Tag: Treatment Options

Mental Illness Treatment Intensity and the Impact on Polyamory

Jess Mahler

FYI, depression is once again trying to kick my ass. Posts may be delayed while I’m getting it back under control. Thankfully, so far I seem to be winning.

Last week I talked about the range of treatment from hospitalization to home care–ie the different levels of intensity of care that is available to people struggling with mental illness. This week we’re going to look at how those treatment options affect polyamorous relationships.

polyamory and mental illnessHospitalization and Polyamory

Let’s start with the obvious: it doesn’t matter why a member of your polycule ends up in the hospital. This is one area where mental illness or heart attack or emergency C-section doesn’t matter. If one of your polycule is in the hospital, you may need to deal with disruptions of your normal routine, financial challenges from loss of income, fears for their health and well-being, limitations on when and how long you can see them (visiting hours suck!) and other issues.

Shorter hospital stays have less of an impact than longer hospital stays.

The one way I am aware of that mental illness makes a difference, is for caregivers. Caregivers for your loved one during their mental illness can deal with everything from making sure they take care of their meds to helping them shower to cooking their meals, in addition to helping them through panic attacks and differentiate delusion from reality. For a caregiver, having your loved one enter the hospital can be a huge weight off your shoulders (their life is no longer literally in your hands). It can also be a source guilt (if only you’d done enough, been good enough, helped enough, etc…). If there has been friction between a caregiver and another member of the polycule, there may also be blame–in either direction.

Don’t go there. No the caregiver(s) blaming the rest of the polycule for not giving more support and help. No other members of the polycule blaming he caregiver for not doing enough. Just don’t fucking go there.

Partial Hospitalization and Polyamory

From a practical perspective, entering a partial hospitalization program is much like starting a new 9-5 job. Loss of income may be a problem if the person entering the program had a job. Otherwise, you are dealing with the same schedule changes etc that come with any commitment to be out of the house from morning til evening.

However, partial hospitalization can be mentally and emotionally draining far more so than most jobs. You are literally spending all day every day in various types of therapy. Someone in partial hospitalization will come home drained and needing significant self-care some days. Other days they’ll be hyped with plenty of energy and excitement. And this may have nothing to do with how good or bad the day was!

In some ways, this can strain relationships more than hospitalization. Your loved one is RIGHT THERE but doesn’t have the energy or focus to give to their poly partners. Patience and some adjustments are needed. It sucks if the one evening a week you have to spend together your poly partner wants to do nothing but watch YouTube and recover from the stress of their day. But sometimes that’s what they need. Try to be understanding–it really isn’t personal. If it happens every week, you might want to ask about their schedule, and what is happening on that day every week that is leaving them so drained. If art therapy, or that one group activity, or program outings to this or that local thing are hitting them particularly hard, you might want to reschedule your regular time to a day when that activity isn’t on their schedules.

Partial hospitalization is a mixed blessing for caregivers, on the one hand, you have time during the day that can actually be for you. Heavenly! On the other hand, you need to help your loved one get ready and out the door, when they may barely be able to get out of bed.

Outpatient Therapy and Polyamory

Outpatient therapy will not usually affect regular schedules, family incomes, or other “major” issues. For caregivers–as opposed to supportive friends and family–outpatient therapy has a lot of the same challenges as partial hospitalization. “I know you feel like shit, love. But you can’t afford to miss another appointment. Come on, I have your clothes here…” without the benefit of several hours a day you can take for yourself and your priorities without fear of interruption. On the plus side, outpatient therapy is usually once a week, at most 2 or 3 times a week, so it’s not an everyday struggle.

For all poly partners, the rest of the day after a therapy session can be the same emotional rollercoaster as evenings after partial hospitalization. You never know what state your partner will be in when they come out of a session. They may be happy and relaxed, stunned with a new realization, broken and weeping…. it can definitely be rough on all concerned.

Whenever possible, don’t schedule important shit–whether it’s a family discussion about a recurring problems, or a special date, or your kid’s birthday party–after a therapy session. No one–not the person in therapy and not their poly partners–needs the stress that can bring with it.

Medication Only and Polyamory

For someone who has found their equilibrium and just needs a bit of help to keep their mental illness under control, medication only therapy can be just what is needed. Medication only might mean medication that needs to be taken every day, like lithium for mood stabilization. Or it might mean medication that is only taken as needed–such as many anti-anxiety pills.

