Tag: psychotherapist

finding care in the off hours

by Midnight Demon, posted in depression

Last night I was in the throws of pain again. But my thoughts didn’t immediately turn to darkness Like they normally do. I wrote an email to my pdoc about what has transpired during the week and that I haven’t been faithful in taking the increase in my mood stabilizer for reasons beyond my control. Mostly because I have been driving and I don’t want to be drowsy behind the wheel. I also asked her if there was a hotline number she knew of to call in times of distress. She gave me one.

This all lead me to thinking maybe I should have a blog about this important issue…finding care during the off hours. For most people in therapy, when they are in distress after hours their and before their next session is to seek help in the local ER. This can be costly, as copays have more than doubled to deter such visits. But for mental health, there should be an exception made as there is really no other place to go while in distress. I understand that the cost is higher because care is more urgent and is most likely is trying to ward off unnecessary visits. But when you are in crisis, how can that be unnecessary? For the mental health field, there are no urgent care centers to go to in distress. It’s either you see your therapist or go to the ER (Emergency room). There is no in between. SO what are you supposed to do when you are somewhat distressed and cannot wait till your next visit with your therapist?

There are self-soothing measures. You take a bath/shower, read, journal, brush your hair for 100 strokes, eat something, etc. But when all is said and done, and you still feel terrible, then what? Most therapists have some kind of plan in place, or should be able to give you a hotline number such as Lifeline 1800-273-8255 (US only) or the national hotline number 1800-784-2433 (US only). I have tried calling the Lifeline hotline but have never been patient enough to wait to get transferred to someone. The other number I have not tried. There is also a text # 20121 and you text 121help. I don’t know where I got that number from but when I tried it the other day, it didn’t work. I never got connected to anyone, but that might be because of the hour.

There are chat groups, I am told, where you can discuss suicidal feelings and not be “punished/banned” or turned away. Unfortunately, I do not have that URL to share as I have not looked into that chat room. But when you are in distress, are you really going to google something??

There is something called a Crisis Response Plan that I sometimes use when I am in distress. UNfortnately, the last few times I have been in distress, all of the self-help went out the window and I didn’t use anything. I just ruminated about what I was going to do. It’s not perfect trying to save your life when you feel like ending it. I was not in the frame of mind to seek help.

Therapists think that a suicidal person always calls for help when in crisis and that simply is not true. Most clients become impulsive, wants to get rid of the negative feelings NOW and are in my experience, not likely to reach for help.

For me, writing has helped but not everyone has that option to them. I will blog my distress and might be fortunate to have a few bloggers comment to show support or to chat. But that doesn’t happen all the time. Most of the it’s hit or miss. My frequent blog readers might not be online at the time of my post and so not get it.

Sunday I participated in a chat that was for crisis intervention and I learned that there was a crisis text chat available. The intervention was either through chat or text message. I am going to looking into using this the next time I am in distress or when my mood goes south. It’s not always easy to think of these thing when your mind is thinking of ending your life. To use a DBT term, you just cannot tolerate the distress because it is unbearable.

I have been trying to identify when I am in distress so that I can reach out for help but it’s not so easy. The last few time I have used distraction or music to help me out of the intolerable feelings. I also will write in my blog or my journal but it seems like all bets are off if I am in intolerable physical pain. Chronic pain mixed in with getting my menses and dealing with it has been difficult this past two weeks. The waiting for pain medication to kick in is sometimes not fast enough to deal with mentally.

I wish there was some help I could have regarding physical pain and lethality but there are few pain specialists that deal with mental health issues and fewer still, psychologists that deal with pain issues. Even crisis help lines don’t know hot to deal with physical pain that is behind suicidal ideation. In a perfect world, you would like to see someone that is well rounded in chronic health issues and suicidality. Unfortunately, I don’t think they exist or they may just be too far and in between to help the greater good.

When I was being evaluated at my local pain clinic, I saw a pain psychologist. His job was to help me deal with pain. But he didn’t offer me an real advise the first time meeting him. I would have to set up a series of sessions with him but unfortunately this happened when I lost my car and he is too far out to see. If I saw him with public transportation, it would be a two hour commute, both ways.

The hardest part of being alone with your thoughts is that you are left to your own devices before the next session or when office hours are available. I wish there could be urgent care centers that are specific to mental health issues. Because not all crisis needs to result in a hospitalization. Sometimes just talking with an understanding person is the best treatment mental health professionals can provide.

