Options for assistance?

[yada]

After over a year of being in this depressed state, I've made major strides in understanding my situation by myself, but with the support of some close friends. But at this point the situation is far from resolved, and I'm still holding on to find some resolution. What's worse is that I recently lost the support of those friends ... in some cases I can understand people not wanting to be around me if I'm always in a depressed state, but I can't understand why it seems like the person who I truly deeply confided in would seemingly try to hurt me on purpose. And I can't stand being made to feel like I am imposing on people when I clearly don't.

I can't beg anyone for support anymore, so I'm now looking for some professional help. Problem is that I'm very jaded by a past psychiatric experience, and in the recent past I was treated very rudely by someone at the suicide hotline. Even though everyone in south Florida is rude, I didn't expect that from the suicide hotline. I also expect that I can't tell anyone, not even a psychriatrist, certain personal things, so I question the value of the service I'll get. And finally, due to the depression, I've not been working much so finances are not great and I have no health insurance.

So with all these odds against me, are there any resources that could help me? IE: free psychiatry services? Any recommendations? I'm in the U.S. btw.

 

[weirdal]

i was out in the us a few weeks ago, and what i do rememebr seeing was an advert for a crisis. do you have samartians over there?

if not you can email the samartians over here they are extremly helpfull and happy to talk abotu anything in life, they can guide you towards the best options

hugs

xx

 

[TranceAngel]

as an option for lower income assistance, many therapists work on a sliding fee scale, and even around universities, they have counseling centers which are very low cost. in denver where i live, we have a facility which is only $2.00 per visit for low income clients. they don't look at your financial position, but if you feel you are low income, that's good enough for them. a little searching in your area should turn up help at a relatively low cost. good luck!

 

[shadi_saleh]

If you are in university, they probably would have free counselling at the counselling and development center (though most of the therapists may be students at the masters level). Or there may be a special bursary you can apply for, that you can use to pay for psychotherapy. Here in Canada, we a "bursary for students with disabilities" that gives post-secondary students $2000 for counselling and professional mental health. Look around, I'm sure you could find something.

 

[shadi_saleh]

Also, once you get diagnosed, there may be some form of government social assistance you can get in your state to help you out. Somebody from the US can better help you out with this, as I have no idea what is available there.

 

[MrDepressed]

I think the above replies are good at least a place to start looking.. I am also from Canada so cant offer much on what is available in your area.
I wanted to comment on what you said about being jaded by an experience with a psychiatrist... In the 12 years or so that I have met with these professionals I have seen about 5 psychiatrists and only one I liked, but sadly he moved from my area, there was on particular psychiatrist that was gonna see me, but I loathed this man and said if he even tries to talk to me I would break his legs.. at some point I decided to suck up my pride and give any psychiatrist a shot, but again sadly our area has 2 psychiatrists, 1 that was suppose to have retired well over a year ago now and refuses to see any new patience, and the other is so overworked the waiting list would be near impossible... now I depend on my family doctor to fill my psychiatrist shoes, but only as a team effort, I also have a psychologist who when all is said and done is a brilliant man but hard to take at many moments.
I wish you luck in your search.

 

[yada]

We do have samaritans in certain parts of the US, but I was mentally categorizing them together with the suicide hotline... expecting that they will probably be rude. Yeah, I know I shouldn't judge the whole system by a couple people I dealt with and having experienced only a small part of the system.

Interestingly last year at a party I met a girl who volunteers for the suicide hotline, and I picked her brain a bit on how the process works. Seems like they go through some training, then are taught to provide canned or general high-level responses. Callers are not assigned anyone specific as they don't want people to get attached to a counselor. Somehow knowing that does not make me feel like someone cares. Maybe I'm weird like that. Maybe I'll give them a call tonight.

TranceAngel, this sounds like what I do you know how I go about finding these places? If you even have a number for one near you, I can probably ask them how to find a similar place here.

I am not in University. No, I passed that stage over a decade ago.

Thanks!
Yada, yada, yada.

 

[yada]

BTW, I'll clarify something about the financial situation... I have been working very little, and after being in a very tough financial state some years ago when I started the business, I am now very cautious about where every dollar goes, especially when I have been unmotivated to work, as I am now.

If the psychiatrist system were a little better (ie: go see someone, expect good service, expect answers soon), I wouldn't mind spending the money on it, for my well-being, but everyone I've spoken with who's seen a professional has had similar experiences to what MrDepressed had ... they have to bounce from one to the other until they find one they're comfortable with. Here in the U.S. that's costs $$$. And wasting money like that would make me feel much worse.

BTW, this is generally my opinion with much of the medical system here in the U.S. ... it's a money machine, and the longer they keep you coming back, the more they make. It would be nice if we could talk to the professionals first for a couple sessions to see how we like them, then figure out if we want to use and pay for their services. Or perhaps payment should be contingent on them being able to make us feel better.

Yada.

 

[yada]

TranceAngel, any chance you could ask that low-income therapist service in your area, how I can find one in my area? I'm really desperate for some help still . :depressed
Thank you!

 

[JustWatchMeChange]

http://www.troubledwith.com/

 

[yada]

Thanks for the link. I'm emailing them now, but the website says they'll take 3-4 days to respond. :sad:
I'll have to find a payphone to call them today.

 

[chasing_dreams]

www.befrienders.org have lots of information on places you can contact in different countries.

The link to their US contacts is http://www.befrienders.org/helplines/helplines.asp?c2=USA

(I think you can also search by state and town)

 

[yada]

I've contacted all of these (samaritans, suicide hotline, befrienders, etc), and others (nmha, etc), even at multiple locations. I've also spoken with a friend who's a doctor, but I got only idealistic advice, and without even knowing what's going on with me. In the end, there's no success, at least none that I can afford. :sad: I've tried speaking with some of these services through email, and it seems like they don't offer advice anyway, but rather just a place/person to open up to. But opening up to them is a very odd experience, as I'm not really speaking with someONE that I can confide in and get help from, since each email gets responded to by whomever is available then, and they all respond with the same name to appear to be the same person. :huh: It's cold and formal, and doesn't work for me. Also, in some of these cases, responses come after 3 days, so it's odd carrying on a conversation with someone like that.

I've also looked into medicaid, but I don't qualify. :sad:

In all of this, what really made me feel comfortable was opening up to some relatives who made me feel, for the first time in my life, like I belonged somewhere. They encouraged me to open up at first, but later felt burdened, and misunderstood my actions as somehow being wrong or even evil towards them, and now they've asked me to get out of their lives. I feel betrayed, and now I have no family left. :sad:

It's been over a year since this depression started, and my best answers and progress to date have come from myself, this forum, and from doing lots of research on the internet, but all with the valuable support of those relatives ... that I no longer have.

Now I'm all alone, and not even the system that I've paid tons of taxes to in the past can help me. I feel betrayed by society, especially because I've always helped and still help others where possible, but feel like there no one to reciprocate, now that I need help.

I feel like I'm in a dark room and after groping every inch of every wall, I've deduced that there are no doors or windows. But somehow, I'm holding out just in case I discover some hidden door that I've previously missed. You'd think that my next likely statement would be "f*ck the world", but I can't, because this is all my fault isn't it? :sad: