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  1. #1
    Lioness's Avatar
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    How do you start treatment?

    I had always been meaning to start some sort of treatment or medication for my anxiety, but of course I would constantly put it off. Ironically because I'm too anxious about the process.

    It seems really stressful to have to make phone calls, figure out the financial part, and just.. auugh.I don't really have anyone in my life at the moment who can help me, so I'm just wondering how it was for some of you who have gone through this stage, or if you have any advice.
    Thanks

  2. #2
    Otherside's Avatar
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    If you're still in high school, there might be some sort of councilling service avalibille through that which should be free, or at least, you could get some advise from the councillor at school on who in area to see. The problem being, that there are a lot of therapists out there who can make things worse. There probably is charities around that will offer CBT or other sorts of therapy.

    Medications...a therapist won't be able to prescribe that. If you want to go on that, you'll need to visit either a GP or a psychiatrist. If it's just anxiety meds, a GP should be able to prescribe the medications to you. I'm not in the US and the system is totally different here, but if money is a problem and from what I've heard, it is possible to get some anxiety/depression meds pretty cheaply at walmart or wherever. Or you could always order them online from Canada or somewhere. Apparently that's supposed to be cheaper, but I don't know. Technically, you could get them without a prescription online, but you may end up with the cops at your door and well...it's probably best to get it from a pharmacist. At least then you know for sure what it is.

    And good luck. I've been through the whole asking for help thing. It's pretty scary.
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  3. #3
    Kory's Avatar
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    My first step would be seeing your GP. They can give you the recommendations to see a psychiatrist or a therapist. If you are in school they should have a counselor available for students and you can always stop in their office and ask for information about how to find a therapist or psychiatrist.

    For me, personally, my parents noticed I was extremely anxious and my mom had already known of a therapist that she had seen years ago. That therapist wasn't the one for me, but through them I was able to go to the hospital for a few weeks and there I was able to get the psychiatry stuff I needed and I was also able to find a therapist.

  4. #4
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    Unfortunately I think that you pinned it with the money point mainly because out of all of the therapists that I did see the one which was the best therapist may have been the one that I paid $75.00 an hour to see, but that was when I was making pretty good money and I paid out of pocket she did not take insurance. I even had great insurance at the time but couldn't use it to see her.

    Sounds like a real challenge you have ahead of you. In many ways I think that sites like this exist mainly because drugs and therapy sessions don't work, AT LEAST not for me personally. Not to get you discouraged or anything.

    Actually doing therapy or taking meds if you have the money and are in a good geographical location and have easy transportation to see the therapist is probably less intimidating than you think. The main struggle that I come up against is having a good therapist that understands the problem. Quite frankly most therapist I've been to just don't get it. Often I find therapists minimize the impact of anxiety/depression on a person's whole life. Mainly in the end the message seems to be just to live with it. Or be a guinea pig for the latest pharmaceutical concoction.

    So to be practical I would say the very first question is this:

    1) Do I have health insurance YES or NO
    2) If yes what kind--and what is their standard process for accessing these services
    3) If no-then where are my closest community health clinics
    4) If no insurance-do I have a lot of money I can access

    Typically if you have health care there is a list of people which your health care allows you to see.

    And of course then there is that whole question of modality what TYPE of therapy does one try??

    Also remember this you can sometimes contact people through email, you can contact therapists through email and other services that way. In the case that the telephone presents a daunting situation.

  5. #5
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    Most Therapy is dull. You just sit there, say Hi and would normally tell them about your symptoms stuff like that. You have complete CONTROL over therapy, you start it when you want to and end it when you want to.

    IT kind of annoys me how hard it is for people to find quality treatment for anxiety. Seriously it's because the issue is marginalized in my opinion.

    For me I was so desperate to try something that making the phone calls etc. wasn't the problem. But here I am 10 therapists later, 5-9 anxiety and depression meds later and now taking nothing, not seeing a therapist and still have the exact same problem of which I think possibly was never properly diagnosed in the first place.

  6. #6
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    Nope, I don't try any medications any more.

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