Alka-Selzer and therapists

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, depression

I nearly just had a heart attack…not a real one just an OMFG YOU GOT TO BE F*N KIDDING ME one. I started word and instead of it loading right away, I got an install thingy, meaning it had to reinstall itself. HUH?? I know I uninstalled office 2013 earlier in the day, but that should not affect 2010, should it? Well, crisis averted because it seems to be working.

I have had a rough day. I again spent most of my session talking to my therapist about writing. Apparently she thinks I should be working on another book, like now. My first one hasn’t even been edited or published and she wants me working on another. Well, that’s a NO. I don’t think she gets that I am not a writer. Sure, I blog and I think I am good at that, but I am not a writer per se. Anyway, all this stress about writing books is making me want to drink. I would actually drink but my stomach is doing flip flops after the burger I had for lunch and my head is spinning because I haven’t worn my glasses for a couple of hours. HELLO Alka-selzer. Because isn’t that what you take when you have a headache and stomachache? I actually like drinking it. It is fizzy and usually tastes good. And it works fairly quickly.

Tomorrow I get to deal with my father. Got to take him for his blood work. I called him today and he was a little irate. Tough shit. I know if I was him, I would opt for a different medication but unfortunately he is (well, will be) 82 and has liver problems so it is kind of limiting what meds he can be on. So I have the aggravation of dealing with him every week for his blood test, unless I hear back otherwise. Did I mention I hate my parents this week?

I usually don’t deal with them on a regular basis. But since I have been getting up early, before 9 am, I have been dealing with my mother. She hasn’t learned that don’t talk to me before I am fully awake yet. So when she tries to have conversation with me that early, I am usually in a pissy mood. I am not a morning person. Today wasn’t so bad because I was actually really awake when I woke up from another weird fricken dream. I don’t remember it but think it had something to do with farms. I made coffee today that was a little stronger than the cup I made the other day. It was good but unfortunately, once I brought it to my room, aka freezer, it got cold really fast and I couldn’t finish drinking it. I had half a cup and that seemed to do it’s magic. It got me working on one of the manuscripts that I have been crafting…and I found that I repeated myself multiple times. UGH. Each time, I worded it differently so that made editing soooo much easier, NOT. I talked about it in therapy. Wrong thing to be talking about. She didn’t understand my dilemma. It didn’t piss me off but it just annoyed me because we were again talking about writing, rather than other stuff.

I don’t know what exactly I wanted to talk about today so I just let her lead me to what she wanted to talk about than what I wanted to talk about. We also discussed writing a book about my therapist experiences. That would be one interesting book. I have had 12 therapists over the course of a ten year span. She is number 12, and she almost wasn’t. After number 11 left me, I wasn’t sure I was going to go back to therapy. I was tired of therapists leaving me. Granted not all 12 left me. A couple I fired, but the majority moved on from their practice and so left me behind. It hurt every time. And that is a big hurt when you are trying to let someone in, you do, and then they leave. Moving on is harder because it just closes you up more. Today, my therapist can’t imagine her life without me in it. And I can’t imagine my life without her, though there are times I wish I could sever the connection. But after 13 years of dealing with her, I think she is a permanent fungus. There is no cure for her.

cabin fever and psychoanalysis

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, depression, mood disorders

I have been feeling cooped up as I have not gone out of the house, with the exception of picking up my prescriptions yesterday. That didn’t take too long, I might have been out of the house for at least thirty minutes or so, maybe less. Today I had no intention of going out but I have been stuck in my room because I really don’t want to eat all the food in the house. My appetite is crazy and I don’t know why that is. I know part of it has to be because of boredom. I am also alternating with eating and sleeping so I know the depression is still kicking around. But I need to get out of the house. The weatherman say a storm might hit tomorrow. He isn’t sure. Guess it depends on the currents and such. I hope it doesn’t as I really want to get out of the house tomorrow and have a jittery latte. I will be a bundle of nerves when I see my pdoc. That will be great! My not having coffee or caffeinated drinks is making me intolerant when I do have them.

I also have been craving alcohol, and not the rubbing kind. I have been having a drink here and there but now I seem to want it every day. I am really craving whiskey and I know it has to do with the increase in seeing my father more. He brings out the best in me. I tolerate him by drinking. Bad habit, I know, but I very rarely drink otherwise. And being stuck in the house is not helping the craving. I also want gin. I actually bought a whole bottle but only have had a sip of it. I like these drinks straight up, with no other liquid or juice, unless it’s other alcohol. Then it’s ok. I am not an alcoholic. I drink infrequently to be one. But when I do, it’s like the flood gates open. I drink until I get sick and then I stop drinking. I am a binge drinker, I will admit to that. I don’t know how I am going to handle dealing with my father’s illness and taking him to the doctors every couple of weeks for his blood test. I just want to drink. If I can’t kill myself, I will drink. I still owe my adoptive father a shot when he passed away. I will drink to his memory too.

