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rynlingCan We Start Recognizing ADHD as an Actual and Serious Disorder
https://lauramkaye.tumblr.com/post/629343179386306560/mutisija-anyways-can-we-start-recognizing-adhd
Even accessing ADHD treatment can be extremely challenging, because stimulant medications are controlled substances and there are so many false and damaging perceptions about the condition and medications out there. And even when you have a well-established diagnosis and are well controlled on a medication you’ve taken for years, you are never far away from potential disruptions to your treatment. I personally am a white professional with good health insurance and was able to get diagnosed and medication prescribed - which in itself is often really difficult - but even from that position of privilege I have experienced multiple gaps in my treatment.
This short essay is one of the truest things I've ever read.
In my situation, my insurance covers the medication but not the doctor. This is because no doctor on my insurance (either here in Philadelphia or back in DC) would prescribe it without excessive complications. These "complications" have included weekly blood testing (??) and biweekly counseling sessions (???), none of which I have the time, money, or emotional energy for. As the writer points out, ADHD is extremely responsive to medication, and every single one of the doctors I've worked with has told me that they actually appreciate ADHD patients because they're such "easy" success stories.
Regardless, I have to go off-network and pay upwards of $200 per visit just to appear in person every three or four months and have a ten-minute conversation with a doctor along the lines of "Yes, I'm fine, everything is fine." Even if everything is not fine, as things were definitely not fine for me in 2018 and 2019, I can't afford to talk about it. In addition, even if the doctor is a horrible human being whom I find repulsive, there's very little I can do about it, as every other doctor who is willing to treat ADHD patients is completely and totally booked solid approximately forever. It's almost as if ADHD were a real condition that responds well to medical intervention, who knew.
After reaching a crisis point at the end of 2018, I tried to go on medication for anxiety, and it was a complete and utter disaster. None of the medications worked, to begin with, and each of them had an extraordinary number of side effects. If you know anything about how prescriptions work in the United States, then you know how common it is to have to wait weeks for a prescription refill, which is not something you want to fuck around with when it comes to psychiatric drugs. In the case of the various anxiety medications I tried, the withdrawal symptoms caused by my inability to receive timely refills were catastrophic. These withdrawal symptoms are overwhelmingly well-documented in both medical and popular literature, but this extensive documentation has done nothing to change the way that their "regulation" frequently results in disruption.
(The "treatment" for my anxiety ended up involving leaving a toxic workplace environment, by the way. I'm much better now. Imagine that. I still have a bit of lingering PTSD, but I'm slowly getting back to normal - or as normal as I can get during This Year of Our Lord 2020. Anyway.)
ADHD medication is fairly mild in that it does what it's supposed to do and not much else, and there are no withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. Still, as the writer points out, "you are never far away from potential disruptions to your treatment." It's especially ridiculous to have to go through an absurd song and dance routine every four weeks or so in order to play the go-between between my doctor and my pharmacy, neither of whom can communicate properly. If life gets busy and I'm not able to spend a full week aggressively pressuring both parties into making the prescription refill happen, then I'm fucked, as it's impossible get enough medication to last the full month to begin with.
I wish you could sign up for something like a TSA Pre-Check certification for your medication. Like, can we all just acknowledge that I am an adult professional who is not going to make meth and behave accordingly, thank you.
The absurdities of my experiences with the healthcare system are one of the many reasons why I've stopped seeing "mental heath" as a discrete category separate from "physical health." As far as I'm concerned, the only difference is how the level of social stigma associated with certain conditions makes their effective treatment and management inaccessible.
https://lauramkaye.tumblr.com/post/629343179386306560/mutisija-anyways-can-we-start-recognizing-adhd
Even accessing ADHD treatment can be extremely challenging, because stimulant medications are controlled substances and there are so many false and damaging perceptions about the condition and medications out there. And even when you have a well-established diagnosis and are well controlled on a medication you’ve taken for years, you are never far away from potential disruptions to your treatment. I personally am a white professional with good health insurance and was able to get diagnosed and medication prescribed - which in itself is often really difficult - but even from that position of privilege I have experienced multiple gaps in my treatment.
