Cost of Treating Anxiety!

Mimbo

I am an anxiety sufferer and I have attended that following therapies that claim to treat panic and anxiety:-

(1) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - €55 per session
(2) Hypnotherapy - €250 first session and €100 after that
(3) Acupuncture. €45 per session

Now I do find parts of these therapies quite effective but I am peeved off about how much they cost:mad: I can't help but feel that getting better will cost me a fortune. That I am being bleed dry.

I am luck I have a job and at the moment I can afford therapy. What about people who can't afford it. Do they go on treated? They just continue to suffer unnoticed.:mad:

Something should be down so that people, regardless of their income, receive the best therapy possible

later12

I know the drugs aren't for everybody, but have you considered medical treatment using prescribed drug therapy?

That's how a lot of people who suffer with anxiety seem to deal with it to be honest. It's great that they worked for you, but hypnotherapy and acupuncture aren't for everybody. At least with drugs a lot of people have additional support through the health services.

Mimbo

Howdy,

I actually already on prescribed medication. I have been taking them for four years and they cost me on average €132 euro a month. Sure that's a shocking price. Worrying about how you are going to pay for your medication can only add to your anxiety.

I totally understand that the therapies I listed aren't for everyone. They are however some of the most popular treatments chosen by anxiety sufferers. These therapies are often recommended by GP's (including my own) in addition to medication.

All anxiety sufferers want to get better but should they have to endure having a hole burnt in their pockets in doing so?

later12

Ah I see, it's wonderful that you are approaching the problem from different angles. And unfortunately you're quite right that doing so is expensive.

As an aside, I still find it fairly astonishing & draconian that mental illness is not considered an approved long term illness in this country; I would hope it is not seriously blocking access to drugs treatment for its sufferers, but in reality it must be.

So since the HSE won't even consider mental illness as approved long term illness, unfortunately it's not surprising that there are no associated supports available for the therapies you mention.

I know this doesn't really help you OP, since you don't have a medical card either, but Dublin Community Acupuncture do special deals for medical card holders for anyone who has one and might be reading this. There's still a fee, but I suppose every little helps.

http://dublincommunityacupuncture.com/#/medical-card-mornings/4559389669

For your own case, OP, have you ever been referred to a HSE mental health clinic for psychological/cognitive behavioural support services, and if so, what was your experience?

Odysseus

Mimbo wrote: »

I am an anxiety sufferer and I have attended that following therapies that claim to treat panic and anxiety:-

(1) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - €55 per session
(2) Hypnotherapy - €250 first session and €100 after that
(3) Acupuncture. €45 per session

Now I do find parts of these therapies quite effective but I am peeved off about how much they cost:mad: I can't help but feel that getting better will cost me a fortune. That I am being bleed dry.

I am luck I have a job and at the moment I can afford therapy. What about people who can't afford it. Do they go on treated? They just continue to suffer unnoticed.:mad:

Something should be down so that people, regardless of their income, receive the best therapy possible

Just speaking the therapy side 55e is not too bad really. However, their are other options for people; the HSE Psychological Services are free, but can vary from location to location. Another option for people is cut price therapy centres, these often include people training, however, the are well into their training and all therapists are required to attend clinical supervision.

Mimbo

Howdy,

No I have never been referred to the HSE for psychological/cognitive behavioral support services. When my doctor was trying to get my medication dosage correct he referred me to a HSE psychartrist. I didn't have a great experience with them to be honest.:( I found them quite cold and clinical. The guy I saw was quite ignorant and he was almost scoffing at episodes of panic. It was completely de-moralising. It was like because you weren't paying for the visit your were just another number.:mad:

Mental illness should be recognised as a Long Term Illness. Mental illness needs to be put on some official footing. Recognising Mental Illness as a long term illness could go a long way to removing some of the stigma attached to it. At present, if a person had to tell their employer that they say had anxiety or depression and needed time of work I would have to take leave with out pay. I wouldn't receive disability or illness benefit. Anxiety disorders and depression are more prevalent then ever in this country but we are still pretending it isn't a problem or it doesn't exist. In a lot of ways we are blind when it comes to such disorders.

I don't know of any such support groups in Portlaoise let alone subsidised centres or clinics.

nesf

55 is cheap for CBT. Not the nicest thing to hear in the world but trained people tend to be expensive.

Mimbo

How much on average are people paying for CBT?

nesf

Mimbo wrote: »

How much on average are people paying for CBT?

Over 100 here, it's a clinical psychologist doing it though.

irishbipolar

Mimbo wrote: »

How much on average are people paying for CBT?

At the end of 2008 I saw a CBT therapist (who used to work in St. Pats, Dublin) in Tullamore for €100/hour.

In St. Eds, Lucan they have 2 CBT therapists who are suppose to be very good. €150/hour.

With regards recognising mental illnesses, I had to give up work in 2004. I tried numerous times to get back working. Every time I tried, no matter how well I looked after myself, I ended up back in hospital. When I got home I was getting 'disability allowance'. Then one day I got a letter in the post - I had qualified for 'invalidity pension'. So in that sense, they do recognise some mental illnesses as a long term disabilty.

My invalidity pension is a life saver. I still struggle with the illness and I'll have to cope with it for the rest of my life. I'll never be able to work again though and I live a very isolated life.

Mimbo

€100 to €150 per session! What? That's woeful money. :mad: Suddenly I don't feel that bad about having to pay €55. Do these prices reflect that fact that these practitioners are in Dublin or is it a basic price for the rest of the country as well?

