| Common Questions |
"I CAN'T AFFORD PSYCHIATRIC CARE BUT I NEED IT. WHAT
CAN I DO?"
In these difficult economic times, affording medical care is difficult for all, impossible for
some. Community mental health centers offer one affordable option, church counselors
another provided they are adequately trained, and emergency rooms are prepared to
deal with psychiatric emergencies if needed.
DO YOU PROVIDE COUPLES THERAPY?
"Absolutely. Spouses are often asked to come in for individuals as well."
DOES EVERYONE NEED MEDICATION?
"Absolutely not. Sometimes therapy is more effective. Sometimes medications help
people to get more out of their therapy and then can be discontinued. But if patients
want to go off of meds they should do so with a physician not against one. There are
ways to decrease or eliminate medications that are less risky."
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT "NATURAL" REMEDIES?
"Just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it's good for you. Snake venom,
hemlock, and poison ivy are all natural remedies that wouldn't be a good idea for
treating depression. Natural remedies need to be subject to the same tests for quality as
standard treatments.
Modern medicine is not the answer to all of our problems either and I would say that we
have a lot more medication than knowledge of exactly how to use them. What we
probably need more of is knowledge...about natural and synthetic treatments.
I believe in considering the risk of illness vs. the risks of treatment, understanding that
currently we may not know all of the risks of either."
WHERE CAN I GET FORMS THAT I NEED TO FILL OUT?
"We'll mail them to you or you can click on 'Patient Forms' and print out a copy for
yourself."
WHAT ARE THE COSTS?
"The bad news about psychiatric treatment is that you get most of the bad news up
front. Treatment is almost invariably more expensive in the beginning stages while we
are finding techniques and medications that work for you. The harder you work, the
quicker this process but since most medications require trials of 2-6 weeks there is a
limit as to how fast some aspects of treatment can go.
When stabilized it is rare for any condition to require more than monthly visits, and for
many people less frequent visits are possible."
WHY DON'T YOU TAKE MY INSURANCE?
"This is our biggest question. These days insurance companies often dictate treatment,
saying how long its "supposed to take". They say they do this under the guise of quality
but in our experience it is more about pushing patients into the cheapest...not
necessarily the best treatments.
We do file insurance information for our patients and most insurance companies do
reimburse as an out of network provider. But we feel...the right treatment...almost
invariably turns out to be the most affordable in the long run."
We currently accept Medicare and Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. We are in the process of
accepting Aetna and Cigna.
WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
Here are some helpful sites.
Let us know if you find more.
Bipolar Information
General Medical Information
Mood Charts
Long Term Care: Great information on long-term care from
medicare’s site:
www.medicare.gov/LongTermCare/Static/Home.asp
National Alliance of Mentally Ill (NAMI)
www.nami.org
Florida Chapter of NAMI
www.namifl.org
American Psychiatric Association
www.psych.org
Florida Psychiatric Society
www.floridapsych.org
Conditions:
Alzheimer’s Disease: www.alz.org
Bipolar Disorder
www.manicdepressive.org/
www.bipolar.com
Interesting Sites For Your Dr.
www.infopoems.com
(This site gives information on the latest evidence-based medicine.)
www.merckmedicus.com
www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/projects/dxplain.html
(Harvard's Website on Diagnosis)
WWW.specialtylabs.com
(Checking how your body metabolizes drugs.)
Books:
"Lost in the Mirror" by Richard Moskovitz (On Borderline
Personality Disorder)
“Feeling Good Handbook” by David Burns
“Bipolar Disorder for Dummies” By Candida Fink, M.D., Joe
Kraynak
“I Hate You- Don’t Leave Me. Understanding the Borderline
Personality” by Jerold J. Kreisman M.D.
"Learning to Love Yourself" by Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse (1987)F
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