Mental Health |OT| Depression & Co.

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I read On Writing and I have to second the recommendation. Really great text and so helpful.

I too struggle with the act of getting words on the paper. I always put this intense pressure on myself and I end up procrastinating forever and ever. lol

The thread on lonliness Zeitgeister posted got me thinking about the subject and I want to do a post on it for my blog. We'll see if I can actually get started.
 
Heading out for a bit. Rain be damned, I need out of this place. Maybe some time downtown will help. I took a picture of myself to remind myself of the day I said "fuck you, feelings. I'm feeling pissed and worthless but I'm going to go out instead of sitting at home and moping." I regret it. Look hideous in them. Maybe I can just look at them and find inspiration to make myself look better somehow though. Doubt it though. Can't change ugly genes without a lot of money and plastic.
 
I keep having this irrational fear of going to sleep in case I might die, it's so bad that I struggle to sleep at night. I've been to the doctor and I'm awaiting a call to start seeng someone, but I'm going away to meet my gf and I'll be in a hotel room for two days sleeping alone and I'm scared that I won't be able to sleep. As I've been waking up with mild anxiety attacks, I try to calm myself down but I'm so scared :-( I wish I asked the doc to give me something so I don't keep having these stupid irrational thoughts.
 
Today sucks. I dislike my math instuctor, but the computer science instructor is cool. I went to talk to him about how I could be a burden to some of the students because of my lack of thinking. I didn't actually say the lack of thinking because I was struggling in figuring out what I want to say. This is the reason why I don't ask instructors questions. I have no idea what I'm asking. Then he asked me on why I chose computer science as a major? I have no answer to give him other then for money. I chose this major without even researching about it, and I'm so lazy doing that. I don't even know where to begin in finding my interest in computer science. I regret ever asking him questions that are irrelevant. I seriously hate when I talk because I sound like a mouse. I guess because I don't want to express myself. I've always hung out at home, alone.........on the internet.
 
Today was a bad day. My TMJ and neck have been torturing me for days (along with the usual debilitating fatigue) and doing research on my condition, I learned a few things. First, it progresses, which was already obvious to me as I've been getting gradually worse for the last couple of years. Second, countless people end up on drugs which are stronger and stronger as it progresses. It's like an hourglass slowly counting down, the end result being oxycodone and still no relief.

I finally just broke down, bawling in the bathroom. One of those cases where too much knowledge is definitely not power. I called my best friend in the city, came over there and cried even more. His wife made me promise that I'd come over more often (within my ability, obviously) and then made me give her a list of groceries she can get me this weekend because I'm too ill to shop myself. I cried even more, felt like a terrible burden.

If you have your physical health, cherish it like nothing else. I didn't until I lost it and I would do anything, ANYTHING to have it back. I don't know how much longer I can keep fighting this but I wanted the people I've gotten close to here to know that I love them and that their friendship has meant everything to me.

Fuck man I have some TMJ and neck issues myself, namely on the left side of my upper neck where the occipital muscles are. It kills me if it gets pulled or inflamed since it gives me a massive headdache. You know what I do when that happens? I look in the mirror and reflect a handheld mirror so I can see the back of my head and I tell it to go fuck itself. The muscle will then shit itself because its frightened.

I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I love ya JB. You're my bro and I hope you continue to fight this like the badass fuckin warrior you are. :brofist:
 
Today was a bad day. My TMJ and neck have been torturing me for days (along with the usual debilitating fatigue) and doing research on my condition, I learned a few things. First, it progresses, which was already obvious to me as I've been getting gradually worse for the last couple of years. Second, countless people end up on drugs which are stronger and stronger as it progresses. It's like an hourglass slowly counting down, the end result being oxycodone and still no relief.

I finally just broke down, bawling in the bathroom. One of those cases where too much knowledge is definitely not power. I called my best friend in the city, came over there and cried even more. His wife made me promise that I'd come over more often (within my ability, obviously) and then made me give her a list of groceries she can get me this weekend because I'm too ill to shop myself. I cried even more, felt like a terrible burden.

If you have your physical health, cherish it like nothing else. I didn't until I lost it and I would do anything, ANYTHING to have it back. I don't know how much longer I can keep fighting this but I wanted the people I've gotten close to here to know that I love them and that their friendship has meant everything to me.

