Cost of getting help for mental health issues...

LegacyUser

Just a quick question about the cost of seeing someone to help with mental health issues. I've been feeling quite down recently. I don't think I'm extremely depressed, but I definitely don't feel myself. I very rarely want to leave my room, I don't really want to interact with my family, I occasionally go out to see my friends, but it's mainly because I don't want them to think there's something wrong. A friend of mine has issues with depression, and she's quite outgoing about it - her depression manifests itself in drunkenness and bad behaviour. I've talked to her very briefly about it, but she's very caught up in her own problems, and my depression tends to be much more internalised. I get very low from time to time about my relationship with my dad (which can be quite strained), and I worry a lot about college and where I'm actually going with my life (I know what I want to do, but I worry that I'm not good enough). I want to see someone to help me work through this, but I'm only 20 and I haven't been able to get a job. I don't want to ask my parents for money to see someone. I have a medical card, but I don't know if that extends to seeing mental health professionals.

Just wondering if there's any way I can get help without having to pay too much money, because I simply can't afford that.

Thanks in advance.

Saila

your first stop is a GP, your medical card should cover that, tell him how you feel and relay what you have said here to them.

nesf

See your GP, if you need a psychiatrist they can refer you to the public psychiatry service and they'll see you free of charge. You don't need to pay a penny, you just get stuck on waiting lists and such depending on your area.

sam34

perplexed4- please take time to read the forum charter and all the mod warnings in this thread.

it is NOT up to you to tell people to avoid seeking medical help.

if you have an issue with this post please pm me rather than discussing it on thread, as is sitewide policy

girlonfire

Hi OP,

Are you in college at the moment? If so, when you start back up in September you'd be able to avail of the free counselling services, which are provided by most colleges.
If not, your GP would be the best bet. He/she will be able to refer you to a free or low cost counsellor. A lot of counsellors (especially in today's economic climate) work on a sliding scale so you can arrange a payment based on what you can afford.
Good luck.

Perplexed4

Hi sam 34 I'm new here and am just finding my way around. I don't know how to pm you I'm afraid so am obliged to post here. I don't see how my post breaches the forum charter really. If others can give advice why not me. The reason I posted the very sensible advice I did was because of my own research going back 15 years and my own and others I know's personal experience. It struck me that thackery does not have medical problems but rather problems in how they look at themselves. While seeing their doctor or a psychiatrist is normal enough in such circumstance it's not know to do much good aand can sometimes cause great harm. This is just factual info.:mad:

nesf

Perplexed4 wrote: »

Hi sam 34 I'm new here and am just finding my way around. I don't know how to pm you I'm afraid so am obliged to post here. I don't see how my post breaches the forum charter really. If others can give advice why not me. The reason I posted the very sensible advice I did was because of my own research going back 15 years and my own and others I know's personal experience. It struck me that thackery does not have medical problems but rather problems in how they look at themselves. While seeing their doctor or a psychiatrist is normal enough in such circumstance it's not know to do much good aand can sometimes cause great harm. This is just factual info.:mad:

So you're disputing psychiatry being at all helpful for depression?

sam34

this is not the forum for such conspiracy theories.

as the op's question has been answered I'm closing the thread.