Better Living Through Chemistry
As you know if you've read this blog, I had a bit of a mental health set back a few weeks ago. I had something of a nervous breakdown and have had to take some time away from work due to the breakdown occurring at work.
I won't say the breakdown was exactly work related, but an event there triggered the breakdown that was building over the course of the previous month or so. As near as I can tell, my illness jumped the curb and caused something akin to Bipolar 2 where a person swings not from manic to depressed but from a hypomanic state. On my upswings I merely felt "normal" but the downswings were... horrible.
But two weeks ago my GP added Abilify (amipiprazole) to my antidepressants and things started to improve. I could visit social media and not trigger those downswings, I could read and reply if I wanted to and rather then rage spiral at the worst of it, I could simply back away and regroup.
I've even gotten a note from my doctor to return gradually to work. I can't yet because the employers want a full occupational fitness assessment (OFA), but I'm confident now that a return will happen.
The part that I'd like though is a proper diagnosis. If I'm to live life now as a bipolar individual I can accept that and adjust. But getting a solid psychiatric assessment is rather difficult around here.
Where I live, mental health issues are handled by what they call a primary care team. You are given an initial assessment by a trained clinician but the lack of psychiatrists here means there is often only one such practitioner for hundreds of people. In my own primary care area we have an entire building of physicians' patients for one psychiatrist. The wait time to see the psychiatrist is 4-6 months.
Yes, there are private psychiatrists, but neither BC MSP nor my extended health insurer will pay for private psychiatric care and because my issue isn't exactly a work related injury even psychologist consults are more expensive than I can afford; and I'm not exactly poor.
I'm glad that my GP was able to provide me with Abilify to at least find some balance in my mental health, but the state of mental health care in northern British Columbia leaves very much to be desired.
If you yourself are suffering, go see your GP. There is no shame in accepting medical help, any more than a diabetic should be embarrassed to take insulin. But don't wait like I did, had I sought and received care directly from my GP before work stress triggered a break, I might still be at work today.
Timely care is the best care.
I won't say the breakdown was exactly work related, but an event there triggered the breakdown that was building over the course of the previous month or so. As near as I can tell, my illness jumped the curb and caused something akin to Bipolar 2 where a person swings not from manic to depressed but from a hypomanic state. On my upswings I merely felt "normal" but the downswings were... horrible.
But two weeks ago my GP added Abilify (amipiprazole) to my antidepressants and things started to improve. I could visit social media and not trigger those downswings, I could read and reply if I wanted to and rather then rage spiral at the worst of it, I could simply back away and regroup.
I've even gotten a note from my doctor to return gradually to work. I can't yet because the employers want a full occupational fitness assessment (OFA), but I'm confident now that a return will happen.
The part that I'd like though is a proper diagnosis. If I'm to live life now as a bipolar individual I can accept that and adjust. But getting a solid psychiatric assessment is rather difficult around here.
Where I live, mental health issues are handled by what they call a primary care team. You are given an initial assessment by a trained clinician but the lack of psychiatrists here means there is often only one such practitioner for hundreds of people. In my own primary care area we have an entire building of physicians' patients for one psychiatrist. The wait time to see the psychiatrist is 4-6 months.
Yes, there are private psychiatrists, but neither BC MSP nor my extended health insurer will pay for private psychiatric care and because my issue isn't exactly a work related injury even psychologist consults are more expensive than I can afford; and I'm not exactly poor.
I'm glad that my GP was able to provide me with Abilify to at least find some balance in my mental health, but the state of mental health care in northern British Columbia leaves very much to be desired.
If you yourself are suffering, go see your GP. There is no shame in accepting medical help, any more than a diabetic should be embarrassed to take insulin. But don't wait like I did, had I sought and received care directly from my GP before work stress triggered a break, I might still be at work today.
Timely care is the best care.
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