Question:
Depression treatment at university? (Need advice/reassurance)
Answer:
A number of people have mentioned experiences with trying to get treatment while in school... this past winter I fell back into the depression which I experienced from age 8 until 17, and I知 trying now to use the school's mental health services. My parents have insurance (I知 in the us), but they're very anti-treatment, even though my mother seems to suffer from depression herself, and on top of that they seem to think my depression is just something I make up to be a nuisance to them...so I知 trying to get treatment on my own, and I知 wondering what other people have done, in the us would be most useful, but outside it also, because I知 curious. I'm on my second univ. therapist - the first was nice, but too young and
girlish for me to talk to (she was a practicing student). This one is older, and very new-age-y, which I could take, except that she always jumps to conclusions about everything I say, trying to fit my life into the most convenient stereotype without really having to pay attention. Has anyone had success with univ. provided therapists, or have you had to go outside the school to find someone? Could you afford it? This Tuesday, I have an appointment with the p-doc the univ. contracts
with... he makes me nervous, his voice is like a cross between a dentist,
a car salesman, and a pediatrician. According to therapist #2, he's
"conservative" about medication, which also worries me a little, because i
don't want to spend forever fighting to get medication at all/ get it up
to a reasonable dose... Also, one of my mother's sisters had a hypomanic
episode when she started taking Prozac, should I mention that to him? I'm
also worried about paying for the medication, my SO is offering to help me
with it... i feel bad about letting him do that, but i know he doesn't
care as long as i get better... Are there generic versions of meds at all,
yet? Has anyone had good experiences with treatment while in college? I
could use a little reasurrance, most of the posts i've seen so far have
been about how univ. therapists/p-docs have screwed people over....
*wave* Hi! I'm in the US, and my situation was pretty much the same as
yours; my HMO doesn't have a huge amount of support for mental health
benefits, and my mother thinks all psychologists are "stupid" and "just trying
to get your money" anyway. *siiiigh* So I went to my university's (free! )
counseling center and got set up with a very nice psychologist for spring
semester (here you can only have one semester of counseling a year). Yeah, one of the BIG problems I had with mine was she kept going ON about
how I needed to "reclaim my power." Great, that's a really nice catchphrase,
but I was really looking for some more specific advice, you know? A bit of advice: mention to her that you feel like this. She shouldn't be
offend it if you say it frankly but nicely. It's *your* therapy, and it's
important that you feel you're getting everything out of it that you can. *I* would, but then I'm not on meds. But my roomie is, and had to go to the
hospital six weeks ago when some of the medications she was taking (three
different kinds, at the time) had an unexpected interaction and she blacked
out. So, my advice would be to mention everything you can think of-- at
worst, they'll ignore you. Then go and do some research on the web to
become familiar with the side-effects and interactions of what you're taking. Well, mine certainly didn't screw me over, but I guess it depends a lot on the
university you're at. On the other hand, the counseling center wasn't
immensely *helpful*, either. The main benefit I got from it was feeling
validated in my feelings of confusion and hopelessness and despair. That was
great, but in terms of practical advice, I found _The_Feeling_Good_Handbook_
(David D. Burns, M.D.) to be a lot more help. I tell my anti-treatment relatives that if I had had polio, they
wouldn't grudge me leg braces. It helps that we've had polio in the
family.
In the US, there are just a Hell of a lot of people who don't want
to believe that illness and suffering are real -- particularly other
people's suffering. If they admitted that it were real, then they might
have to take some responsibility for their fellows, which they don't want
to do. It's a lot easier to tell the sufferers to think nice thoughts and
the problems will magically go away.
I had a good experience with the treatment I got at my university.
I got both Prozac and about a year of therapy with a psychologist, both
one-on-one and group therapy. It helped that I had an idea of what was
wrong with me and what I wanted to do. I asked for Prozac, for example.
(I've since switched to St. John's Wort, since it's far cheaper. It works
as well as Prozac for me.)
I'd had fairly serious problems with depression for 10-15 years
before I went for treatment, because I thought I was a tough guy, and
could endure it all on my own. Now I wish I'd gotten treatment when
depression first hit me hard. I can think of a lot of career decisions
I wish I'd made with a clear mind.
Anyway, try what your university has to offer. If one offering
doesn't work, try another. If one therapist doesn't work, try another.
And tell'em what you want, if they're not giving it to you. Mine
sometimes used new-agey phrases like 'inner child' but was fundamentally
good for me.
