We have a new update on The Future of the Penny Arcade Forums.

Questions About Anti-Depressants

The Crowing OneThe Crowing One Registered User regular
edited January 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
So after many years of "doing it myself" I've given in to the fact that I would probably live a healthier, more joyful life if I were to begin the process of getting onto anti-depressants and beginning therapy.

Due to a lot of shenanigans with my health insurance, I'm just able to, now, go ahead and begin making appointments to get this worked out. At the moment I am setting up a new PCP and searching for a therapist in my HMO's network. These appointments will take place as soon as possible.

In the meantime I do have a few questions for anyone who has gone through this process:

1) Do you generally require a referral from your PCP to get started with a therapist/medication?

2) How quickly can I expect to get this up and running? I understand that it takes time to get appointments, etc., but is there any way to speed it up?

3) Is there anything I should know about the process, questions etc. that I may not even be thinking about now?

Speed is my utmost concern. At the moment I have lost any motivation and concentration, and I need to be on something to help with this yesterday.

Thanks!

EDIT: I'm also interested about the process for medical leave for severe depression. I assume this requires an order from a doctor? Can anyone enlighten me on this? I was hoping to be able to take a short-term disability while I wait for things to level off, because my work, itself, is a large portion of my stress and depression, but certainly not a root cause.

3rddocbottom.jpg
The Crowing One on

Posts

  • DeebaserDeebaser on my way to work in a suit and a tie Ahhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    It all depends on your state regs. Mental Health benefits vary wildly state to state and plan to plan. While you're waiting on your PCP visit, call your carrier and ask them whether you even need a referral for psych and what your benefits are. Chances are this will not be fully covered physician-wise, and you will need to be aware of that for budgeting purposes.

    Good luck, dude.

    Deebaser on
  • mare_imbriummare_imbrium Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Also ask them if they limit the number of visits they'll cover to mental health professionals. I'm currently stuck with a plan where they only give 20 visits total (psychiatrists and therapists both count towards the total) per plan year, even though that is illegal in California law. But in your state laws may differ and your plan may limit you - sucks when your therapist wants to see you once a week or once every two weeks and then you find out four months later you can't go anymore.

    mare_imbrium on
    v2zAToe.jpg
    Wii: 4521 1146 5179 1333 Pearl: 3394 4642 8367 HG: 1849 3913 3132
  • The Crowing OneThe Crowing One Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Deebaser wrote: »
    It all depends on your state regs. Mental Health benefits vary wildly state to state and plan to plan. While you're waiting on your PCP visit, call your carrier and ask them whether you even need a referral for psych and what your benefits are. Chances are this will not be fully covered physician-wise, and you will need to be aware of that for budgeting purposes.

    Good luck, dude.

    My insurance is (now) pretty good, and I had the option to take a plan that is specifically good with mental health benefits. I'll check with my provider.

    I'm in MA, so health care law is rather decent.

    The Crowing One on
    3rddocbottom.jpg
  • matisyahumatisyahu Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    1. Not in my experience, but this varies by state.
    2. This is completely anecdotal, but I've lived in suburbs, a college town, and Chicago, and I've never had to wait more than 2 weeks to get an initial appointment. Usually can get in within a week.
    3. Just that you should ask yourself what you're expecting to get out of this. It's hard to know when you've had "successful treatment". For me, I realized it was working when I no longer felt like my problems were rational and fundamental, like the only real way to alleviate my motivation/concentration/depression problems was to get hit by a bus. Somewhere along the line I started to feel aspirational instead of desperate, that I'm not beholden to worsening feelings of worthlessness but I have the chance to improve my own condition with a bit of effort. I still felt like crap but I felt like someday I might not feel like crap. This was not a revelation, it took many years, false starts, and failures to get to this point. It has been a frustrating process for me but it was ultimately worth it.

    So I guess I'm saying that what you should know about the process is that at times it can be slow and frustrating, at times it can seem completely pointless, but even the distant possibility of success makes it worth the trouble.

    Other, more practical matters--
    -If you don't like your therapist, don't hesitate to change. Don't change because they're not telling you what you want to hear, but change if they're not empathetic, there is no connection, or you have completely different worldviews (one shrink tried to tell me I had to accept Jesus Christ, for example).
    -It takes 4-6 weeks for anti-depressants to do anything once you get started and ramped up to a full dose, as I'm sure your doctor will tell you.
    -If you're a guy, you may experience some changes in your boner and/or your jizz on antidepressants. Decreased sex drive and difficulty blowing loads are fairly common side effects.
    -I'm not sure of your age or situation or the severity of your condition or anything, but when I was in college and just wasting my days away playing video games and gorging myself on deep dish pizzas alone in my apartment, not getting a job or doing my homework, the biggest thing that kept me functional was joining a group therapy thing with a few other guys my age.

    matisyahu on
    i dont even like matisyahu and i dont know why i picked this username
  • The Crowing OneThe Crowing One Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    matisyahu wrote: »
    So I guess I'm saying that what you should know about the process is that at times it can be slow and frustrating, at times it can seem completely pointless, but even the distant possibility of success makes it worth the trouble..

    Thanks for all this, it's immensely helpful.

    I know I'm in for a "long-term" ride back to health. To go into a bit more detail, I'm 25 and male. I've recently (2 years ago) quit a nasty drinking habit which was, to my best knowledge, a huge symptom of my depression. This isn't anything new, and I was actually on meds over ten years ago when I was 13-14. At that time ti caused bigger issues, and I was able to be happy and fulfilled. 5-6 years ago is probably when this all started up again, and I was always able to "get by" well enough for the first few years.

    It's only been very recently that I ended up feeling as if I needed professional help. I've experienced a loss of concentration and severe loss of motivation. Lack of appetite, a complete lack of any enjoyment or enthusiasm for some of my favorite things, etc. I have what can probably be described as rather "run-of-the-mill" symptoms. I had always thought I was close to bipolar previously, as I'd have 2-3 months of extreme joy and productivity followed by short 1-2 week periods of mild depression. Recently (in the last 6-12 months) this has shifted to consistent and constant depression.

    I'm really just looking for a stepping-stool to some kind of recovery. I have, all my life, dealt with my depression in constructive ways, but recently I feel as if I'm so "buried" under my lack of motivation and malaise that I can't even begin the process of doing anything about it. I attempted to apply to schools for my masters this past fall, and found that I was unable to complete the process which creates a huge cycle of failure which keeps me in the position that I don't want to be in.

    I'm hoping for a "jump-start" with meds and continued therapy to get my life moving again. I hear you on the "all I did was eat pizzas and play video games" as I feel as if that's all I am capable of doing, currently.

    The Crowing One on
    3rddocbottom.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.