Medieval Treatment of Mentally Ill in NM? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: salary, appraisals)

[AlisonL]

Omg that is horrific. Why can't people be trained to understand mental illness?? I get so mad at people who think someone is crazy just because they are depressed. I suffer from anxiety attacks and Seasonal Affective Disorder, and some folks think these things can be turned on and off like a lightswitch. And, many do not want to be bothered to understand. I could rant on and on, but I won't.
Your friend needs a understanding, caring doctor who will listen to her and help her. Sounds like aside from you, all she has had is hinderances, not help.
This does have me concerned about finding a good doctor for myself. Seriously, will I find one or will they want to lock me away somewhere?

[clairz]

Originally Posted by Devin Bent

Does she get any counseling or psychological counseling? Clinical depression in its various forms usually has to be treated with appropriate drugs -- but counseling can help with the feelings that it is her fault and other issues.

The worst thing, however, is a counselor who is opposed to medication and advices her to go off her meds.

Also of course -- counseling costs money and most insurance does NOT cover it well. It is not an easy situation as long as our society doesn't fully respond to mental health needs. It can be hard in our society even to find a qualified doctor to prescribe and monitor her meds. Some states allow qualified nurse practitioners to prescribe and monitor meds and they can do an excellent job at a more affordable rate. I don't know if NM does.

I wish your friend the best. She is lucky to have a friend like you.

Devin, thank you for your concern There isn't much in the way of services here, especially for low income people on disability. She had to wait a couple of months for an appointment with the town's only psychiatrist. Turns out that the real psychiatrist was out on maternity leave and the substitute they provided was a really, really old man who kept falling asleep during the appointment. She had to clap her hands every once in a while to wake him up.

The counselor they provided was a young person she refers to as "the boy" who hasn't got much life experience.

We laugh a lot about these things but, in this case, laughter isn't quite enough medicine.

~clairz

[clairz]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

Omg that is horrific. Why can't people be trained to understand mental illness?? I get so mad at people who think someone is crazy just because they are depressed. I suffer from anxiety attacks and Seasonal Affective Disorder, and some folks think these things can be turned on and off like a lightswitch. And, many do not want to be bothered to understand. I could rant on and on, but I won't.
Your friend needs a understanding, caring doctor who will listen to her and help her. Sounds like aside from you, all she has had is hinderances, not help.
This does have me concerned about finding a good doctor for myself. Seriously, will I find one or will they want to lock me away somewhere?

Alison, you should know that the services here aren't anything like what is available in Maine. Back there, she was able to access crisis services immediately--the hospital even gave her taxi coupons that paid for the ride from the hospital to the mental health facility--they didn't shackle her in chains, strip her, and put her in a bare cement cell. This is a poor state--we all know that--but who knew that it was so far behind on this particular health issue?

I will email you and we can rant back and forth.

~clairz

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by clairz

Devin, thank you for your concern There isn't much in the way of services here, especially for low income people on disability. She had to wait a couple of months for an appointment with the town's only psychiatrist. Turns out that the real psychiatrist was out on maternity leave and the substitute they provided was a really, really old man who kept falling asleep during the appointment. She had to clap her hands every once in a while to wake him up.

The counselor they provided was a young person she refers to as "the boy" who hasn't got much life experience.

We laugh a lot about these things but, in this case, laughter isn't quite enough medicine.

~clairz

I am very sorry. The whole thing can be a nightmare. She needs someone to prescribe her meds -- it is very tricky -- it is not like there is only one type of depression and one medication that works for everybody. A psychiatrist who has not kept up with the field may not be much help even if he is awake.

New Mexico and the mountain states in general have high suicide rates. Part of the problem may be how inaccessible appropriate mental care is. Smaller towns are just too far from the bigger towns and even the bigger towns may not be doing that good a job.

[clairz]

Originally Posted by Devin Bent

New Mexico and the mountain states in general have high suicide rates. Part of the problem may be how inaccessible appropriate mental care is. Smaller towns are just too far from the bigger towns and even the bigger towns may not be doing that good a job.

How sad to hear about the suicide rates here. I am not surprised, though. She told me that the holding cell where she spent the night was covered in graffiti--messages like "kill yourself now, they don't care." Nice place to leave a suicidal person.

As you may have guessed, my "friend" is actually an extended family member. We will all be moving to Las Cruces and hoping for better health care, but not until my husband retires in a couple of years.

~clairz

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

Your friend needs a understanding, caring doctor who will listen to her and help her. Sounds like aside from you, all she has had is hinderances, not help.
This does have me concerned about finding a good doctor for myself.

I think that in practice a lot of people end up with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner to prescribe medications, a GP or FP or internist to do the blood testing if necessary to monitor side effects, and some type of counselor to talk to. Ideally they all work together. If they don't communicate or they work at cross purposes, then it is not so good.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by clairz

We will all be moving to Las Cruces and hoping for better health care, but not until my husband retires in a couple of years.

~clairz

Good luck. If need be, then even bigger El Paso is close.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by clairz

Can you tell me more?

~clairz

I can try but it probably will not come across quite right: There were a series of situations where the police intervined (spelling?) with those who were suffering from various systems of depression. many either did not have access to their meds or refused to take them, in a couple of cases the police over-reacted or it appeared they did and killed them because they were threatening family members or others. In a few cases the patients did kill others. The mindset of many in NM is very different from the New England area. I am trying to put find a way to word this so it is politically correct (lack of a better term) without insulting anyone. Too put it as simply as I can, the police pretty much relied on just getting those off the streets and somewhere they (the cops) thought they would be safe and not a treat to themselves or others. I don't know if this helps you in any way, but I tried. I think I could do a better job explaining it if I were doing it verbally. BTW I certainly am not taking sides as there appears to be no right or wrong, just better education for all of us.

Nita

[_yb]

Lot of people of NM have lost their lives to those who have not taken their meds. The hospital and the police seem to be trying to do what they can. NM may not be the best place for those that are mentally ill.

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by nmnita

I can try but it probably will not come across quite right: There were a series of situations where the police intervined (spelling?) with those who were suffering from various systems of depression. many either did not have access to their meds or refused to take them, in a couple of cases the police over-reacted or it appeared they did and killed them because they were threatening family members or others. In a few cases the patients did kill others. The mindset of many in NM is very different from the New England area. I am trying to put find a way to word this so it is politically correct (lack of a better term) without insulting anyone. Too put it as simply as I can, the police pretty much relied on just getting those off the streets and somewhere they (the cops) thought they would be safe and not a treat to themselves or others. I don't know if this helps you in any way, but I tried. I think I could do a better job explaining it if I were doing it verbally. BTW I certainly am not taking sides as there appears to be no right or wrong, just better education for all of us.

Nita

Out of sight...out of mind. Unfortunately this is too real. For years and years, people have found its much easier to remove the problem than treat it.