Liam's story - 19. Chapter 19

Poor liam

Depression affects your sleep. With me, it exasperates my natural night owl tendencies and keeps me up into the early morning – sometimes past sun up! My sleep schedule has at times flipped wth me sleeping all day and being awake at night. My therapists often used to ask me how many hours I’d slept – it was an indication of how bad the depression was at the time.  ;-)

Depression often keeps you from wanting to do things.  ;-)

Our culture stigmatizes mental health problems. In the US, many health plans either don’t cover or severely limit coverage – the otherwise very good Kaiser Permanente limits the time that you can see psychiatrists and psychologists because they only recognize depression episodes! They don’t see depression as a long-term problem – I’ve been seeing psychiatrists and psychology interns for more than seven years now!  ;-)

Liam is running away from his problems, but I hope he gets help in the end. Toby is doing the right thing being supportive without forcing the issue to much, so Liam don't start seeing him as an "enemy" .

Definite depression. Tired, irritable, anxious, erratic, insomnia all signs.

Liam's rationalizations for not seeking help, including going to his parents seems to indicate something more than depression alone...

If I were Toby I would have been seriously freaked out to wake up alone after the events of the night before.  I hope Liam gets the help he needs or this could end very badly for him.  

On 2018-01-18 at 12:04 PM, Wesley8890 said:

Poor liam

On 2018-01-18 at 2:12 PM, empresslovesreading said:

Poor Liam, is right. He's depressed, That's why he's so tired. It takes a lot out of you. Toby is absolutely correct in talking to him about seeing someone but it is always easier said than done. Well, in most cases anyway.

Keep up the good work!

It is a pretty hard time to be Liam right now! hopefully things turn around for him soon.

21 hours ago, droughtquake said:

Depression affects your sleep. With me, it exasperates my natural night owl tendencies and keeps me up into the early morning – sometimes past sun up! My sleep schedule has at times flipped wth me sleeping all day and being awake at night. My therapists often used to ask me how many hours I’d slept – it was an indication of how bad the depression was at the time.  ;-)

 

Depression often keeps you from wanting to do things.  ;-)

 

Our culture stigmatizes mental health problems. In the US, many health plans either don’t cover or severely limit coverage – the otherwise very good Kaiser Permanente limits the time that you can see psychiatrists and psychologists because they only recognize depression episodes! They don’t see depression as a long-term problem – I’ve been seeing psychiatrists and psychology interns for more than seven years now!  ;-)

It is sad how little coverage mental health receives. I live in Canada where most physical health is covered. You can see a psychiatrist, but the wait lists are long and the only way to get expensive psychiatric care covered is to be an inpatient. My private insurance covers 12 visits a year under an EAP plan and an addition few hundred dollars a year I can pay then be reimbursed. Thats for a psychologist or counsellor.

20 hours ago, Sweetlion said:

Liam is running away from his problems, but I hope he gets help in the end. Toby is doing the right thing being supportive without forcing the issue to much, so Liam don't start seeing him as an "enemy" .

I agree. Sometimes just being there is a help. He recognizes Liam needs more help than he can give, but he is encouraging but not pushy when trying to get Liam to get help.

19 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

Definite depression. Tired, irritable, anxious, erratic, insomnia all signs.

yup. Hopefully he gets help soon. Good help can make a world of difference. 

15 hours ago, Daddydavek said:

Liam's rationalizations for not seeking help, including going to his parents seems to indicate something more than depression alone...

I don't know, some people feel deep shame for mental health issues. I have only recently had my own mental health issues, even prior to this I have always been one to encourage others to seek help, but when I had my own issues it took a lot for me to finally admit it to myself and seek help, because even though I firmly believe that mental illness should be de-stigmatized I still felt a lot of shame. 

8 hours ago, glennish said:

If I were Toby I would have been seriously freaked out to wake up alone after the events of the night before.  I hope Liam gets the help he needs or this could end very badly for him.  

He left a note  

7 minutes ago, Kjamieson said:

It is sad how little coverage mental health receives. I live in Canada where most physical health is covered. You can see a psychiatrist, but the wait lists are long and the only way to get expensive psychiatric care covered is to be an inpatient. My private insurance covers 12 visits a year under an EAP plan and an addition few hundred dollars a year I can pay then be reimbursed. Thats for a psychologist or counsellor.

Do any organizations offer free or low-cost therapy interns? Almost all the psychological therapy I’ve gotten over the years has been doctoral candidate interns. They get real-world practice, I get therapy at little or no cost to me (it’s free to me now that I’m on Medicare/MediCal [aka Medicaid in other states]).  ;-)

8 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

Do any organizations offer free or low-cost therapy interns? Almost all the psychological therapy I’ve gotten over the years has been doctoral candidate interns. They get real-world practice, I get therapy at little or no cost to me (it’s free to me now that I’m on Medicare/MediCal [aka Medicaid in other states]).  ;-)

I've never looked into that option, I imagine it might be available in the cities with bigger universities? I live near a small city that has a university but it only offers undergrad programs. The nearest university that offers masters and doctoral programs is a couple hours away. That might be an option. I am fortunate that I am in a position that if I really had to I could pay out pf pocket, I don't want to, but it would be possible. I also have a decent health spending account I can access, so I could always get reimbursed that way. I have my own health spending account and since I am also on my husbands benefits I have access to another one as well. 

I believe there are also places that offer services and charge on a sliding scale based on income, I looked in to that briefly but didn't qualify. 

Classic depression symptoms 

I definately think Liam should get some help and fast. I don't wanna see him spiral out of control. I hope Toby is strong enough for Liam to help him through this. I been dealing with with depression alot lately. I lost my only child 3 yrs ago to suicide & it haunts me everyday but hurts a little less. Much like Liam's brother no one knew my son was having problems. His momma found him when she got home from work. Know I really hope to see more of this story & with a Happy Ending. You are doing a great job with the story.