I hear you. I am in a situation where pain is escalating in a damaged shoulder, and it's exhausting and leaves you feeling helpless, like being on a water slide that goes for miles and miles. I'm on high doses of codeine at the moment, which leaves me very vague. It sounds like more surgery will fix my problem though.

Worth noting that my TMJ self-remedied. One day my jaw clicked hard, hurt worse for a few minutes, and came right. Don't see it as a downhill run yet!
 
Started college today.

First class was boring, second class was better. Teacher is nice and funny and I hope I make some friends.

I'm tired.

I don't want to feel anxious anymore.
 
I had my first ever panic attack yesterday. My god. I would not wish it on anyone. I convinced I was dying. And no one at the ER seemed to care.
 
Spending a stupid amount of money on clothes makes me feel better. For 20 seconds. Uneventful trip downtown. Went into a game store that sells new and retro stuff and saw nothing interesting in the hundreds of games they have in stock. Feels like gaming is a chore now, to be honest. I just don't enjoy it anymore. Bought a t-shirt and then a prepaid credit card so I could buy another t-shirt and a cardigan online for a stupid amount of money. Mom's pissed. Dad will be even more pissed. Oh well. Too bad.
 
First appointment with the psychologist went well. She wasn't surprised that my ~two years with an LPC weren't so fruitful. Apparently she practices cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapy, her methods were briefly explained to me but I already forgot. She definitely thinks I need to learn how to better express myself, which I'm not inclined to disagree with. Primary reason I went to her is that she has experience with transgender individuals, so she should have a much better understanding of me than other mental health practitioners I have worked with.
 
Started college today.

First class was boring, second class was better. Teacher is nice and funny and I hope I make some friends.

I'm tired.

I don't want to feel anxious anymore.

I always feel anxious the first day of college. I'm also anxious in the classes I'm taking because how hard they are. I more anxious in not knowing what career I'm interested in. I hate feeling anxious all the time though.
 
I had my first ever panic attack yesterday. My god. I would not wish it on anyone. I convinced I was dying. And no one at the ER seemed to care.

Oh man, I'm so sorry. I remember my first like it was yesterday. "I'm DYING" is the most vivid sensation.

My doctor game me some Lorazepam to take when those hit. That works a treat, so long as you take them very infrequently (tolerance builds up).
 
First appointment with the psychologist went well. She wasn't surprised that my ~two years with an LPC weren't so fruitful. Apparently she practices cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapy, her methods were briefly explained to me but I already forgot. She definitely thinks I need to learn how to better express myself, which I'm not inclined to disagree with. Primary reason I went to her is that she has experience with transgender individuals, so she should have a much better understanding of me than other mental health practitioners I have worked with.

Glad to hear things went well then. Waiting to hear back about getting some help myself, if I even get offered anything that is. Gotta love that free health care. Keep us posted on your progress!

Started college today.

First class was boring, second class was better. Teacher is nice and funny and I hope I make some friends.

I'm tired.

I don't want to feel anxious anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk
 
Today sucks. I dislike my math instuctor, but the computer science instructor is cool. I went to talk to him about how I could be a burden to some of the students because of my lack of thinking. I didn't actually say the lack of thinking because I was struggling in figuring out what I want to say. This is the reason why I don't ask instructors questions. I have no idea what I'm asking. Then he asked me on why I chose computer science as a major? I have no answer to give him other then for money. I chose this major without even researching about it, and I'm so lazy doing that. I don't even know where to begin in finding my interest in computer science. I regret ever asking him questions that are irrelevant. I seriously hate when I talk because I sound like a mouse. I guess because I don't want to express myself. I've always hung out at home, alone.........on the internet.
Career wise there's plenty to do; was gonna make a long-ish post about this but if there's anything particular you want to ask about I can give you my take on it. And if you ever need help feel free to hit me up! There's a programming gaf topic too.
 
I don't know if anyone remembers my posts a few weeks ago, but an update on that. I had a job interview today.

