Monday, August 23, 2004
Private Psychiatrists versus Community Health Psychiatrists
The system for community psychiatrist and private psychiatry is completely different. Insurance is designed to pay for private psychiatry. Trying to use insurance to pay for community mental health psychiatry is difficult. The model for community mental health is teamwork. After the assessment...
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Sunday, August 22, 2004
Shame
What I hate most is feeling ashamed of my daughters. I feel guilty. But when Kelly goes to church wearing white sports socks with her dress and good shoes, I am embarrassed. When Brenda refuses to deal with her psoraisis and has sores all over, I feel embarrassed. When Kelly is loud or Brenda to shy...
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Saturday, August 21, 2004
Joy
Brenda has a friend that she met at church who also has a mental illness. She is unable to work. She was working one day a week at a laundry for a nursing home, but no longer does it. I don't know what her illness is or why she is unable to work. She does get stressed easily. She volunteers to sing...
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Friday, August 20, 2004
Connection
I finally connected with the intake worker and found out that the psychiatrists at the Hospital are not connected with an inpatient unit because the unity was closed in January. They do not have follow up at night and weekends. They have no appointments available until the end of September. But I...
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Phone Tag
I am now playing phone tag with the intake worker at the psychiatrist's office. I can't call her direct. This is a very stupid way of doing intake. Why don't they talk to everyone and set up an appointment and then we can do intake. I can't stay by the telephone, eight hours a day. I have a cell...
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Thursday, August 19, 2004
Finding a Psychiatrist
I cancelled the one appointment and am waiting for the other intake worker to call me back. It can take up to two full business days for them to call back. I always wonder about businesses that make you wait. Don't they need our business? Why do they make it so difficult to see them?
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My Feelings
Dealing with Brenda is very hard. I always feel guilty and angry. She has a way of pushing all of my buttons. She is very judgmental. She never loses her temper but provokes me into losing mine. I noticed as a counselor that people with bipolar are able to be very persceptive about others and can...
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Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Paranoid Litany of Despair
Every night my daughter, Brenda wants to engage me in conversation. I resist. She wants to talk about the same thing. Last night was no different. She believes that people read her writing and twist her words. These people do not have names. They are just they. When I tell her that there are other...
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Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Finding a new psychiatrist
My husband's company decided to get Value Options for their mental health coverage. Before, we could use any psychiatrist we wanted and any hospital. Now we are very limited. My daughter, Brenda, needs a new psychiatrist. Her former psychiatrist wasn't on the list. The one she was just assigned,...
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Monday, August 16, 2004
Asperger's Syndrome
This morning on NPR Morning Edition, they talked about Asperger's syndrome. The symptoms sounded exactly what my daughter's are like, especially Kelly. She talks non stop about whatever she is interested in and does not engage in conversation at all. She has only had a few friends and currently has...
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