I've had better days.
Overall, I am not happy with the place I'm going to get counseling. I had another hour-plus long wait to see a doctor for, like, two minutes, in that waiting room. The doctor said something vague about someone had threatened to burn down the building, which, yeah, I can see how that would throw your schedule off. That's pretty awful, and I am
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A grain of salt to take this comment with: I am coming from Eastern Europe, and as such have absolutely no idea how healthcare in US works.
But I did suffer from an anxiety disorder for several years, and just wanted to share a bit o my experience in the foolish hope that it helps.
I was in the fortunate situation that we have healthcare coverage in my country. Even so, in the end I tried private counseling, because when nothing helps you really are that desperate. Sure, the private clinics make a better impression, sure, the doctors act more professionally, and treat you with the respect - because you are a paying customer, after all. But it amounts to a whole fucking nothing, because they are still about as useful as hair in your food. Only it's very expensive hair.
It took me several years to find a doctor who was able to help, and I went through them like a groupie through a boyband. And it was the psychiatrist who refused to take any money (because, as he pointed out, I was a piss poor student at that time - which was through), and snuck me into appointments quite illegally. It took me time to understand where the difference was, but in the end I think, it was his empathy and life experience (he was a very old man). He actually treated me as a human being, first and foremost. Whereas the younger generations of doctors don't: for them you will always be a *patient*, a *case*, but never quite human.
So, if you have a feeling that they don't understand you, you are right, and should never blame yourself for it. This is what happens, when people don't study medicine, because it's a calling, but because it's a great way to make money.
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Yes! And maybe he is working there because he wants to help. I have no idea what he gets paid, but he's at a cheap clinic for folks too poor to pay for anything else, so it can't be much, and I know that they book him in ten-minute blocks, which is . . . six patients an hour, assume he works six hours a day, that's 36 people a day, and you are seeing different people every day. So he's kind of overworked. But I can't see taking a job like that UNLESS you wanted to help. (Unless he's doing it because that's all he could get, or he wants it on his resume.)
But even if that is true, he's doing a shite job of it. Honestly, truly, I ask for extremely little. I know I can be difficult to deal with under certain circumstances, and I make every effort to make dealing with me as easy as possible otherwise, and to prevent those circumstances, but it doesn't appear to make a whit of difference. >:(
they are still about as useful as hair in your food.
That is a really great way of putting it!
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Not going to offer any advice, because frankly, I think they already have enough material for the roads in hell anyway, so I am just going to recommend one of the most magical movies I have seen instead: Bagdad Cafe (Out of Rosenheim).
It's available on youtube, it seems:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56OYfaN722Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksS1tiAMOuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvCalRIi_p8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y8eDdT6g-g
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