To get health insurance to help with my mental health

[Helpplease101]

I'm a single mum and I'm really struggling. I'm having counselling that I'm paying for privately and it's doing nothing. I'm using better help for it. I have heard psychodynamic counselling is good. I can't afford it. I'm really desperate. Waiting lists for the nhs are long and I can't see it helping. I really want to fix this. Its been years and I want to be me again. Can anyone recommend an insurance that might help or anything helpful please? I'm at a total loss. My house is out of control. I have no help. My mum is having end of life care and I have no one to turn to. Is this ever going to get better?

I don't think insurance would help (assuming you're in the UK) with an ongoing issue. I could be wrong.
Some people get on with psychodynamic counselling and some don't.

Some therapists will offer a lower rate for those on a low income or some charities have volunteer counsellors.

TBH Most insurances won't cover you for pre existing conditions so even if you found one that covered mental health it wouldn't cover you for your current difficulties. I think you need to look for a better counsellor who you can afford.

All insurance would not cover existing conditions I'm afraid, so that wouldn't be an option for you

And also, unfortunately, private health insurance won't cover long term conditions.

Why don't you try speaking to some of the insurance companies but I'd be really surprised if any covered pre-existing conditions. If you've already been to your gp about your mental health then I suspect you wouldn't be able to get away with lying about it.

I have bupa insurance and they are very thorough when they ask about pre-existing conditions. They made a note of things I didn't think would be important.

With axa I can have cbt and have a budget for ongoing chronic conditions but it seems to depend on what the condition is and your insurance plan.

Sadly, it would be considered a pre existing condition and they would not cover a pre existing condition.

Another one saying they dont often cover preexisting conditions unfortunately...

How much does the treatment cost usually? Private medical insurance can get very expensive so you may find the costs of paying it yourself for a few sessions as much as your insurance costs would be.

Yes there are insurance companies that provide cover for mental health issues - BUPA being one of them.

The problem will be finding one that covers a pre-existing condition, and tbh for what you'll pay per month for private health insurance, that would pay for 1 or 2 sessions a month of psychodynamic therapy.

@SisyphusDad

And also, unfortunately, private health insurance won't cover long term conditions.

Bupa cover my long term chronic health condition

Nhs therapy isn't really worth waiting for. All of my nhs MH experiences have been crap.

I ended up putting £2k of private therapy on a credit card. It was 100% worth it.

Some people fare better on medication than counselling. Personally I found counselling an expensive waste of time, and that was trying numerous counsellors.

There might be some charities in your area who offer free or low cost psychodynamic therapy. Have a Google. If you don't find anything, then try phoning 'Mind' and they will probably be able to signpost you... or they may even offer therapy themselves. They should have a local branch for your area.

www.mind.org.uk/

If you work, your employer might have access to counselling through an employee assistance programme.

Thanks for the advice I'm just totally drowning. I am really mentally unwell and I just don't know what to do. I have tried prozac in the past but it always comes back. I will look into a credit card to pay for help. I have hidden it for ages but its reached a really bad point now. My mum is dying, my child had emergency surgery, my other child is suicidal, another child is disabled. I'm working. Then to top it off we had covid.

I think I also have pmdd and it's around that time so perhaps that's making the whole thing worse.

What medication has worked for you all? Ive tried prozac, citalopram, meditating nothing is working

I'm on citalopram, whenever I've tried to come off it I've felt worse again so I now take a low dose long term. I'm hoping I can stay on it forever as it really helps.

Do your work offer a counselling service? I found out that we have a phone line we can call at our work and they referred me for six sessions of counselling. It's not much, but it helped a bit and was free. I could have then paid to continue it but medication seems a better solution for me.

As PP said the NHS counselling isn't great at all but you should see your GP to see if they can help with medication. it sounds as though you have an awful lot going on.

Honestly it sounds as though your life is beyond stressful.
I think anybody would feel sad and stressed going through what you are, and I wonder if any amount of drugs can take away the pain and difficulties your face. Sadly nobody can change the fact that you have a huge amount going on that is beyond your control.

Have you looked into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

I hope that didn’t sound unhelpful, I guess what I’m wondering is, are you sure you are actually mentally unwell, or could you be experiencing normal distress that anyone would feel, faced with an overwhelming situation? Seeing that the medication hasn't been working for you so far, wondering if what you need is a therapeutic hand-hold to ‘get through today’ and share ideas to help you find peace for yourself in the middle of the chaos, rather than looking for medicine to make it all go away / cure you of your stress?
Remember nothing is permanent, things are shitty right now but nothing is permanent, this too shall pass

I will ask my hr office about counselling. No I haven't heard about acceptance and commitment therapy I will Google it

No it didn't sound unhelpful at all. One big problem right now is the mess. I don't understand why depression or stress whatever this is has made me turn my home into a tip.

@Helpplease101 sounds like you are having such a rough time. I’m so sorry you’re struggling.

I have psycho dynamic counselling and to be honest it’s the same price as I’ve paid for other types of therapy. This may be a totally annoying question but have you shopped about for different prices?

OP I mean this in the nicest way so I'm really sorry if this comes across wrong or woo as it's not.

The brightest brains of trauma research in our time say that yoga and meditation are amazing tools we can use to heal ourselves. EDRM too. People who have trauma have parts of their brain switched off (CT scans of research to back this). Feeling connected to our bodies and emotions helps more than you would think.

Psychodynamic therapy is fairly easy for you to do yourself. Have a Google for a feelings tree diagram. Write out your behaviours in the leaves, write out your experiences in the roots and match them together. That's a really simple Psychodynamic therapy tool if you need to see where your behaviours stem from.

If you're paying money for counselling get a counselling who is trained in EDRM or brain spotting. You could feel better within weeks.

No I haven't but I will. Are you finding it helpful? I'm starting to wonder if I'm going into psychosis after all the stress. I've just found some prozac and started taking them