Because I was bored out of my tree, I decided to pick up “the Savage God” and read where I left off. It was interesting reading this book when you are not so suicidal. Things actually make sense. Though the author was talking about Freud and his ideas of suicide and some other psychoanalyst I have never heard of, the concepts were valid in a weird way. Now I have not been in the psych field long enough to really give Freud his due. I did study psychology as an undergrad but it has been years since psych 101. I do actually plan on taking the course again so I can refresh my memory a bit. The author was also talking about the ego, superego, and Id. I forget which is which so I was just going by what the author was saying. And that is why I need to take this course again. I will break down and go to the community college down the street from me. I just hope I can enroll as a non-degree student. Or even take it as a, damn I forget the word. It’s when you take a class but you don’t receive credit for it. I know I will remember this at two in the morning. GGRRR.

The gist of what I am trying to say was that Freud had no clue about suicide anymore than anyone else. He used the term death instinct but there was really no basis for this as other people who followed him found out. So the big psychoanalyst couldn’t explain suicide like he could his other theories. I find that a little disturbing but I really want to read his work on melancholia. I am fascinated by Freud. I once read his book on humor. It was dry as all hell and at times difficult to follow but it showed the analytical side of why people crack jokes. It was very interesting. Course I have no idea where that book is today as I would love to re-read it. I think it is my only book about Freud. I hope to own his collections one day. Though I know there are not that many psychoanalysts in the world today. You are more likely to find an eclectic therapist than you are a traditional psychodynamic one. Though there are other modes of therapy. You have cognitive, cognitive behavioral, and then behavioral therapy. There are others, such as humanistic and something that begins with an “ex” that I always forget but they are not so much around here.

I have an eclectic therapist which means she doesn’t focus on any specific form of therapy but knows of the different kinds of therapy. It helps to have this type of therapist because you can talk more freely, I think anyways. And there is less therapeutic interference such as homework and such. Usually, I am bringing material to her more than she brings the material to me. And usually I give her the homework. HA how is that!

time and patience

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, mood disorders

Last night I was in excruciating pain. It was terrible. I emailed my psychiatrist that I was done. If my PCP wants me to jump hula hoops he has another thing coming. I am not buying into it anymore. I no longer care what is causing my pain. I know what helps my pain and that should be all that matters. He isn’t questioning my blood pressure medication. Why the hell is he giving me a hard time about my pain medication. I am sick of it. After last night, I swore to myself this was it. It’s the weekend so I can’t do a thing about it. My foot still hurts so I won’t be going out like I had wanted to. It probably would hurt me anyways.

I know I posted a lot yesterday and last night. I got the writing bug back so please forgive me. I have to express myself the best way I know how, by writing.

The President of the AAS posted an article about how the mental health care in the UK is going down the tubes. It’s been going down the tubes in the US for some time now. I know, I have been apart of the system. The hospitalizations don’t care about stabilizing you they just care if you aren’t going to hurt yourself when you leave. And then it is up to incompetent clinicians who don’t know how to deal with suicide and suicide ideation. Most don’t want to change their practice to the new system. Some won’t even attend a seminar about it. I think it has to be mandatory, statewide or they cannot renew their license. That is what I think. If they were to get into a program of CAMS or use the SSF I think there would be a lot less suicides out there for people that want help and this way here they won’t be turned down. But I don’t think there are enough clinicians to do the job. Graduate programs only have a minimum of five or six slots per year. That is a very small number for new clinicians. I also think there should be incentives to work with the population that most needs it. It’s all about triage. But can triage really work in the mental health system? Who is to say that the quiet kid in the corner who is hurting is not the worse off than the one screaming at the top of his lungs because voices are telling him they are going to kill him. I don’t have all the answers. But for those that want help should have priority over those that don’t want help. But unfortunately, those that don’t want help are truly the ones that need it the most. Those are the ones that will end up killing themselves. There is no easy balance. Everyone’s needs are different. And if you shy away from that person, you leave a bad impression about being cared for in that person’s mind.

In my case, if I stopped going to a therapist every time they left me, I would not be here. Sure, when that therapist left it gave me a bad taste in my mouth. But I knew I needed help and so I sought it out. Not every therapist is right for every person. Sometimes you have to go through several to find the one you can talk to the most and won’t be so judgmental, or feel like they are. It took me 11 therapists to find the one that I have been with for more than a decade now. It just takes time and patience to find that right one.