Medication only therapy should not have a direct impact on polyamory. However, it is generally a good idea to know your more entwined partner’s medications and possible side effects. If only so on the day they have the flu and are on doctor ordered bed rest, you know what you are doing when they ask you to get the Haldol for them.

Sometimes people miss their regular medication. They might be caught out of town unexpectedly, lose their meds and need to wait for a refill, or just forget. If your poly partner isn’t able to take their medication as scheduled, you may see some personality changes, mood swings, or withdrawal symptoms. Try to be patient and remember that this time is even harder on them than it is on you.

Home Care and Polyamory

Whether in combination with medication and/or outpatient therapy or on it’s own, home care is critical for most people with mental illness. Ideally, whatever home care is necessary–be it meditation, some time in the sun, or a cup of chamomile tea before bed–is just a part of your normal routine. Much like taking a shower or combing your hair when you get up in the morning. Sometimes, especially when mental illness is acting up, home care can be disruptive. For instance, needing to cancel a regular activity because of a bad anxiety day.

When home care is part of a routine, it usually won’t impact polyamory directly. It can be helpful for poly partners to take part in or at least support, parts of the routine. Join in the meditation, have a cup of tea together etc.

When home care needs to disrupt routines and expected activities it can definitely have an impact. Someone going through a bad patch may need to cancel dates, ask for additional support, ask for additional space, and a great deal more. These disruptions can range from a loved one calling you up randomly “I’m having obsessive thoughts about X, help distract me please.” to “I’m having a panic attack, I need to cancel our date. Can you just come over and spend time with me instead?” to “No, I can’t go on our planned weekend outing my mental health is too shakey, and I don’t want to risk being away from my support system,” right up to “the suicidal thoughts are back, can you please give me a ride to the hospital/clinic/therapists? I don’t trust myself to drive right now.”

That last is, thankfully, rare.

Mental illness tends to run in cycles. Depression is a mildly annoying problem until it swamps you out of nowhere. After a few weeks you manage to get back on your feet and depression is a mildly annoying problem again. Until the next wave. During a bad part of the cycle, home care will have more of an impact on polyamory, and your poly partner may need more help and support. During a good part of the cycle, you may not even be aware of the steps they take each day to take care of themselves.

How often and how extreme these cycles are vary, and some people find the cycle takes them from home care to hospitalization and back. For others, they can rely on home care as their primary treatment throughout the cycle, but some months they won’t take a single as-needed pill while other months they are taking the maximum allowed every day.

Standard disclaimer

This post is part of the Polyamory and Mental Illness blog series.



Course of Treatment: Treatment Options–Treatment Intensity

Jess Mahler

In Western medicine, there are varying levels of treatment for mental illness. In theory, the more you are able to take care of and manage your own mental health care, the lower the level of treatment you receive.

Hospitalization

Hospitalization for mental illness has a bad reputation. A reputation that is historically valid but far less of a problem today. At least in the US and Europe, the vast majority of people in the hospital or mental illness are their voluntarily. They recognized a need for more help than they could get at home. Most hospitalization is short term. Intensive care and/or 24 hour supervision is available for someone who lost control to depression, bi polar, or other mental illness. These people need time in a safe place to regain their balance with the help of trained professionals. They may spend a few days or a few weeks in the hospital. When they leave, they switch to partial hospitalization or out patient therapy and resume their normal life.

In the US, anyone experiencing problems with mental illness can go to the nearest hospital and request admittance for 72 hours. This observation period allows doctors and the patient to work together to determine if hospitalization is needed. Often the patient just needs their medication tweaked, or referral to an out patient program.

Last December my partner went into the hospital for an observation period. He ended up staying 4 days because the doctors wanted to make sure he was adjusting well to the medications they put him on. He left the hospital with a referral to a partial hospitalization program, medication he had needed for over six months and the hope that comes from finally having help with a problem that has been overwhelming you.

Long term hospitalization is an option for people who just can’t function on their own. In the US, long term hospitalization can only be mandated if you are a threat to yourself or others. But people with severe mental illness who need help eating, taking their medications, getting dressed in the morning, etc, may admit themselves for long term care.

Hospitalization often mixes group therapy, individual talk therapy, art and/or music therapy, and plenty of down time to relax without the stresses of daily life constantly triggering a mental illness. Some hospitals also offer alternative medicine, meditation classes, and other programs.

