Mental Health Forums

[Assembly Boards Representative]

I honestly wish there were message boards where the staff were certified and trained in mental health issues. There are times when I feel like I would be more connected to my therapists if they were merely just regular forum users like everyone else. I already get free therapy from a health and wellness center I go to and they're mostly just students operating under the supervision of a license professional. They are limiting me to 10 sessions now since certain health organizations changed the treatment of care to where therapy is no longer a necessity to obtain referrals or anything of the sort. That was the only free access I had to mental health professionals. I also get 10 sessions of TalkSpace via my employee assistance program. I hate having limits because this contributes to my anxiety and it only makes me not utilize the service because I am afraid of losing up all of my given sessions.

Having a message board with trained mental health professionals as the staff would likely be a much better way of connecting with therapists since then it would feel as if they are regular people. The problem being that most don't wish to volunteer their time or they have enough to deal with in their regular jobs. So perfectly valid reasons are what gets in the way of an actual mental health message board. I'm fed up with the mental health system in this country (U.S.) since it abides by a socioeconomic system that already creates mental health issues. There was a time when I actually thought about going to school to become a licensed therapist to create such a forum, but I think that time has passed.

[emilyd]

I gave up with mental health forums a long time ago

I used to belong to 3- one deleted my posts for no reason at all, one kept messaging me to " stop giving support to others", and one just was loaded with spam

I mean there are probably others out there, but I'm not sure I can be bothered to try again.

what I'm saying, previous forum experiences deffinetely contribute to your future confidence.
if you created a forum, then yes, I would probably join it- just because you've explained yourself and I believe we could both benifit

[User 180565 is taking donation]

The best way to get actual help is by going to an actual facility no website on the internet is better than in person care. If it's still a struggle contact your local doctor and see what they can do for telehealth programs. You can also Google telehealth therapists that cover your insurance.

[wildmaven]

Feb 25, 2023 8:56:27 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

The best way to get actual help is by going to an actual facility no website on the internet is better than in person care. If it's still a struggle contact your local doctor and see what they can do for telehealth programs. You can also Google telehealth therapists that cover your insurance.

I believe the problem is that many insurances only cover a certain number of visits, and many people can't afford to pay out of pocket to continue in-person/telemedicine visits. I ran into that problem with physical therapy, too. After a certain number of visits, I had to stop going, even though I could've benefited for a longer number of sessions. 

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Feb 25, 2023 9:37:11 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Feb 25, 2023 8:56:27 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

The best way to get actual help is by going to an actual facility no website on the internet is better than in person care. If it's still a struggle contact your local doctor and see what they can do for telehealth programs. You can also Google telehealth therapists that cover your insurance.

I believe the problem is that many insurances only cover a certain number of visits, and many people can't afford to pay out of pocket to continue in-person/telemedicine visits. I ran into that problem with physical therapy, too. After a certain number of visits, I had to stop going, even though I could've benefited for a longer number of sessions. 

Was this government official? Many don't believe that money should get in the way of help others have forms you can fill to get assistance with billing.

[Assembly Boards Representative]

Feb 25, 2023 8:56:27 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

The best way to get actual help is by going to an actual facility no website on the internet is better than in person care. If it's still a struggle contact your local doctor and see what they can do for telehealth programs. You can also Google telehealth therapists that cover your insurance.

To be completely honest... this doesn't really work as well as most people think it does whenever it is suggested. I've noticed there really is no difference from talking with a mental health specialists who is likely there to either advance their career or for a paycheck and conversing about your problems with an artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. It actually sounds weird but discussing my problems with ChatGPT has been kind of a frustrating act of self-care. One-on-one therapy sessions are my preferred method, but they're just not viable if the person you're conversing and sharing with doesn't seem to understand your problems while trying to provide support from an established set of information that attempts to classify human beings like some sort of mathematical formula.

I would much rather prefer an interface like a forum only with active certified members in maybe a role for professional volunteers or perhaps professional staff. It seems like a lot of the problems displayed in this thread is due to poor management and I'm starting to question if the forum previously mentioned in this thread was nothing more than a support board which would be something entirely different than what I describe.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Feb 25, 2023 17:10:35 GMT -8 Assembly Boards Representative said:

Feb 25, 2023 8:56:27 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

The best way to get actual help is by going to an actual facility no website on the internet is better than in person care. If it's still a struggle contact your local doctor and see what they can do for telehealth programs. You can also Google telehealth therapists that cover your insurance.

