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PTSD & Chronic Depression
Hello,
I'm new here. I have severe PTSD from military sexual trauma (I'm a veteran) and chronic depression. I'm currently being seen at a VA facility and enrolled in this new treatment for PTSD...but it's not going well. I'm extremely depressed...it's really bad. I've had bad experiences with being in-patient at VA hospitals as they are very scary especially for female vets. I'm on 100% disability due to my PTSD and therefore don't have any other insurance for private healthcare.
Does anyone have any idea of other options for care? If I go to a civilian ER will they see me or will they send me to the VA?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
I'm new here. I have severe PTSD from military sexual trauma (I'm a veteran) and chronic depression. I'm currently being seen at a VA facility and enrolled in this new treatment for PTSD...but it's not going well. I'm extremely depressed...it's really bad. I've had bad experiences with being in-patient at VA hospitals as they are very scary especially for female vets. I'm on 100% disability due to my PTSD and therefore don't have any other insurance for private healthcare.
Does anyone have any idea of other options for care? If I go to a civilian ER will they see me or will they send me to the VA?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Do you have social services in your area? I don't know if they would be able to help but that's where a friend's daughter got counceling on a sliding scale based on what she could afford. They might know what is available to you.
I don't know anything specific that can be done, perhaps some of the wiser folks here will have something. However, please know that I'm teed off as heck at the system for you. They're really quick to hand us rifles and send us out to kill people that have nothing to do with us, or support killing of same, and then they bail out on you whan you need something in return? That stinks, makes me want to go beat up a few trees. I'm sorry they're being so irresponsible toward you.
-El Dave
-El Dave
things have gone from bad to worse...i was supposed to have weekly appts during this PTSD therapy through the VA and the trauma processing that i'm in the middle of right now...but my therapist has bailed on me and can't see me until May 5th!
she got me right in the middle of all of this trauma processing and just bailed...no reason why on her end. at the beginning of this therapy she let me know how important it was not to miss any appts, especially during trauma processing. i guess she forgot her own rules.
my regular therapist (a different person) is on vacation for 2 weeks. so....i'm left with these raw emotions alone. family isn't an option. i'm so stressed that my arms are broken out in blisters...and the rest of my body isn't fairing so well either not to mention the level of anger/rage i have towards this PTSD program right now.
even my regular therapist (also a VA person, but a different VA hospital) hinted that i might not be able to handle this program because of it's "rules".
i guess i'm just looking for some input. i checked into non-profit facilities around here, and can't find any...even the local Catholic hospital isn't non-profit!!!...
thanks for listening...
she got me right in the middle of all of this trauma processing and just bailed...no reason why on her end. at the beginning of this therapy she let me know how important it was not to miss any appts, especially during trauma processing. i guess she forgot her own rules.
my regular therapist (a different person) is on vacation for 2 weeks. so....i'm left with these raw emotions alone. family isn't an option. i'm so stressed that my arms are broken out in blisters...and the rest of my body isn't fairing so well either not to mention the level of anger/rage i have towards this PTSD program right now.
even my regular therapist (also a VA person, but a different VA hospital) hinted that i might not be able to handle this program because of it's "rules".
i guess i'm just looking for some input. i checked into non-profit facilities around here, and can't find any...even the local Catholic hospital isn't non-profit!!!...
thanks for listening...
That's terrible. And Hildy says they don't pay doodly squat anyway, so there's no valid reason for them to be against your use of other facilities, unless it's something of a political nature. Well, attack it from the non-profit angle for sure, it may make a difference.. I sure hope so, anyway! Seems to me you're overdue for some decent breaks.
thanks...and thank hildy for me also.
the particular VA hospital i go to is horrible about allowing pts to go to real hospitals (no, i don't consider this VA facility a real hospital...LOL). i.e. it took me 2 years to obtain approval for gyn surgery at a real hospital that the VA obviously couldn't do (they don't even have a gyn doctor, let alone surgeons......).
i will search for a non-profit facility in my area and keep that in mind should i make the decision to go in-pt. i know that i need to be in-pt as my thoughts and urges are very bad..it's just that i can't handle being in a VA facility...it would make me worse.
the particular VA hospital i go to is horrible about allowing pts to go to real hospitals (no, i don't consider this VA facility a real hospital...LOL). i.e. it took me 2 years to obtain approval for gyn surgery at a real hospital that the VA obviously couldn't do (they don't even have a gyn doctor, let alone surgeons......).
i will search for a non-profit facility in my area and keep that in mind should i make the decision to go in-pt. i know that i need to be in-pt as my thoughts and urges are very bad..it's just that i can't handle being in a VA facility...it would make me worse.
