I suffer from sever anxiety and panic disorder. I have most of my life, and up until recently its been very well managed. Usually I can pass for neurotypical and I have a pretty high functioning day to day ability. But since July its been getting progressively worse, and so at the beginning of August I reached out to Vancouver Island Mental Health to try to stop this disorder from getting any more of a grasp on my life. It took them until October to be able to see me and when I went in I was informed that the only available program they offered that met my requirements had a wait list and I might be able to get in by January, but realistically it would be April. They offered a different program that has nothing to do with my disorder and informed me that if I didnt agree to one or the other then our relationship was over and there was nothing else they would be willing to do for me. They said I was welcome to pay for one on one counselling with a private psychologist. Or if I were to become suicidal or develop an addiction, then they would be totally willing to reopen my case. The woman in this article is lucky enough to be able to afford private counselling. But as the article mentions, lots of us dont have that luxury. The lack of support for mental health issues in British Columbia is appalling and a big step towards that is visibility. So many of us try to hide our disorders that I think its time to come clean and be open about this. The more people that care about you and know, the more people there will be who will care about fixing this issue. huffingtonpost.ca/rachel-thexton/mental-health-vancouver_b_5961440.html?1412889377&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 07:50:05 +0000