Shrink
At long last, my stockpile of American pharmaceuticals ran low enough to necessitate an appointment with a Czech psychiatrist. You'd think I would've run out by now, but I had quite the stash.
Anyway, I saw the doctor on Thursday and it was about as fun as you'd expect an introductory therapy appointment to be, i.e., within minutes of meeting this man, I proceeded to tell him about every embarrassing, depressing, personal detail of my life--the kinds of things that people I've known for years don't even know. I had the feeling that I was dispatching this information far too easily, like, shouldn't he have bought me a drink first?
So the psychiatrist must've been a bit of a visual learner, because he asked me to make a diagram of my emotional wellbeing throughout my lifetime, and I estimated this as best as I could. I drew a squiggly line to represent the last 2-3 years of my life--up and down, up and down.
He reciprocated by drawing a diagram for me. At the top of his page was happiness via social and physical activities. At the bottom was a life of drugs and alcohol. Directly above the drugs was where he put me. He told me that my current life choices are only superior to a life of drugs and alcohol. He then gave me this sheet of paper to have. For reference.
I'm not sure, but I think I can remember that.
At the end of the appointment, he wrote me a prescription for three months worth of medication. I asked him how much it would cost, and it's somewhere in the ballpark of $600-$800. He said that I could ask my American insurance to cover this, but I know damn well that they will not.
...Which influences my decision to cancel my insurance. What's the point of paying for something that does absolutely nothing? I'll soon be covered by my work permit/visa, so hopefully the next time I need a refill, my Czech insurance will cover it.
If that's the case, though, I'm going to need a new psychiatrist to write those prescriptions, because this one isn't in the insurance system. Or something.
So I get to go through all of this again in three months--complete with finding a new psychiatrist. Fucking lovely.
I hope the next one will draw pictures with me too.
Anyway, I saw the doctor on Thursday and it was about as fun as you'd expect an introductory therapy appointment to be, i.e., within minutes of meeting this man, I proceeded to tell him about every embarrassing, depressing, personal detail of my life--the kinds of things that people I've known for years don't even know. I had the feeling that I was dispatching this information far too easily, like, shouldn't he have bought me a drink first?
So the psychiatrist must've been a bit of a visual learner, because he asked me to make a diagram of my emotional wellbeing throughout my lifetime, and I estimated this as best as I could. I drew a squiggly line to represent the last 2-3 years of my life--up and down, up and down.
He reciprocated by drawing a diagram for me. At the top of his page was happiness via social and physical activities. At the bottom was a life of drugs and alcohol. Directly above the drugs was where he put me. He told me that my current life choices are only superior to a life of drugs and alcohol. He then gave me this sheet of paper to have. For reference.
I'm not sure, but I think I can remember that.
At the end of the appointment, he wrote me a prescription for three months worth of medication. I asked him how much it would cost, and it's somewhere in the ballpark of $600-$800. He said that I could ask my American insurance to cover this, but I know damn well that they will not.
...Which influences my decision to cancel my insurance. What's the point of paying for something that does absolutely nothing? I'll soon be covered by my work permit/visa, so hopefully the next time I need a refill, my Czech insurance will cover it.
If that's the case, though, I'm going to need a new psychiatrist to write those prescriptions, because this one isn't in the insurance system. Or something.
So I get to go through all of this again in three months--complete with finding a new psychiatrist. Fucking lovely.
I hope the next one will draw pictures with me too.