tomorrow, i attend doctor appointment #2 in the same westwood office building as doctor #1 from last friday. my appearance at this referral appointment is to demonstrate to the insurance review board that i still need to retain special coverage. what do i know, but i imagine presenting records from more than one physician and being seen at multiple clinics can help. i am driving myself again down to ucla. sunshine, midday traffic, the venomous MINI cooper S-- but it should be fine.
getting this medical evaluation set up has been such a pain-- it would certainly be considered an ordeal to anyone with social anxiety disorder or agoraphobia. one big argument with these appointments is how i would rather not accept a prescription for antidepressants, but one should be recorded or "on file" to submit with the insurance review. for "proof of lunacy" i would say, though anyone can get a prescription written for an ssri, even from a general practitioner. every little bit to write on the form helps-- the insurance coverage is this important.
perhaps, i would try another medicine if the noted side effects lacked all obvious blocks not to bother, but any of talk of antidepressants as a monotherapy will render the appointment a one time affair. i worry these doctors will be lazy and only dole out pills, ineffective due to the threat of a lawsuit, or blindly accept my case without a genuine interest in my illness. i know exactly what is wrong with me and why each little neurotic speed bump was built. the blocks i put up for myself are a protection from very real things and it should be senseless to dole out medication that physically alters brain chemistry in cases where learned and now habitual behavior just needs to be unwound.
consider how the medication could be used to help loosen tension, which could therefore facilitate ripping out old stitches of behavior. medication offers a complex relationship-- it does not necessarily need to be looked at as a solution.
once all of these references are checked, the insurance company should back off for five years. i called the ucla anxiety disorders clinic and successfully left a message requesting an appointment for *only* a medication evaluation. i mentioned not being interested in becoming a new patient. (from what i was told, that was the "secret code" needed to get an appointment scheduled within the year.) later in the day, chuck called the same number at the clinic and left a scripted message which mirrored my original request. a receptionist returned our calls and proclaimed that she is so sorry but the clinic is not taking new patients at this time, but there are slots available for people who are only requesting medication evaluations.
hello?
it is as though people are on autopilot 97% of the time and forget to listen. this kind of profound senselessness happens on so many occasions that i must be the problem. i have to be. after explaining to that receptionist that she was offering exactly what was requested, she read out a different telephone number for us to call to set up the appointment. the receptionist on the other side of the new phone number said her office was inpatient only "but just a sec" and "she'll get the other phone number." the third telephone number forwarded the call to the original receptionist at the first telephone number. [gee, no kidding.] would it be wrong to call the anxiety disorders clinic back and ask to talk to someone who doesn't sound confused? in the future will i be one of those people who automatically invalidates any business-related first line of defense and requests a higher level of management for every transaction?
is this what everyone else goes through for simple tasks? these situations are obviously written along with an elevated panic level -- really, these frustrations are just phone calls -- but i swear to god that a high percentage of the people in southern california have absolutely no comprehension. i have not been speaking mandarin to martians on the moon, so my issue with receptionist idiocy continues. it might be a basic job to direct phone calls and schedule appointments, but one could assume that a clerical position in a sensitive department of a world class medical center would not be an entry level position.
or, how mental illness thinks:
unless, of course, this telephone tag is an undisclosed anxiety disorders clinic protocol. by the time patients actually manage to see a doctor, they are bumped up to level two, having gotten over their telephone anxiety and minor issues with people through simple immersion therapy, interaction, and presence. :p
getting this medical evaluation set up has been such a pain-- it would certainly be considered an ordeal to anyone with social anxiety disorder or agoraphobia. one big argument with these appointments is how i would rather not accept a prescription for antidepressants, but one should be recorded or "on file" to submit with the insurance review. for "proof of lunacy" i would say, though anyone can get a prescription written for an ssri, even from a general practitioner. every little bit to write on the form helps-- the insurance coverage is this important.
perhaps, i would try another medicine if the noted side effects lacked all obvious blocks not to bother, but any of talk of antidepressants as a monotherapy will render the appointment a one time affair. i worry these doctors will be lazy and only dole out pills, ineffective due to the threat of a lawsuit, or blindly accept my case without a genuine interest in my illness. i know exactly what is wrong with me and why each little neurotic speed bump was built. the blocks i put up for myself are a protection from very real things and it should be senseless to dole out medication that physically alters brain chemistry in cases where learned and now habitual behavior just needs to be unwound.
consider how the medication could be used to help loosen tension, which could therefore facilitate ripping out old stitches of behavior. medication offers a complex relationship-- it does not necessarily need to be looked at as a solution.
once all of these references are checked, the insurance company should back off for five years. i called the ucla anxiety disorders clinic and successfully left a message requesting an appointment for *only* a medication evaluation. i mentioned not being interested in becoming a new patient. (from what i was told, that was the "secret code" needed to get an appointment scheduled within the year.) later in the day, chuck called the same number at the clinic and left a scripted message which mirrored my original request. a receptionist returned our calls and proclaimed that she is so sorry but the clinic is not taking new patients at this time, but there are slots available for people who are only requesting medication evaluations.
hello?
it is as though people are on autopilot 97% of the time and forget to listen. this kind of profound senselessness happens on so many occasions that i must be the problem. i have to be. after explaining to that receptionist that she was offering exactly what was requested, she read out a different telephone number for us to call to set up the appointment. the receptionist on the other side of the new phone number said her office was inpatient only "but just a sec" and "she'll get the other phone number." the third telephone number forwarded the call to the original receptionist at the first telephone number. [gee, no kidding.] would it be wrong to call the anxiety disorders clinic back and ask to talk to someone who doesn't sound confused? in the future will i be one of those people who automatically invalidates any business-related first line of defense and requests a higher level of management for every transaction?
is this what everyone else goes through for simple tasks? these situations are obviously written along with an elevated panic level -- really, these frustrations are just phone calls -- but i swear to god that a high percentage of the people in southern california have absolutely no comprehension. i have not been speaking mandarin to martians on the moon, so my issue with receptionist idiocy continues. it might be a basic job to direct phone calls and schedule appointments, but one could assume that a clerical position in a sensitive department of a world class medical center would not be an entry level position.
or, how mental illness thinks:
unless, of course, this telephone tag is an undisclosed anxiety disorders clinic protocol. by the time patients actually manage to see a doctor, they are bumped up to level two, having gotten over their telephone anxiety and minor issues with people through simple immersion therapy, interaction, and presence. :p