Partial Hospitalization/Partial Day Program

Partial hospitalization probably has other names in other parts of the world–god knows it goes by enough different names in the US! Whatever they are called, these are intensive treatment programs. Patients spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, participating in various forms of therapy. At the end of the day they go home and tend to their own needs.

Partial hospitalization is available for people who need intense and ongoing access to mental health care, but are still able to take care of their own day-to-day needs. Unlike being in the hospital, someone in a partial hospitalization program takes care of their own meals, hygiene, clothing, etc while they are at home in the evening. They are able to go out and socialize with friends if they so choose, and can spend time with family in the morning and evening. Partial hospitalization programs offer many of the same therapy approaches and options as hospitalization.

In my experience, someone with mental illness cannot check themselves into a partial program. A referral is usually needed from a hospital or therapist.

Mental Health Rehab

Mental health rehab programs vary widely. From what I have seen and what my research has found there is no clearly defined idea of what mental health rehab should be or should consist of. Most rehab programs I have seen focus less on traditional therapy and more on helping someone with mental illness re-integrate into society. This may involve a back-to-work program, classes in community action and involvement, and a great deal more. However these programs are largely unique and each one will be different.

In terms of intensity and time commitment, rehab seems to fall somewhere between partial hospitalization and outpatient therapy. Participants may spend several days a week in various classes and activities, but will rarely spend a full day in rehab.

Out Patient Therapy

Out patient therapy is what most people think of when they think of mental health therapy. You spend an hour or so with a therapist and go home. Depending on your needs, you may see a therapist three times a week or once a month. Out patient therapy covers every form of therapy. Talk therapy is far and away the most common out patient therapy, followed by group therapy.

Out patient therapy is ideal for people who are managing to keep up with daily life, but have difficulty managing their mental illness. It is also a good safety net for people who are starting medication.

If your therapist is a psychiatrist, they will often offer medication in combination with therapy. This can be a very good option for people who are still trying to find the right treatment combination for managing their mental illness.

Medication Only

It is becoming increasingly common for psychiatrists to offer medication without any therapy or much in the way of support. You see them for 15 minutes month, tell them about any changes you’ve noticed, and they give a prescription for your next bottle of pills. For people who have been living with their mental illness for years and are on an established medication schedule that works for them, this approach can be effective.

However, I have seen psychs who did not know me at all, knew that I was not currently on any medication and did not know what medication would work for me. They spent 20 minutes getting to know me and y history, wrote out a script for psych meds, and told me to come see them again in a month. Given some of the possible side effects that psych meds have, I don’t have words for how fucked up this is.

Thankfully, most of these psychs will tell you the same thing I will: you need to get counseling as well. Until you have an established med plan in place, it is very important to combine medication with out patient therapy. You need someone to help you manage the effects of the medication and to help you catch signs of side effects early, before they become dangerous.

(You might notice I have strong feelings on this topic)

For some people, mediation only can be a great low stress approach. You need to have your mental illness largely under control with home care and medication. You also need to know exactly what medication you need. If you can do this, than seeing a psych once a month for medication work. But if you are still juggling medications, dosages, and treatment options, please also see a therapist.

 

This post is already pretty damn long, so next week we’ll take a look at how these different treatment options impact polyamory.

This post is part of the Polyamory and Mental Illness blog series.



Course of Treatment: Treatment Options — Alternative Medicine

Jess Mahler

Last week, we look at alternative therapies. This week we’ll be looking a bit further afield, at alternative medicine. What’s the difference? Alternative therapies all try to fit within the framework of psychology. Even the alternative therapies you should run like hell from (like rebirthing) use psychology to explain why they are supposed to work.

Alternative medicine refers to medical practices that are an alternative to Western medicine. In some parts of the world these medical practices are widely used and accepted, in others they are barely known.

Alternative medicine takes two forms. On type of alternative medicine is “alternative” only in that the form of treatment doesn’t meet the demands of Western medicine–functionally, there is little difference between willow bark and aspirin, in fact, aspirin is basically a manufactured version of the active ingredients in willow bark. But willow bark tea can’t be given as precise a dosage as modern medicine demands, while the dosage of aspirin in a pill can be measured to the limits of modern equipment.