It was pretty much all my worst fears about it. It was with a company my uncle knew the CTO at, which is how I got the interview. Now, programming is more my strong suite than networking. I know some about networking, but only took one class on it and even then my networking knowledge is shaky, plus being nervous during the interview and forgetting things. So I honestly felt like I did terribly.

I talked to a total of four people at the company, the first one was just the secretary/hiring coordinator/I'm not sure what her actual title was, she seemed to do a lot of things. She didn't get that technical so that part of the interview was fine.

The second guy asked a whole bunch of technical questions. They kept saying it's okay if I don't know things, but I realized in addition to that, I answered things incorrectly. I know not everyone in here is going to understand what this means, but they asked me "What is the port for DNS?" and I said "80". I thought about when that guy left the room before the next one came in and slammed my head against the table, thinking "YOU FUKCING IDIOT, 80 IS HTTP, 53 IS DNS! YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS!" This is why I feel like I'm not good enough to get any real job in the industry, because of shit like this.

The next guy was pretty much the same story for the most part, my confidence slumping lower and lower.

Then was the CTO (the first lady sat in on this too). This guy was probably the most intimidating guy I have ever talked to. He straight up said "They didn't teach much networking in school, did they?". Then he grilled me on networking stuff, as well as random math questions and he was just throwing them at me so fast I couldn't think straight. He asked me to give the sum of numbers 1-10. I added it up in my head and gave the right answer, and he says "You know there's a formula for that (as he said it): n times n plus 1 over 2" So as I understood that it was like this: (n * n + 1)/ 2 So I tried to do that in my head, got something way off. Unsure of what I did wrong, he told me to go to the whiteboard and work it out, then I fucked up my multiplication and ended up with way wrong answers. I felt like a fucking idiot during this, and I finally got it. Also my problem was that it was meant to be like this: n * (n + 1)/2. Again, I feel fucking stupid.

They did kept saying it was important that I was willing to learn, which I am, but I still can't help but feel like I am not good enough at the end of the day. They asked for a reference they can call at the end of the interview. They said they would talk to them and let me know.
 
Goddamn I've gotten so bad at socializing that even being in the mumble causes me to have nervous fits. Was in it for a bit, barely said anything, felt super uncomfortable and just left. Small wonder I'm a mess when it comes to being social when physically around people.
 
Goddamn I've gotten so bad at socializing that even being in the mumble causes me to have nervous fits. Was in it for a bit, barely said anything, felt super uncomfortable and just left. Small wonder I'm a mess when it comes to being social when physically around people.

You're doing fine. I had the same reactions in multiplayer games but once you get the vibe of the community, you can get a bit more comfortable. Just take it slow, and realize that you're not in any pressure to perform, so to say.
 
There's actually a hilariously sad mental conversation I sometimes have with myself when I'm nervous.

"Look at them in the eye. No wait that's too much eye contact. Look away. But where!?. Oh okay center mass. No wait I'm staring at her chest."
 
Foffy - You can't let it all grind you down like that. There's a lot of bullshit to put up with, sure, but I think you're destined for bigger and better things. You'll be in a position to reject the bullshit games and not make others go through them, so the next Foffy to come along won't have to

I would hope so, but I don't like being destined for anything. I really, genuinely adhere to views about life and time to that of Alan Watts; the only tangible period of time we have to really be and do anything is the immediate moment, the present. I desperately long for my life to be where I am able to use my body, my potential in life, to help any and all life that suffers, however it suffers, wherever it suffers. I think this is so easy to see, but why must it all be so hard to do? I truly don't see a point to deal with the shit I deal with. Why must I meet hurdles every time I want to do this? I have nothing to show for it, so many will assume I am a lazy hermit. I think about what I want to do every single day, because to me, it is really the only thing worth betting on in my life. How others live their lives is none of my business, but for me, I can't see how I can live that way. I don't see why I should work and do something that really is a means to self-serve myself knowing full well that there are lives that are in pain and need some form of aid. How can I be comfortable working at Wal-Mart when there are those starving and homeless? How can I be happy when there are those who have nothing but horror and pain in their lives? Many people find peace and blessings that when they compare their lives to others such as that they become more respectful of the opportunities they have, of the things they have. But for me, I just really want to get the fuck up and go to those who have not, or have poor things in their lives, and do whatever I can to help them.

