mercurial me

Saw my family physician and a psychiatrist last month as I decided it was finally time to get help for my alcohol addiction. The application form for treatment had to be filled out by a psychiatrist who I was only recently referred to. The treatment facility I applied to get into was for concurrent disorders as I know my anxiety is a trigger for why I drink so much. Apparently the psychiatrist put "alcoholism" as my diagnosis so after waiting a bunch of weeks to get a call from this place I just found out my application was denied. My family physician who knows of my anxiety problem and alcoholism is working ER at the local hospital and I don't get to see him for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, my insurance program through work is putting the squeeze on me to get back to work. Today has been a devastating nightmare. Thanx for listening....

alumni

If you've disclosed your problem to your HR department or EAP along with your plans to enter treatment, there should be no "pressure" on you to return to work. That's very thin ice for any company these days both from a state and federal legal standpoint.
I believe you should ASAP contact the psychiatrist and fully explain the error then resubmit the correct information to the treatment facility with a request for urgent processing.
It's a bummer that you are ready to get help and this happened but don't give up. I've found that almost every employer I've worked with recently has been very supportive and flexible with an employee honestly pursuing substance abuse recovery.

mercurial me

I contacted my local branch of Addicitons & Mental Health to ask why I fell through the cracks in this application. I've been white-knuckling-it through my sobriety as I know the treatment facility I applied to does breathalyzers & bloodwork on arrival. They're not a detox place and expect you to be x5 days clean upon arrival. I totally blew up on the intake person at the treatment center. Why was I not advised my application had been rejected? Complete waste of my time. I dropped enough f-bombs on that person from admissions on the phone that I think I'll be blackballed from their center anyways.

Dee74

I'm sorry it's not working out MM.
There must be facilities around that will take you on the basis of alcoholism alone though?

I hope others here who know the US better than I do will have some helpful suggestions.

D

mercurial me

Thanx Dee. I'm actually up here in Canada. Going to a regular treatment center to dry out isn't going to be enough for me. The way the lil' hamster wheel in my brain works is a big part of the problem and I psychoanalyze way too much in daily life. I've had to do all the work in this process from finding my own psychiatrist to attending AA meetings to getting the paperwork filled out from addiction & mental health people. I'm no better than anyone else struggling with addiction but today I just feel like fate has stepped in and I'm destined to die an ugly death from liver failure.

We don't choose our destiny, our destiny chooses us....

RobbyRobot

Sorry to hear of this complication, mercurial. Letting yourself go off didn't do you any favors, as you know already. I've done the same at certain times. It can be frustrating dealing with red tape.

I'm unsure why you just don't get yourself down to ER and request a psych assessment on your own? Why did you go thru your GP? I'm unsure of how it works for referrals and insurance in Alberta. In Ontario I don't need my GP (for whatever) if I first work through emergency (ER) or a walk-in clinic.

Seems to be unhelpful for you to wait it out for your GP, you know?

And for detox here, nowadays they easily allow mental health concerns be treated as well as alcoholism. The detoxes in Alberta must have some provisions for such supports too, yeah? Detoxes here can also on their own find suitable residential programs for their clients.

Why can't a detox help you out? They should be working as a gateway resource.

Sorry if I'm being dumb here, but something isn't making sense how you fell through the cracks. This could have been avoided is my thinking.

Again, sorry for the results you're getting so far, mercurial.

mercurial me

Thanx RR, I appreciate your advice. I had been given a referral to a psychiatrist and that appointment was delayed so I had to find my own through referral at the hospital. The hospital was good with giving me Librium and talking with a social worker but that's as far as it went. I had to pay 50 bucks for this psychiatrist to write the referral not thinking that with him just putting down "alcoholism" on the form that I would be rejected as it is a concurrent disorder program I was applying for. I might take your advice and go to the ER and hope by chance my family doctor is on shift when I go. Thanks for your support and advice

aussieblue

Mercurial I am so sorry to hear this , I know how much you needed and wanted this.

Anna

Hi MM,

I'm in Canada, too, and I think that going to the ER, whether or not your dr is there, is the best thing to do. From the ER, you should be able to be referred to the help you need. You've done all the leg-work for sure, so don't give up.