The other type of alternative medicine doesn’t fit with in the framework of Western medicine at all. The germ theory of medicine, and all the curlicues it’s developed over the years, simply has no room in it for treating illness with gems and chanting. While massage is a very valuable treatment for injuries, no one can yet explain how it can benefit mental illness in a way that first the theories of Western medicine. Often ways that alternative medicine is explained (such as the idea of storing emotions in muscles, mentioned below) sound ridiculous to folks who prefer the scientific approach of Western medicine.

Today we are going to take a look at three alternative medical approaches that I and others I am familiar with have found most useful, which also have at least some studies supporting their use.

Types of Alternative Medicine

Massage

First off, whether or not massage is “alternative” medicine depends on where you live and what it is used for. There is nothing “alternative” in using massage to treat muscle injuries, help the healing process after an accident, and basically do anything that involves damage to the muscles and tendons. A trained massage therapist can use massage to realign muscle tissue, preventing and reducing scarring and restoring mobility to an injury. While still not as widely known and used in the US as it could be, the rest of the Western world accepted this type of massage treatment long ago and have no doubt it belongs in the annals of Western medicine.

Massage as treatment for mental illness is less accepted. The most accepted theory behind why massage can help mental illness is that clears stress toxins from the body and triggers a relaxation response. Another, less accepted theory, is that our bodies somehow “store” negative emotions and mental problems in our muscles. By stretching and relaxing the muscles, these negative things get released, allowing us to move on without the burden of those problems. Anecdotal evidence in support of this theory is that many people dealing with trauma or mental illness will find themselves swamped by unexpected emotions during massage. When I worked in massage, I was frequently told “Don’t worry if I start cries/have a panic attack/freak out during the massage. I always feel better after.” From my own experience, the worse my mental state gets, the more the right side of my body locks down, to the point that one really bad days I have a distinct limp and trouble raising my right arm. Obviously there is some connection between the state of our mind and the state of our muscles. What that connection is, and what effect massage has on it, is harder to define.

Studies into the effect of massage on mental illness have largely focused on use of Swedish massage to treat depression or anxiety. Many studies found a temporary improvement after massage.

Herbal Treatments

Digitalis_lanata_ParisThe rule of thumb with herbal treatments is that is science has created a synthesized version, it’s Western medicine, and if you are taking the actual herb it is alternative medicine. Part of this is that it takes years of studies to confirm the effects of a treatment, and there simply hasn’t been enough time to test all the herbs that are supposed to be beneficial. Even more than massage, herbal treatments are among the most accepted by Western medicine–if only because so much of modern medicine, from aspirin to quinine to most of the common heart medications, wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t come from herbs first. The other part, as mentioned above, is the Western medicine has very precise dosing standards, and these standards are difficult with herbal treatments.

The attitude of many doctors and researchers I’ve discussed herbal treatments with is “Some of these herbs are definitely helpful, some we don’t know yet, some are a waste of time. Until we can confirm side effects, dosage, etc, you’re better sticking with known and tested pills–but herbs definitely have potential.*” When it comes to psychiatric treatment, where a 30% success rate is the gold standard, whether or not you are “better” with Western medicine is a matter many find highly debatable.

St. John’s Wort is well known as a treatment for depression. It is also known to have some potentially dangerous side effects. As some one who has spent a lot of time recovering from the side effects of standard psych meds, my reaction to that is “And this is different how?” However, if you do want to try St. John’s Wart, please use it under medical supervision, just like you would standard psych meds. Side effects aren’t something to fuck around with.

For more on herbal treatments for mental illness, consult a trained herbalist–and always check with the herbalist and your doctor for potential interactions and side effects.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a system of medicine first developed in China several thousand year ago. It has continually evolved and adapted during that time. TCM is the best known of the Asian systems of medicine, and most of the medicine of SouthEast Asia is based on TCM.

Unlike most other alternative medicines, TCM is a complete system of medical theory and practice. This has led to a giant problem in studies testing the effectiveness of TCM. Put simply, when researchers study TCM, they have never started with verifying or disproving the basic theories underlying TCM. Instead researchers have taken specific TCM treatments, and tested them on Western diagnosis. This is kind of like if a society that had never heard of the germ theory of medicine tested penicillin by using it as a treatment for a cough with fever and headache–but because they didn’t know the germ theory, were testing antibiotics on both bacterial infections and viral infections. So they run a test during the height of flu season, and of course the antibiotic doesn’t work.

This is the way researchers have been testing TCM. So while there are some studies that support TCM, and some studies that don’t support TCM, my opinion is that all the studies are completely useless. (I have actively sought out studies evaluating the theory behind TCM, and not found any. However I am not a professional researcher, and don’t have access to many medical journals. If anyone has any further info on this, please contact me!)