I have long crossed off what many people in the Western world aspire for; I don't want a house. I don't want a family. I don't want a car. I want to spend my time serving others. I don't want to retire. I don't want vacations. I don't want time off. To me, my life, based on what I truly want, has been a bit of a failure, for I truly lack what I wish to accomplish and do. And for me, this sort of stuff seems so simple to see, simple to potentially do, but the world around me feels like it has to make it difficult for the sake of ignorance. Why are volunteer groups turning me down? Why must I fight through red tape when I'm not asking for money, for benefits, for "job security" when all I am asking is to be a hand, a vessel, to aid others? This troubles me very, very much. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone or anything, but here I am, doing nothing I truly want to do today. And that, to me, is a hollow, empty life, not even worth celebrating or cherishing.
 
There's actually a hilariously sad mental conversation I sometimes have with myself when I'm nervous.

"Look at them in the eye. No wait that's too much eye contact. Look away. But where!?. Oh okay center mass. No wait I'm staring at her chest."
That reminded me of a scene in What Women Want when Mel Gibson can hear a similar internal monologue by Helen Hunt.

Not binge eating when I'm sad is a real challenge. :(
 
Career wise there's plenty to do; was gonna make a long-ish post about this but if there's anything particular you want to ask about I can give you my take on it. And if you ever need help feel free to hit me up! There's a programming gaf topic too.

Thanks, I'll definitely ask you for help. I just hope I know what I'm asking and try not to make things complicated like I always do. I subscribed the thread you linked.
 
I´m drunk. Not exactly because I had too much fun with friends but because I don´t want to go to bed sober. Last time I started to think like this it ended with me, most of the nights during a month, sitting against the wall with a bottle of cheap vodka in one hand and a knife in the other think that night would be the night I would slit my wrists.
Right now, my life isn´t great. I´m unemployed without any good prospects of employment, my self esteem is almost at an all time low.
I know I should be grateful because I have a good group of friends and I trust 3 or 4 them to tell them how I feel but every time I try to, something stops me. The reason I probably didn´t kill myself yet is my sister. Mentally, she is a lot like me and I am the person she calls when things get pretty bad. I feel like if I did something drastic, she would be the one person that would feel it the worst and I can´t hurt her like that.
 
Hey guys, I just got prescribed some xanax. I was wondering if you thought it would help for a job interview I have Friday. Interviews in the past that I have I would get so nervous that after preparing for days for an interview, I would be rendered speechless once I got to the interview. Like words just would not come out of my mouth. It was so bad. The last interview I had I took an adderall but that didn't really help with nerves. I'm hoping this xanax will help but I'm not yet sure on what it does for sure. It did go a long ways to helping me off my panic attack, along with lorazepam.
 
feeling pretty sad and lonely lately.

12 hour shift at work. I guess I hope it's busy enough that it keeps my mind off of it. Still just shitty feeling in my stomach knowing I don't get off til 8 PM tonight.
 
Been waking up early this week which has allowed me to take a morning walk by myself. It's been so refreshing.

Over the weekend I had the confidence to actually add people as friends on facebook. These are people I know and I figured they would accept my request but I've never really had that confidence to go out on a limb and request people like that. I also realized I beat myself up almost constantly over a few things but that those things don't define me. My life may not be perfect and I may not always be perfect, but I still have value and worth as a human being and that people to love and care about me. I've been repeating that to myself every morning when I wake up. Been having a very healthy past few days.
 
I've just been prescribed Lithium. The psychiatrist thinks that my long running depression, and little help from anti-depressants, could be Bipolar II. I am also currently on Wellbutrin.

Can anyone here give a first-hand account of what I can expect from Lithium? What kind of mental changes can I expect or should I look out for?
I thought it might be helpful to provide an update on this medicine, since Bagels noted that Lithium hasn't had much attention in this thread.

According to my mental health doctor, I've been noted as having "Major Depressive Disorder." I've had several nearly debilitating bouts of depression in my life, dating as far back as 16-17 years ago. Of course, these episodes manifest with triggers and can send me reeling. Normally, I often feel as if I am just below the surface, ready to sink at any moment.

