Hi all

There have been many people who come to My Depression Connection requesting information about how to get mental health services when they have little to no insurance or little to no money. 

I have been telling people to read a post I wrote last year entitled, "How Do I Get Mental Health Services with No Money and No Insurance."  I scoured the Internet for any resource I could find to help.  But from what I can glean is that some people are still having great difficulty finding sources of help.

There are many links given in the article so the first question I have is, have you tried all the links...or calling all the numbers given?

It is a horrible thing when you or your loved one needs help and the system is difficult to navigate.  When you have no money or insurance it is even that much harder to find help.  I am not going to lie to you.  It is not easy.  It is not fun. But just because it is hard doesn't mean you give up.  I would implore you to keep trying.

I wanted to just relate a couple of my experiences to show that yes I understand where some of you are coming from.  As a teen I had no insurance or money.  My mother and I were barely scraping by on my mother's widow benefits and a minimum wage job I had at a bakery. During this time I was experiencing a very bad episode of depression.  What I ended up doing was going to my local community center and there were grad students who offered counseling at a reduced cost.  So even then I did have to pay something when I had nothing. 

Even when you do have insurance, it can be difficult to find help. There was a time when I called a hotline and was given a number to call of a local mental health agency.  I went to this agency the next day and of all the ironies I was turned away because I did have insurance.  Unless I was wanting to volunteer to be inpatient they really did not have any resources for me.  Still in crisis, I went to the local library, looked up mental health practitioners who were on my insurance plan.  I dialed the numbers one by one.  Many were not accepting new patients.  Some could not see me for weeks.  I opted to just "show up" at one therapy site, hoping I could plead to be seen soon.  No such luck.  Both therapists were on vacation.  At the end of the day I thought to myself, "I might as well live as I have invested so much time to get help!"  I ended up having to wait several weeks for an appointment with a therapist.

So I do understand.  And I bet many of the members here understand your frustration with finding mental health help.  It should not be this way but it is.  I have been hung up on, been told to wait weeks or months, and so forth.  Right now I am dealing with finding help for my son who has autism and needs a change of meds.  We have been waiting for four months for an appointment with his pediatric neurologist because she is the only doctor in town with her credentials.