There are three basic theories underlying TCM

1) That everything in life exists in cycles, including our bodies. This theory is in complete accord with Western science–from the day/night cycle, to the metabolic cycle, to the sleep cycle, to the cycle of the trade winds, yeah, life is made up of cycles.

2) That illness and disease are caused by something disrupting our normal bodily cycles. These causes are broken down into internal and external. Here, science can quibble with the details–wind is considered an external cause of disease in TCM. So is dampness. Of course, dampness brings mold and mildew, so for a society with no concept of microscopic organisms, it may just be that they were describing the ancient Chinese doctors were just describing the causes of disease as best they could within their knowledge of the world.

Overall, the basic idea that there are internal and external causes of disease, and that these things cause disease but disrupting healthy cycles, isn’t something Western medicine can quibble with, and the specific causes can be studied and identified or eliminated, just like Western medicine had to adapt Germ theory when it recognized not all disease is caused by germs–the basic theory is still sound.

Five Element Interaction. A metaphor.
Five Element Interaction. A metaphor.

3) That the cycle of the elements and the way they interact is an accurate metaphor for the cycles of the body, and disruption of the cycles of the body can be accurately described and diagnosed using this metaphor. On these, Western science got nothing. Researchers never bothered to test this metaphor to see if this theory is sound. If this theory is sound, then the basic ideas and practices behind TCM are likely sound, and the individual practices just need to be continually refined through further research. If this theory is not sound, than we are wasting our time testing treatments from TCM, because the very basis for determining those treatments is flawed. Also if this theory is sound, we can begin testing and studying TCM treatments within the framework of this theory. As opposed to doing the medical equivalent of testing the claims of quantum mechanics using and the theory of relativity.

Now, in TCM, everything is connected. What I said before about the connection between the mental state and the muscles? According to TCM, of course they are connected, and you can’t treat one without treating the other. So a trained TCM practitioner is not going to treat you for depression. Instead they are going to look at your sleep pattern, the color of your eyes, your physical symptoms, your emotional symptoms, how you move, the state of your tongue and fingernails (did you know that our fingernails develop ridges when we are under high levels of stress? the body is fricking weird sometimes), and a whole bunch of other stuff.

They will use all of this to diagnose you with a specific disruption of your bodily cycles, which will mean absolutely nothing to you unless you are familiar with Chinese medicine, but will sound something like “Your heart is overactive and there is a blockage in your liver.” This doesn’t mean your literal heart and liver, it means the bodily cycles that the metaphor of Chinese medicine associates with your heart and liver. Then they will use acupuncture, herbs, massage, and other treatments–some of them damn odd to Western eyes–to calm your heart and unblock your liver. Which, if they have correctly diagnosed you and if the TCM theory of disease is accurate, will correct the symptoms you describe–including the depression.

Like Western medicine, TCM treatments may be a one-time thing (take an antibiotics for two weeks and call me if the symptoms come back), an on going thing (take your anti-depressant every morning, and we’ll evaluate the dosage in a month to see if it is working), or a palliative (I’m sorry, the cancer is deep in the brain where we can’t operate, and chemo isn’t working. All we can do is make her comfortable.) If you do decide to pursue TCM as a treatment for mental illness, make sure you discuss with your practitioner what TCM says the likely cause of your illness is, and whether they think you will need ongoing treatments or not.

Other Alternative Medicines

There are many more types of alternative medicine, from Ayerveda (an ancient system of medicine from India, and to my knowledge the first system of medicine to include dentistry and plastic surgery), to crystal healing, to colon cleanses. Some of these alternatives to Western medicine have a great deal of value to offer, others are probably little more than placebos. Do your research, and be aware that unless your country regulates the type of non-Western medical treatment you are interested in, it will be up to you to verify that a practitioner is trained and knowledgeable. Quacks and snake oil salesman are just as much part of the medical world today as they were 100 years ago, and the unregulated nature of alternative medicine makes it easy for them to hide there.

How to Access Alternative Medicine

If your country uses and insurance model to pay for medical treatments, whether a single-payer system or privatized, or anything in between, access to alternative medicine through insurance will be hit or miss-and often miss.