My doctor prescribed me with Welbutrin, which I had been on before, and supplemented it with Lithium after seeing that I was pretty unreceptive to previous medications. With Lithium I was initially experiencing some of the side effects of nausea and trembling, and of course increases thirst and subsequently peeing a lot more. The nausea and trembling went away after about a week or two. Now, I'm just thirsty and peeing!

I can safely say now that my baseline has been rising. Whether it's the Lithium or the Welbutrin, or some combination of the two, I can't say. And things that have been devastating me don't send me reeling so far down into the depths. I find myself recovering within a relative short amount of time (hours vs. days).

There's lots of posts here about medication, and it seems like every week or two we have someone posting either their frustrations with it or not wanting to explore it as an option. I, too, was one of those types. I've been on a whole slew of different anti-depressants that didn't do much and left me frustrated with the whole notion. Now, however, I am sticking to it for the long haul, as I am finally feeling like I've found a combination that works.

I'll update this post in another month to see if anything has changed, for the better or worse.
 
Don't sit around on lithium. Weight gain is a common side effect. Don't munch. In my expirence, weight gain can cause depression too. Get on an exercise program and stick to it even if every fiber in your body doesn't want to

Also- any dgaf guys/gals going to pax? It'd be cool to meet some if you
 
Cat of the day

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Dog of the day

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I don't understand how therapists and psychiatrists are doctors that arguably do the most work with people, especially those who are in desperate need of care and have often reached a level of instability that they see no other choice but to turn to professional help, and yet are the most socially inept, impossible to communicate with, incredibly late, and just simply rude people in any field when it comes to the simple act of scheduling an appointment.
 
Just wanted to gripe for a moment. I think I am having some hormonal problems or something because good lord I have been getting fucking pissed about the stupidest things this past week. And you guys that know me know that's like...incredibly out of character (if I am not pvping anyhow). I got pissed at a clerk at Petco for trying to sell me on something more expensive, and I am the first person to be like 'It's just their job, they have to do that, give them a break.' Ugh.

Is this more likely stress or are my hormones out of whack?
 
Real talk: one of the reasons I'm going to try to break into the profession is because of how awful my expirence has been with most of the doctors I've seen. From people who don't care to people who seem to revel in your discomfort- there's some bad apples to be sure. Like, why didn't I get some people like the ones in this thread when I was down?

I think it comes from desensitized, bitter doctors who stopped caring some time around their second year of med school. If you hate people, why are doing this job?

Fiction: you're just becoming hella alpha, bro. Seriously though, I subscribe to the theory that rage is a natural emotion that you have to control- not unlike sadness. If you're noticing your anger without acting on it you're using mindfulness and next you'll be levitating plates :p
 
I don't understand how therapists and psychiatrists are doctors that arguably do the most work with people, especially those who are in desperate need of care and have often reached a level of instability that they see no other choice but to turn to professional help, and yet are the most socially inept, impossible to communicate with, incredibly late, and just simply rude people in any field when it comes to the simple act of scheduling an appointment.

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences man. Obvious question, but have you looked into being lined up with other psychiatrists/therapists? And have you gotten it through some kind of free health care, or paid? Going through a totally different organization would be good if possible. As these people can do good work, providing you get lined up with someone suitable. Something I hope will be the case with me soon.

Just wanted to gripe for a moment. I think I am having some hormonal problems or something because good lord I have been getting fucking pissed about the stupidest things this past week. And you guys that know me know that's like...incredibly out of character (if I am not pvping anyhow). I got pissed at a clerk at Petco for trying to sell me on something more expensive, and I am the first person to be like 'It's just their job, they have to do that, give them a break.' Ugh.

Is this more likely stress or are my hormones out of whack?

No matter how calm someone usually is, there will always be a bit of anger in there somewhere. Only natural. As for what brought it out, I'm not sure. Any big changes recently that could of brought on extra stress? It could also be the feelings of something(s) long standing that you have been dealing with coming to the surface. Or I could be way off *shrug*. Hope you feel better soon regardless.
 
Fiction: you're just becoming hella alpha, bro. Seriously though, I subscribe to the theory that rage is a natural emotion that you have to control- not unlike sadness. If you're noticing your anger without acting on it you're using mindfulness and next you'll be levitating plates :p

I just...I have lived 31 years of my life hardly ever feeling angry, and it's hitting me like a ton of bricks all the sudden. For me if I ever get angry it instantly lead to being sad, and I'll start crying. But the past week, I've wanted to hit things, and it's disturbing.