Sorry to hear about all the crap you have had to go through Irishbipolar. Good to know that there is some form of support out there for sufferers. It's such a rollercaster isn't it. Your winning one minute and then the next your at your lowest ebb. That's want sickens we the most about it.

nesf

Mimbo wrote: »

€100 to €150 per session! What? That's woeful money. :mad: Suddenly I don't feel that bad about having to pay €55. Do these prices reflect that fact that these practitioners are in Dublin or is it a basic price for the rest of the country as well?

Sorry to hear about all the crap you have had to go through Irishbipolar. Good to know that there is some form of support out there for sufferers. It's such a rollercaster isn't it. Your winning one minute and then the next your at your lowest ebb. That's want sickens we the most about it.

What you're paying for is qualifications, e.g. PhD in Psychology or whatever, experience in the therapy or therapies or experience with the condition being treated. It is very expensive no question about it but then, people with 10+ years of experience with CBT for mood disorders on top of a PhD in Psychology are not exactly going to come cheap either in the private sector. You could get someone without the PhD and doing it a few years for a fraction of the cost, and you could get an excellent therapist but it's more of a lottery. It's the same with specialists in all of medicine from what I can make out. Getting CBT from a counsellor is going to be cheaper than getting it from a counselling psychologist which is going to be cheaper than getting it from a clinical psychologist (the latter has a PhD and the former doesn't I think, but I could be very wrong here and it might have more to do with experience as well. Odysseus will know for sure).

later12

Mimbo wrote: »

Howdy,

No I have never been referred to the HSE for psychological/cognitive behavioral support services. When my doctor was trying to get my medication dosage correct he referred me to a HSE psychartrist. I didn't have a great experience with them to be honest.:( I found them quite cold and clinical. The guy I saw was quite ignorant and he was almost scoffing at episodes of panic. It was completely de-moralising. It was like because you weren't paying for the visit your were just another number.:mad:

I have seen & heard of similar experiences. I got some opinions from a psychiatric registrar once that were frankly bizarre and obsolete. I don't really want to go into the case but it did lead me to question the quality of the HSE psychiatric services and the medics that are shunted or inspired to practice therein.

But after release from hospital I was to attend an outpatient clinic; I tried to arrange the appointments but they never returned my calls, so I can't say I'm too clued up on their services, hence the curiosity about your experience.

Nevertheless I think something that shines through all of the experiences on this thread is that mental health services appear to exist in a lesser realm of importance to the HSE administration than a physically manifest illness.

echo beach

later12 wrote: »

Nevertheless I think something that shines through all of the experiences on this thread is that mental health services appear to exist in a lesser realm of importance to the HSE administration than a physically manifest illness.

That is so true and it comes back to public opinion. Mental illness is still hidden. People suffering from 'physical' illnesses and their families constantly seek improved facillities but have you ever seen a march or protest in support of better mental health services?
Politicians line up to get their photo taken at the opening of new wards or the installation of new hi-tech equipment in a hospital but are seldom seen in mental health facillities.
There are regular reports into conditions in our psychiatric hospitals, conditions that rightly woudn't be tolerated in a general hospital, but these reports barely get a mention in the media, much less provoke outrage.
When there are cutbacks mental health is the easiest to cut because they are few willing to speak out, few willing to admit that they or a family member need these services.

later12

echo beach wrote: »

That is so true and it comes back to public opinion. Mental illness is still hidden. People suffering from 'physical' illnesses and their families constantly seek improved facillities but have you ever seen a march or protest in support of better mental health services?
Politicians line up to get their photo taken at the opening of new wards or the installation of new hi-tech equipment in a hospital but are seldom seen in mental health facillities.
There are regular reports into conditions in our psychiatric hospitals, conditions that rightly woudn't be tolerated in a general hospital, but these reports barely get a mention in the media, much less provoke outrage.

Absolutely. Or else you have cases like my own local psychiatric hospital where most of the examined criteria (which were apparently wonderful, despite some amount of desbelief amongst users of the services) were based on "self assessment reporting", i.e. not independent. The state of the mental health services, or the lack of independent knowledge that pertain to their examination by the Mental Health Commission is an extremely worrying shortcoming in Ireland's health infrastructure.

On the topic of those reports, I did notice the incidence of children being hospitalised on adult psychiatric wards return to some of the most recent MHC reports. As bad as we know adult psychiatric services can be, the fact that we push young kids into that same substandard level of psychological or psychiatric care seems somehow even more unforgiveable.

Forest Demon

I did 10 weeks of CBT for free in the local hospital. Had to wait a while for it. It was not 1 on 1 but a group session but I am sure the information was the same. I have bipolar and when I have extreme ups or downs it all goes out the window but it did help me understand negative thoughts and change the way I think about day to day stuff.

echo beach

later12 wrote: »

On the topic of those reports, I did notice the incidence of children being hospitalised on adult psychiatric wards return to some of the most recent MHC reports. As bad as we know adult psychiatric services can be, the fact that we push young kids into that same substandard level of psychological or psychiatric care seems somehow even more unforgiveable.

The reason children/adolesents continue to end up on adult wards is because there is no where else for them to go when they are seriously disturbed or in danger of harming themselves and others. There are only a handful of inpatient beds for the whole country and despite the fact that this shortfall has been highlighted time and time again no real effort has been made to address it.
Are there any plans to include mental health beds in our long awaited National Children's Hospital? That is where they belong