As a medical specialist in Halifax, I see examples of how fucked up the medical resources are in this province every day. Now that my teenage daughter desperately needs the assistance of the Eating Disorder clinic, I am desperate for help and am amazed to find out that there is only one psychiatrist at the hospital specializing in Adolescent Eating Disorders for this city. We must now endure a 6 week wait to be assessed at the clinic. How much more fucking weight must she lose and senseless tears do we have to endure due to this inept government who fails to realize how screwed up this province’s health care system is? Makes me long to be back in one of those ‘have’ provinces. How do Nova Scotians endure such terrible access to health care? —M
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2011.
6 week wait, OP, is actually considered a short wait, when it comes to mental health services in the province. Right now there are only two psychologists that are funded by MSI for all of Halifax. MSI won’t even look into covering private psychologists so the wait, even on an emerg referral (i.e.: ending up in the hospital while having a nervous breakdown) is sometimes up to three months. And that’s just with your initial social worker assessment. No, they’ll just throw some benzos at you and send you on your merry way.
It’s sickening, isn’t it?
And what’s worse is, my great aunt died while on the operating table during heart surgery because she was too weak by the time they got her in there. She had been on a waiting list for months for a semi-emerg heart surgery. She would’ve lived if they had’ve done the surgery when she first needed it.
This whole topic disgusts me.
I hope your daughter and your family are able to overcome her illness. Eating disorders are life-long disorders that will always need to be managed and the healing process is rough, but stay strong. All the best to your family and especially your daughter, OP!
I’m sorry to hear about this Op. 🙁
It sounds like a trying time, but stay strong for her, and I hope you all the best.
as a med. pro., you should be able to tell what top do yourself. or is the specialist, just a glorified addon?
otherwise, what kind of disorder is it, pica, gag and puke, or just not wanting to eat some crap, that other people says are good for her? kids are who they will be, if she has a mental condition, then by all means, have a shrink check her out. maybe the problem is not her, but you, yourself. if she is under 80 pounds at say, 5 10, then it is how she sees herself or oters in this stupid fat people hating society.
if she is starving for more than food, then there is your problem, affection will do wonders for a kid, of any age.
My sister worked as a nurse dealing with eating disorders patients for over 20 years and lost a lot of sympathy for these girls – she would often mention how controlling and manipulating some of these kids were and how they knew to use their illness to control their families as well. There were many times she simply wanted to scream about the starving children in the city while these self-indulgent little bitchs who often came from privileged families milked the emotions of all the people who dealt with them.
While this isn’t necessary how I see it, her input certainly made me think.
Life Sucks, your comments reeks of ignorance. We’re talking about a teenage girl suffering from an eating disorder. This isn’t as black and white as having the damn winter blues! She needs help. Help that obviously isn’t timely.
OP, best of luck, I hope she can receive all the help she needs to be healthy.
Nice to see someone with a genuine reason to be disgruntled rather than with the mundane facets of life, regrettably it is about an issue that effects a lot of people. I extend my sympathy to the O.P and hope that the daughter can get the assistance she needs.
Mental health is chronically misunderstood in many provinces with peoples attitudes indistinguishable from the archaic perception of “they should get over it”
And, Anglo, the tendency of docs to just throw anti depressants at every tom, dick and harry who comes into their office complaining that they’re “sad” also discredits a lot of those who DO actually NEED these meds for actual medical reasons (a chemical imbalance in your brain is a MEDICAL disorder — simply being ‘sad’ isn’t).
I know someone who was put on anti depressants because she went to the doc complaining that she was crying a lot because her boyfriend dumped her. A nice dose of prozac was apparently the ‘cure.’ FFS
Thats partly the doctors fault too, I kept having panic attacks a few months back and went to the doctor who gave me some pills to deal with it, i took them home where my mother advised me to throw them away and deal with it naturally, Im glad i did because i read so many terrible things about how they make you act. Thankfully now i have a panic attack once in a blue moon, i found a really good book which helped me through it too.
There’s nothing wrong with medication — even benzos to deal with anxiety attacks (I’m guessing you were given ativan or maybe clonazepam — likely ativan). The problem for some is, their anxiety attacks aren’t so much psychological as they are physiological and, no matter how many techniques they use, they will ultimately need to take some meds for them.
As long as you’re not popping them all the time, and not popping them unless you absolutely have to, then you’re fine.
Your best bet is to control anxiety, if you have to be on something (and some do, even after being in therapy for years), with an anti depressant, or a combination of anti depressants. Finding which one(s) work for you in what combination/dosage, etc… can be VERY daunting, unfortunately.
thanks for the information PK and people say ltwwb is full of arseholes.
Eh, I’ve been there, Anglo, and I’ve managed to overcome it. Except when I have a migraine — then all bets are off. The day before and during I’m a mess, and sometimes end up having to take one of those benzos. VERY few and far between though, and i still have some “bad” days here or there. But that’s to be expected and is a 110% improvement from before.
Hey, check out the Eating Disorders Action Group (http://www.edag.ca/resources.html), if you haven’t already. They at least have some peer support groups and might be able to get you in touch with a Social Worker that can help.
If your daughter’s physical or mental health has deteriorated to the point that she in danger, the IWK will bump you to the top of the list. Of course, it is totally pathetic that people can’t get the help they need until it is almost to late for that help to be of any use (like PK’s great-aunt).
Hi
I am with Eating Disorder Action Group and we have a Parents support group. Our phone number 443-9944. We have resourses
and support for parents and love ones that have love ones with an eating disorder.