And I will never be alpha :p

No matter how calm someone usually is, there will always be a bit of anger in there somewhere. Only natural. As for what brought it out, I'm not sure. Any big changes recently that could of brought on extra stress? It could also be the feelings of something(s) long standing that you have been dealing with coming to the surface. Or I could be way off *shrug*. Hope you feel better soon regardless.

I am hoping it's just stress from moving. (Good god do I hate moving, my family is huge and we have too much stuff)
 
Stress is so paralyzing. I can't even bother to distract myself from boredom by games or hanging out with friends, which just makes me... even more bored.
 
I thought it might be helpful to provide an update on this medicine, since Bagels noted that Lithium hasn't had much attention in this thread.

According to my mental health doctor, I've been noted as having "Major Depressive Disorder." I've had several nearly debilitating bouts of depression in my life, dating as far back as 16-17 years ago. Of course, these episodes manifest with triggers and can send me reeling. Normally, I often feel as if I am just below the surface, ready to sink at any moment.

My doctor prescribed me with Welbutrin, which I had been on before, and supplemented it with Lithium after seeing that I was pretty unreceptive to previous medications. With Lithium I was initially experiencing some of the side effects of nausea and trembling, and of course increases thirst and subsequently peeing a lot more. The nausea and trembling went away after about a week or two. Now, I'm just thirsty and peeing!

I can safely say now that my baseline has been rising. Whether it's the Lithium or the Welbutrin, or some combination of the two, I can't say. And things that have been devastating me don't send me reeling so far down into the depths. I find myself recovering within a relative short amount of time (hours vs. days).

There's lots of posts here about medication, and it seems like every week or two we have someone posting either their frustrations with it or not wanting to explore it as an option. I, too, was one of those types. I've been on a whole slew of different anti-depressants that didn't do much and left me frustrated with the whole notion. Now, however, I am sticking to it for the long haul, as I am finally feeling like I've found a combination that works.

I'll update this post in another month to see if anything has changed, for the better or worse.
Surprised they prescribed lithium for MDD. Usually it's for bipolar disorder and the controlling mood swings.

medication resistance depression is the focus of many new drugs being developed such as ketamine.
 
I don't understand how therapists and psychiatrists are doctors that arguably do the most work with people, especially those who are in desperate need of care and have often reached a level of instability that they see no other choice but to turn to professional help, and yet are the most socially inept, impossible to communicate with, incredibly late, and just simply rude people in any field when it comes to the simple act of scheduling an appointment.

You too?
This is happening with me with my current psychologist.
She never picks up the phone even if I call during business hours. My call is rarely ever returned.
It's literally luck to get an appointment with her...Really think I might fare better elsewhere...
They are pretty rude though I do agree. My previous psychologist who wasn't that great either now seems like a pretty okay person compared to my current one.
 
I don't know if anyone remembers my posts a few weeks ago, but an update on that. I had a job interview today.

It was pretty much all my worst fears about it. It was with a company my uncle knew the CTO at, which is how I got the interview. Now, programming is more my strong suite than networking. I know some about networking, but only took one class on it and even then my networking knowledge is shaky, plus being nervous during the interview and forgetting things. So I honestly felt like I did terribly.

I talked to a total of four people at the company, the first one was just the secretary/hiring coordinator/I'm not sure what her actual title was, she seemed to do a lot of things. She didn't get that technical so that part of the interview was fine.

The second guy asked a whole bunch of technical questions. They kept saying it's okay if I don't know things, but I realized in addition to that, I answered things incorrectly. I know not everyone in here is going to understand what this means, but they asked me "What is the port for DNS?" and I said "80". I thought about when that guy left the room before the next one came in and slammed my head against the table, thinking "YOU FUKCING IDIOT, 80 IS HTTP, 53 IS DNS! YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS!" This is why I feel like I'm not good enough to get any real job in the industry, because of shit like this.

The next guy was pretty much the same story for the most part, my confidence slumping lower and lower.