Darn, I wish Hildy had time to come in here. She's a workaholic, and had me fix her up with hospital system access from here at the house, and so she's always out there surrounded by stacks of papers.
Okey dokey, I interrrupted her. Took my life into my hands for you, danced right across the minefield! She says that unfortunately she can't know for sure that it works the same in other areas as here, but here, if you go to the ER and they send you to the psych ward until you're "stable", that your aversion to the large percentage of males vs. females in the VA facility would be a factor with the civilians deciding what to do for you, and that (always remember, a non-profit facility is essential) they can ask the VA for approval to keep you in the civilian facility for treatment past the point of "stability". Other vets may not realize this, it may be the same as the writeoffs thing, people just aren't aware of it being there to take advantage of. Hopefully, the situation is similar in your area.
Remember, the operative words are "non-profit". If you've no non-profit facility available, they're going to do the minimum required by law for you and then shove you out the door to make room for a paying patient. It's a lovely system you served to protect, isn't it? But the "non-profit" factor is real, even if it's part of the system.
Okey dokey, I interrrupted her. Took my life into my hands for you, danced right across the minefield! She says that unfortunately she can't know for sure that it works the same in other areas as here, but here, if you go to the ER and they send you to the psych ward until you're "stable", that your aversion to the large percentage of males vs. females in the VA facility would be a factor with the civilians deciding what to do for you, and that (always remember, a non-profit facility is essential) they can ask the VA for approval to keep you in the civilian facility for treatment past the point of "stability". Other vets may not realize this, it may be the same as the writeoffs thing, people just aren't aware of it being there to take advantage of. Hopefully, the situation is similar in your area.
Remember, the operative words are "non-profit". If you've no non-profit facility available, they're going to do the minimum required by law for you and then shove you out the door to make room for a paying patient. It's a lovely system you served to protect, isn't it? But the "non-profit" factor is real, even if it's part of the system.
thanks for the info!
i will check and see what is available in the area. i've just heard from other vets around here (and my therapists) that if i went to a civilian ER that once i was "stable", i would be sent back to the VA.
i can't get it through their heads how a VA mental health ward is so "unsafe" for a female vet with sexual trauma issues. (i.e. being locked up with all male patients!!!!)...it only makes things worse; much, much worse, but the pdocs and tdocs don't understand that.
when i still had insurance, i had been in a civilian hospital once and it was so much different...there were almost half/half female/male patients and i didn't feel so threatened.
again, thanks for your help. the VA healthcare system has a long way to go in helping female vets.
i will check and see what is available in the area. i've just heard from other vets around here (and my therapists) that if i went to a civilian ER that once i was "stable", i would be sent back to the VA.
i can't get it through their heads how a VA mental health ward is so "unsafe" for a female vet with sexual trauma issues. (i.e. being locked up with all male patients!!!!)...it only makes things worse; much, much worse, but the pdocs and tdocs don't understand that.
when i still had insurance, i had been in a civilian hospital once and it was so much different...there were almost half/half female/male patients and i didn't feel so threatened.
again, thanks for your help. the VA healthcare system has a long way to go in helping female vets.
I believe you're right. It's 0230 and I'm so wide awake I could turn the music up and just listen to the ringing in my ears as Hildy's rolling pin whacked me severely about the head and shoulders. I think I'll go in there and read for an hour or two, and if I still can't sleep I'll just have to temporarily abandon my grand plans. I've an appointment at the VA Monday ot Tuesday or something like that (I don't "do" schedules. Hildy and Sweetling handle those sorts of things for me.. I always say let the grownups do grownup work.. I'm not gonna be one of those kids that tries to be an adult before my time!) and perhaps then I can ask about Ambien. They can write that sort of script when they're regular medical doctors, right? This appointment is for what Mom and the 'pick actually made me go to the VA for in the first place- to figure out what makes all my joints hurt so badly.
