Ask HN: What process do you use to find mental healthcare?

4 pointsbluecenter2 comments

I'm curious why it's so fundamentally difficult to find the right care? It's a nightmare navigating the system and am curious if anyone else has struggled with it?

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If you are fortunate enough to have a good primary care physician, they should be able to refer you to a psychiatrist and/or psychologist that can help you determine a diagnosis. Sometimes you'll need to a few different clinicians until you find a match. Often times you don't need a referral for seeing a therapist. At least in an HMO, the primary care physician ultimately is responsible for your care, so if you pester them enough, they should help you navigate the system and find the care you need. But navigating the system, while struggling with your health, and life and job is really frustrating and challenging. I wish you the best of luck and I hope things get better for you soon.

Nightmare is an understatement in my opinion. Unless you are completely dedicated and have lots of support it can take a bunch of tries to find the right person.

In my experience finding a good psychologist that then recommends a Psychiatrist that they have worked with has worked the best for me. The primary care physician doesn't have the time in my experience to figure everything out.

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