This short essay is one of the truest things I've ever read.
In my situation, my insurance covers the medication but not the doctor. This is because no doctor on my insurance (either here in Philadelphia or back in DC) would prescribe it without excessive complications. These "complications" have included weekly blood testing (??) and biweekly counseling sessions (???), none of which I have the time, money, or emotional energy for. As the writer points out, ADHD is extremely responsive to medication, and every single one of the doctors I've worked with has told me that they actually appreciate ADHD patients because they're such "easy" success stories.
Regardless, I have to go off-network and pay upwards of $200 per visit just to appear in person every three or four months and have a ten-minute conversation with a doctor along the lines of "Yes, I'm fine, everything is fine." Even if everything is not fine, as things were definitely not fine for me in 2018 and 2019, I can't afford to talk about it. In addition, even if the doctor is a horrible human being whom I find repulsive, there's very little I can do about it, as every other doctor who is willing to treat ADHD patients is completely and totally booked solid approximately forever. It's almost as if ADHD were a real condition that responds well to medical intervention, who knew.
After reaching a crisis point at the end of 2018, I tried to go on medication for anxiety, and it was a complete and utter disaster. None of the medications worked, to begin with, and each of them had an extraordinary number of side effects. If you know anything about how prescriptions work in the United States, then you know how common it is to have to wait weeks for a prescription refill, which is not something you want to fuck around with when it comes to psychiatric drugs. In the case of the various anxiety medications I tried, the withdrawal symptoms caused by my inability to receive timely refills were catastrophic. These withdrawal symptoms are overwhelmingly well-documented in both medical and popular literature, but this extensive documentation has done nothing to change the way that their "regulation" frequently results in disruption.
(The "treatment" for my anxiety ended up involving leaving a toxic workplace environment, by the way. I'm much better now. Imagine that. I still have a bit of lingering PTSD, but I'm slowly getting back to normal - or as normal as I can get during This Year of Our Lord 2020. Anyway.)
ADHD medication is fairly mild in that it does what it's supposed to do and not much else, and there are no withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. Still, as the writer points out, "you are never far away from potential disruptions to your treatment." It's especially ridiculous to have to go through an absurd song and dance routine every four weeks or so in order to play the go-between between my doctor and my pharmacy, neither of whom can communicate properly. If life gets busy and I'm not able to spend a full week aggressively pressuring both parties into making the prescription refill happen, then I'm fucked, as it's impossible get enough medication to last the full month to begin with.
I wish you could sign up for something like a TSA Pre-Check certification for your medication. Like, can we all just acknowledge that I am an adult professional who is not going to make meth and behave accordingly, thank you.
The absurdities of my experiences with the healthcare system are one of the many reasons why I've stopped seeing "mental heath" as a discrete category separate from "physical health." As far as I'm concerned, the only difference is how the level of social stigma associated with certain conditions makes their effective treatment and management inaccessible.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-19 01:36 pm (UTC)Yeah. Same :\ like with all medication in general, but holy fuck what a mood for mental health bullshit. I don't even take anything for that anymore, but it was a damn nightmare back when I did for exactly every reason you stated. And it pisses me off to know there's been literally no progress in that department.
I remember when my mom was first diagnosed with cancer and she told me about all this free shit she had access to (gym membership, massages, cooking/dietary classes, counseling/group therapy, etc.) because she had cancer. She also said, "I don't understand why everyone with health issues has free access to this stuff." The imaginary hierarchy our society has made for which health issues are "more worthy" of services is beyond batshit stupid.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-21 07:19 pm (UTC)Our medical system is so incredibly bad at anything that does not have a single, straightforward answer (set bone and put on cast for broken arm). It's also abysmal at anything that involves relationship-building and continuum of care (see: trying to get treatment for something like fibro or endo).
If I were supreme empress, the things I would change about medical research and practice, man.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-24 11:39 am (UTC)This is ridiculous; but, to be fair, living in Indiana sucks. If I'd had to stay there for more than nine months I probably would have started making meth out of allergy medication too.
I'm being facetious, of course, but sometimes I do think about what it would be like to live in a first-world country.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-26 05:23 pm (UTC)