Kaiser, Don't Deny

Problems with bulemia and alcoholism

I have problems with bulemia and alcoholism. In the ER, they told me if I didn’t get help, I’d be dead in a year. So I tried to get help. Appointments were available three months apart with no one to call in between and literally ZERO support. I got a young psychiatrist in school who was very nice but had no training in bulemia or substance abuse, so we mostly focused on my anxiety. The other option given to me was anxiety classes…. which is the downright stupidest idea I’ve ever heard for someone with social anxiety. I went to one and it just seemed like a big place to throw everyone, no matter what type of anxiety they were dealing with. Two people talked the WHOLE time about how crippling their anxiety was, while the “teacher” of the class struggled to stick to a topic from a pamphlet. I changed my insurance when I changed jobs and struggled through maintenance alcoholism and bulemia until I found care with my current insurance. But I was so disgusted with my experience at Kaiser I took longer than I should’ve to find care. In my disordered brain at the time, I thought that this was how all mental health care works, and I’d just have to suffer.

Katherine
Roseville