To be completely honest... this doesn't really work as well as most people think it does whenever it is suggested. I've noticed there really is no difference from talking with a mental health specialists who is likely there to either advance their career or for a paycheck and conversing about your problems with an artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. It actually sounds weird but discussing my problems with ChatGPT has been kind of a frustrating act of self-care. One-on-one therapy sessions are my preferred method, but they're just not viable if the person you're conversing and sharing with doesn't seem to understand your problems while trying to provide support from an established set of information that attempts to classify human beings like some sort of mathematical formula.

I would much rather prefer an interface like a forum only with active certified members in maybe a role for professional volunteers or perhaps professional staff. It seems like a lot of the problems displayed in this thread is due to poor management and I'm starting to question if the forum previously mentioned in this thread was nothing more than a support board which would be something entirely different than what I describe.

The issue with that is anyone could say they are anyone, if you don't find someone that's understanding or caring ask for a different care team until you find someone you do get along with it's building a relationship with people that you trust. I get it I've had to out a bunch of people on my care team. At the end of the day everyone's out for a paycheck but it's the attitude and sense of care you need to read from them to succeed.

If everyone did everything online we'd be under the control of robots by now. I'm not trying to come down on you just highly advising if you want help to not give up hope on the outside world and actually find a team that's willing to show care rather it's their job or not, you may be surprised the ones willing to do more other than work are out there.

[wildmaven]

Feb 25, 2023 14:47:25 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Feb 25, 2023 9:37:11 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

I believe the problem is that many insurances only cover a certain number of visits, and many people can't afford to pay out of pocket to continue in-person/telemedicine visits. I ran into that problem with physical therapy, too. After a certain number of visits, I had to stop going, even though I could've benefited for a longer number of sessions. 

Was this government official? Many don't believe that money should get in the way of help others have forms you can fill to get assistance with billing.

Not sure what you mean by government. I agree that money shouldn't get in the way of physical or mental health, but the reality of our world right now is that's just a fantasy. There are seniors out there who have to decide whether to spend their government assistance on food, or on the medication that's keeping them alive. 

Back to the topic on hand, there would be severe legal issues with having a forum providing mental health by volunteers. In our litigious society, all it would take is one lawsuit to put an end to something like that. 

I suffered from depression and PTSD for many, many decades until I found someone who understood me. I had to be strong enough to know when someone wasn't a good fit and even stronger not to bail when the right one challenged me. 

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Feb 25, 2023 21:53:26 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Feb 25, 2023 14:47:25 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Was this government official? Many don't believe that money should get in the way of help others have forms you can fill to get assistance with billing.

Not sure what you mean by government. I agree that money shouldn't get in the way of physical or mental health, but the reality of our world right now is that's just a fantasy. There are seniors out there who have to decide whether to spend their government assistance on food, or on the medication that's keeping them alive. 

Back to the topic on hand, there would be severe legal issues with having a forum providing mental health by volunteers. In our litigious society, all it would take is one lawsuit to put an end to something like that. 

I suffered from depression and PTSD for many, many decades until I found someone who understood me. I had to be strong enough to know when someone wasn't a good fit and even stronger not to bail when the right one challenged me. 

Some facilities are either ran private or government funded owners via state funded, if you go government they have other options to help with billing where as private might not be as friendly when it comes to money.

[bigballofyarn]

I don't use Reddit and can't advocate for them, but I believe there's a section where you can ask a doctor medical questions.

www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/new/

Having a medical issue?

Ask a doctor or medical professional on reddit! All flaired medical professionals on this subreddit are verified by the mods.

[Assembly Boards Representative]

Feb 25, 2023 21:57:48 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Some facilities are either ran private or government funded owners via state funded, if you go government they have other options to help with billing where as private might not be as friendly when it comes to money.

Intriguing. Can you elaborate more on this?

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Feb 26, 2023 13:31:20 GMT -8 Assembly Boards Representative said:

Feb 25, 2023 21:57:48 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Some facilities are either ran private or government funded owners via state funded, if you go government they have other options to help with billing where as private might not be as friendly when it comes to money.

Intriguing. Can you elaborate more on this?

Ask to speak to their billing department some can recommend grants or some sort of billing assistance.

[Assembly Boards Representative]

I need an licensed mental health forum as even those trained in the divine tend to not be trained in human psychology. Down the path of the faithful there are those who manipulate God to control human psychology for their own benefit and those who genuinely care. The latter of the two tend to be rare.

[Former Member]

I understand this very well. My pastor referred me to a Christian mental health doctor. The issue was the cost, so I found free help in many places, and they are licensed. I wish you find what you need. Take care.

[Assembly Boards Representative]

I’m glad you were referred to someone who had your beliefs in mind. That’s something refreshing to see.