Then was the CTO (the first lady sat in on this too). This guy was probably the most intimidating guy I have ever talked to. He straight up said "They didn't teach much networking in school, did they?". Then he grilled me on networking stuff, as well as random math questions and he was just throwing them at me so fast I couldn't think straight. He asked me to give the sum of numbers 1-10. I added it up in my head and gave the right answer, and he says "You know there's a formula for that (as he said it): n times n plus 1 over 2" So as I understood that it was like this: (n * n + 1)/ 2 So I tried to do that in my head, got something way off. Unsure of what I did wrong, he told me to go to the whiteboard and work it out, then I fucked up my multiplication and ended up with way wrong answers. I felt like a fucking idiot during this, and I finally got it. Also my problem was that it was meant to be like this: n * (n + 1)/2. Again, I feel fucking stupid.

They did kept saying it was important that I was willing to learn, which I am, but I still can't help but feel like I am not good enough at the end of the day. They asked for a reference they can call at the end of the interview. They said they would talk to them and let me know.

It's cool man, if anything that story makes it sound like they really want to give you a chance and aren't just going to dismiss you out of hand (maybe because they know your uncle). You've probably still got a good shot because people tend to go for people they know.

I wouldn't have gotten that N * N + 1 thing either, but it would've made me want to ask them "When have you ever used that knowledge to solve a real problem?". Anyway, everybody gets nervous and messes up obvious stuff in interviews. Don't go around thinking you could never get a job in IT because there are all kinds of jobs in this industry. I pretty much never use anything beyond grade-school math in my web programming job.
 
Real talk: one of the reasons I'm going to try to break into the profession is because of how awful my expirence has been with most of the doctors I've seen. From people who don't care to people who seem to revel in your discomfort- there's some bad apples to be sure. Like, why didn't I get some people like the ones in this thread when I was down?

I think it comes from desensitized, bitter doctors who stopped caring some time around their second year of med school. If you hate people, why are doing this job?
It really is rather astounding. Best of luck entering the field yourself.

Therapists have no excuse for being inept, psychiatrists on the other hand are overworked like most other doctors.

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences man. Obvious question, but have you looked into being lined up with other psychiatrists/therapists? And have you gotten it through some kind of free health care, or paid? Going through a totally different organization would be good if possible. As these people can do good work, providing you get lined up with someone suitable. Something I hope will be the case with me soon.
I'm ready to cancel my current appointment and start looking for other people. I'm currently on a medical leave, and at my school's behest I attempted to schedule an appointment with a therapist. I contacted six people and only one of them actually responded, and she was unavailable. I needed to submit an appointment time by the beginning of August and had already exhausted the list of people who took my school's insurance, so I lied about my appointment and decided I would contact the aforementioned therapist when I got back to school (although she's since closed her practice). A few weeks later, I received a call from my university stating that I also needed to make an appointment with a psychiatrist. They gave me the names of two doctors that work with my school's insurance plan. One of the doctors never responded, and the other called me back a week later. I contacted the school to confirm that I had made a psychiatrist appointment and was told that I now needed to submit proof of my appointment. I told the doctor two weeks ago that I needed them to fax an appointment confirmation to my school and now, just an hour ago, I received an email from my school telling me that they have not received an appointment confirmation and that if I don't resolve the issue by the 3rd, I'll be withdrawn from the fall semester.

The reason I took a medical leave was ostensibly to make me less crazy, and it feels like the school is doing its best to revert any positive effect the time may have had.
 
Maybe you guys should move to Los Angeles. The public mental health clinic has been pretty accommodating when it comes to appointments, missed appointments and all that. Yay for living in a liberal as balls city.
 
Maybe you guys should move to Los Angeles. The public mental health clinic has been pretty accommodating when it comes to appointments, missed appointments and all that. Yay for living in a liberal as balls city.
I'm in Boston though. I feel like this shouldn't be an issue. I don't understand how these people ever launched a business to begin with.
 
Is it a private practice?
Yep, all of the people I've contacted are part of a private practice. I've looked into the state's Department of Mental Health program, but I have to admit that I don't entirely understand it.

I've used my university's resources as well, but my medical leave coordinator is requiring that I see somebody off-campus.
 
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