Oh, yes, Hildegard is quite something else. I'm very proud of her, and very proud of myself for having whatever it takes to keep someone like Hildy on and by my side. She's an executive type, and looks the part, goes to work in business attire, and is the boss. When I need to see her there and they see this grubby ol' biker come wandering in they always look a bit perplexed when they first find out that I'm her husband and not some guy who came in looking for a janitorial position.
Oh, yes, Hildegard is quite something else. I'm very proud of her, and very proud of myself for having whatever it takes to keep someone like Hildy on and by my side. She's an executive type, and looks the part, goes to work in business attire, and is the boss. When I need to see her there and they see this grubby ol' biker come wandering in they always look a bit perplexed when they first find out that I'm her husband and not some guy who came in looking for a janitorial position.
I like your desire to try sleeping without using anything, but it doesn't quite work that way.
I'm not sure how you will need to cut down on what you've been concocting, but you could get some rebound insomnia if you just stop it "cold turkey".
The best way to kick it would be to get a sleep aid, use if for maybe a week or two, then wean yourself off the sleep aid.
If you do try that route, don't get the Ambien CR, but get the plan ole Ambien. The 10 mg. can be broken in half, then cut down to smaller sizes. That's what I do when I wean off of it.
Thanks for the great info. - amazing stuff. Hildy is a great resource person. Give her a big "hi" from Cali from me.
I'm not sure how you will need to cut down on what you've been concocting, but you could get some rebound insomnia if you just stop it "cold turkey".
The best way to kick it would be to get a sleep aid, use if for maybe a week or two, then wean yourself off the sleep aid.
If you do try that route, don't get the Ambien CR, but get the plan ole Ambien. The 10 mg. can be broken in half, then cut down to smaller sizes. That's what I do when I wean off of it.
Thanks for the great info. - amazing stuff. Hildy is a great resource person. Give her a big "hi" from Cali from me.
Just call their financial unit and ask. Hildy ran that unit for the local non-profit hospital (which is also the area's largest healthcare facility), and I was amazed at the difficulty she had in finding sufficient writeoffs, especially since all the patient has to do is fill out (and document) a financial assistance form. Now she's gone with a company that hooks folks who have no insurance up with various means of paying for their care (not loans!) and the hospital actually pays them to write off a patient's bills. The majority of outside labs and specialists, etceteras, write it off when the hospital does.. probably as a tax thing, I don't know. Hildy's the one who should be in here, she's much more intelligent than I.
Hey, I'm listening to you. I'm thinking seriously of trying to sleep tonight with no sleep aid at all other than an hour or two with Dean Koontz. Kicking that terrible depression without medications gives me hope (yes, I'm listening to Hensley, too!) that perhaps the same can be true with sleep meds.
Hey, I'm listening to you. I'm thinking seriously of trying to sleep tonight with no sleep aid at all other than an hour or two with Dean Koontz. Kicking that terrible depression without medications gives me hope (yes, I'm listening to Hensley, too!) that perhaps the same can be true with sleep meds.
That was valuable info. - how do you check out which hospitals are a non-profit charters?
Here in Tallahassee, the VA tells us to go to the ER in any "emergency" situation. Also, check to see if there are hospitals in your area with a 'non profit charter'. If it's the same as here in FL, at least here in Tallahassee, you don't have to have insurance because to maintain their non profit status they're actually looking for writeoffs.
an er will not send you to the va they can not turn you away they will recommend a doctor they can help you and give you a direction if you explain that you are not comfortable with the way you are treated at the va someone there will point you in the right direction where you can get suitable care for your condition that you are comfortable with part of recovery is having trust in the care you recieve if you don't have that than it will be pretty hard for you to get thru this I am sorry for what happened to you I hope you can find peace within good luck and godbless
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