Some insurance coverage will cover some types of alternative medicine–it will be much easier to get insurance coverage for massage in Canada or Europe than it is in the US, for instance. US insurance companies are more likely to cover acupuncture treatments these days, but that’s far from universal. I would expect it to be far easier to get coverage for acupuncture in Japan or China, but I haven’t been able to confirm this.

If you don’t have insurance, or if your insurance doesn’t cover the alternative medicine you are interested in, you will be paying out-of-pocket.

You’re best option for finding an alternative medicine practitioner is to do your research. Many alternative medicine practitioners have formed groups which provide training, information on the treatments available, fund further research into the effects of their form of alternative medicine, etc. These groups will have information on the training available to practitioners and how to find a trained practitioner.

If the type of alternative medicine you are looking for is regulated, that can help, but check your local regulations! While massage is becoming increasingly regulated in the US, the national standards are still 500 hours of training. 500 hours of training is plenty for people who just want a relaxing massage after a hard day. If you want massage for medical purposes, you probably want someone with more intensive schooling.

Impact on Polyamory

The impact on polyamory will vary widely depending on the type of alternative medicine you are considering. However the biggest impact may be the views of your polycule on alternative medicine. If your poly partner wants to try Traditional Chinese Medicine, but you’ve read all kinds of studies that say it is a waste of time…at the very least there may be hard feelings, at the worst their may be blame and judgement thrown around related to quackery, people who aren’t really interested in getting better, and people who are too busy judging to see what’s in front of their faces.

If your poly partner is suffering from mental illness and wants to try alternative medicine, but you believe alternative medicine is all quackery, the best thing you can do is be honest but supportive. Even if you believe any benefit from alternative medicine will be a placebo, remind yourself that placebos do make people feel better. In the world of mental illness, where we can spend decades trying to find a treatment that works, would you really blame your partner for wanting to try something–anything–that will help them feel better and regain control of their lives?

If you are suffering from mental illness, and your partner thinks you should try alternative medicine, but you think it’s quackery–it’s your illness and your treatment. Politely thank your partner for their concern, but tell them you want to stick with treatment that you are comfortable with. It’s your illness, it’s your treatment, it’s your choice.

 

If you haven’t yet, check out the other treatment options for mental illness, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Poly on Purpose newsletter, so you never miss a post.

This post is part of the Polyamory and Mental Illness blog series.

*I have met a few doctors who insist that herbs have nothing to offer modern medicine, and no herb has ever provided a successful medical treatment. To which I am tempted to ask how they treat their heart patients if they believe digitalis is ineffective.

Course of Treatment: Treatment Options

Jess Mahler

There are a number of treatment options for mental illness, both in terms of types of treatment (medication, therapy, etc) and manner of treatment (hospitalization, weekly sessions, rehab). As part of looking at the course of treatment for mental illness, we’re going to take a close look at different kinds of treatment, their pros and cons, and how they will impact your polycule.

We’ll be covering:

  • Medication
  • “talk” therapy
    • psychotherapy
    • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
    • Family Systems therapy
    • others
  • Alternative therapies
    • art therapy
    • music therapy
    • animal therapy
    • alternative therapies to avoid
  • Alternative medicine
    • herbal treatments
    • massage
    • acupuncture
    • other
  • Home treatment
    • exercise
    • sunlight
    • dark chocolate
    • meditation
    • self expression
    • other
  • Treatment Intensity
    • Hospitalization
    • Therapy sessions
    • Medication only
    • Partial day programs
    • Rehab programs

Finding Treatment Options

Most pepole default directly to medication and talk therapy, exploring other options only if medication and talk therapy don’t work for them. This is the approach to treatment that mental health care in the US is set up for. However, you don’t need to feel trapped in one treatment approach. It may be harder to find resources for other approaches to treatment, but if it works for you, it’s worth it.

Some good places to find non-standard resources that are available to you, with or without insurance, include: you local hospital, your local welfare office (or equivalent), your local homeless shelter, your local Children and Youth Services office (or equivalent), your local halfway house, your local domestic violence shelter. Why these places? Your doctor, your shrink, and your insurance company will have all the information about the standard treatment options (medication and talk therapy). The homeless shelter, welfare office, and yes Children and Youth Services (and others I listed) are routinely needing to help the people that the standard treatment doesn’t work for, so they will often have a list of ALL local resources, and many of them are willing to give recommendations so you can avoid becoming one of the people they need to help.

This discussion is part of the Polyamory and Mental Illness Blog Series