mental health insurance

have you ever noticed that health insurance has very limited visits for mental health?
True story:
I was in so much pain that i didn't know what to do. i kept going to the doctor who ran test after test, day after day. and nothing came up. this went on for almost a year. i wanted to die. my doctor finally recomended a mental health therapist, and i went. she gave me an antidepressant and my body pain went completly away.
my insurance would only pay for 10 visits a year. befroe those visits were up, i was diagnosed with posttraumatic shock syndrom. i needed to go to therapy twice a week. well i go without the help of my insurance. it would have been cheaper for them to pay for my therapist than to pay my medical bills for that year. the therapy helped. it was totally amazing. i did not think a therapist could help me and i certainly did not thin a wee little pill would do anything at all. i wish i could continue going, but at 100.00 a visit, i can't do it any more. but at least i have the knowledge that i got from going. and when the new year comes, i am going to use all my visits. it's such a mental cleansing.
but i do get mad that the insurance won't pay for all of it.

There was a time in my life that I also suffered from post-traumatic stress synndrome. I had been in a car accident and was living in pain. I became clinically depressed and had to take an anti-depressant for 9 mos. to a year.

The doctor told me that I needed to be on the medicine for the amount of time that I had been in pain and experiencing negative thoughts. He explained that typically it takes you that long to learn new thought patterns. It made sense to me but I didn't listen.

The first time my medicine ran out I took myself off because I was feeling so much better. By the end of the week, the sad, creepy thoughts started coming back. I should have listened. I immediately did a refill.

By the grace of God I stopped taking the medicine and haven't experienced depression since. I have had 3 surgeries, and lived through the death of my mom. During those difficult times (I was afaid that I might experience depression again) I prayed to keep a healthy frame of mind and I did.

I can say now that I am grateful for the experience of having lived in a depressed state temporarily. It was a true living hell. It taught me to be compassionate when others have experienced the same. I was clueless about depression before and thought people should be able to pull themselves out of it. How ignorant of me! Now I know better.

And I agree, insurance programs need to get with the mental health program! You are smart to take advantage of the number of visits given by your insurance company. What a great idea!