awhile, he snaps his fingers some point and you're all good. You're totally right about some medical professionals. Remember, 50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class. I can't afford health insurance so I don't have access to anything approaching REAL, genuine treatment.
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Jul 27, 2010 15:18
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Well, I started a new job a few days ago. I'm working there as a contractor, so they won't be supplying me with health insurance. However, I'm now getting to the point where I can actually start thinking about getting my own. And yes, this means I'm going to start looking at possible options for seeing someone who will evaluate me for ADD and treat me properly if I do have it. Any advice about what medical coverage plans I need to look at if I'm going to be seeking health care for this particular purpose?
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Oct 4, 2010 05:38
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drumwolf posted:Well, I started a new job a few days ago. I'm working there as a contractor, so they won't be supplying me with health insurance. However, I'm now getting to the point where I can actually start thinking about getting my own.
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Oct 4, 2010 15:54
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Crossposted from the mental health megathread in The Goon Doctor. I've posted before in both this thread and that one. But now I'm back, and I'm seeking some practical advice on where to go and what to do with my situation. I've had some kind of mental issues all my life, and from what I can gather, many of the symptoms are very consistent with ADHD, but I think I have reason to suspect it could also be Aspergers and/or OCD. Unfortunately, I have a little problem with having no health insurance to see a doctor who can properly diagnose and treat me. And as I already noted very early on in this thread, I've already tried turning to my city's public mental health services, and that really didn't work out so well. The public mental health agency in my city is utterly useless and ineffective, and the so-called "professionals" on its staff are lazy, stupid, incompetent and self-serving. (BTW, I didn't write the Yelp review in my second link. And I'm not privy to the inner workings of San Francisco's public mental health agency, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of anything that the reviewer, "Paul Q," says. However, let's just say that I did not see anything that would contradict Paul Q's review. Assuming he's right, it explains a LOT about the so-called "treatment" I got.) Now, the good news: One, I'm now starting to become financially stable enough to consider buying my own health insurance, at least at a basic level. And two, my parents recently said they'd be willing to personally pay for me to seek treatment with a specialist. So, that's where I'm asking anyone here for advice. Quite simply, what's the first step I should take? Should I go ahead and get my own health insurance before proceeding any further? Or can I go and seek out a doctor? And what kind of doctor or specialist should I consult? A psychiatrist, a neuropsychologist, what? And how much money should I plan to part with? Any useful tips appreciated. drumwolf fucked around with this message at 14:26 on May 26, 2011 |
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May 26, 2011 14:16
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blueblaze posted:I finally went and got myself checked for ADHD, with a psychiatrist that I was miraculously able to book an appointment with directly, without having to go through the whole doctor-referral process. He positively identified me as having moderate to severe ADHD and low-grade depression. I have some questions for you. First, how did you find this guy - through a personal reference, did you look him up online or did you find him through your insurance provider? Also, are you paying completely out of your own pocket or are you getting any kind of insurance coverage for it?
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May 27, 2011 06:31
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