So I was hoping to get an appointment with a cousellor...

[fo0d]

For many weeks, maybe months, maybe even a year now, i've been very low in motivation. Over the past year i have called myself "Lazy". But does laziness last what seems like a lifetime? Is it laziness when i devote time and effort to get my priorities done, and end up not finishing it, even half-done? Is it laziness when i feel so excited and hyped-up to get my work done, only to find out that moments after starting the work, i lose my luster? It it laziness when i want to achieve something great, i give-in to my self-generated fear? Is it laziness when i feel frustration and helplessness when im in the moment of doing work and i lose interest? Is it laziness when you see opportunities pass you by like leaving a love one drown in the sea?

I just don't know anymore. Am i a lazy person? Am i depressed? or what?!

Today i called to make an appointment with a counsellor, expecting that i'd get a scedule for today. In the end i have an appointment for next tuesday. Thats like a whole week later!?

Im pretty upset about the whole thing. I called the moment the clinic opened, and asked for the earliest available appointment. She responded next tuesday is the earliest. I asked if I can have an earlier one, or if there are other alternatives i can take. She explained to me how there isn't and that people who are in "NEED" of help are the priorities. I started to feel nervous, as i attempt to fit myself in her discription "in need of help". I asked her how do you know who's in need of help, you never even asked me about how severe my case is. She had the nerve to pounce back at me and say "im busy, i dont have time for this, ive got people in the front desk that needs attending, etc. etc". Obviously that fueled me up, as my voice started to shake to cower my sadness of being treated unfairly along with the weight of confusion. I explained to her how she's being unfair, and underminig my feeling, as i try to make an appointment with a cousellor (shouldn't that itself ring the alarm, especially the way i sounded). She then proceeded by telling me that she's just there to make appointments, and that i should be the one to tell her how serious my problem is. I pointed to her that her mentioning of "people in NEED of help" are priorities is misleading. Im sure she knows about the Patient-Doctor Confidentiality thing, as i tried to explain to her my situation, she interupted by saying "Thats what the cousilors are for, you tell them that." Erm... WTF? How the hell do you find out how serious my situation is? So i couldn't be bothered anymore. I was slowly and silently sobbing and acknowledging every comment she made thereafter.


Sorry guys, for posting this... i just felt like posting it somewhere and writing down how i felt. This is the very first time ive done and even felt like doing such a thing.

[mamba]

you are going in the right direction. i was exactly the same as what you are suffering frm now. it wasnt long ago maybe 2-3 months before i started having improvements. you will find that there will be a wait to see the counselor no matter what. there was a 6 week wait for me. but stick it out and try and not let the receptionist get to you. there are alot of people out there exactly the same as you, more than you think. thats why these services are always so strained. what i would say is go and see you doctor, explain to him/her whats happeing, they will give you some advice and may be able to speed the process along a little quicker. if you have any questions. just pm me and i'll try and ghet back to you as quickly as possible.

[setrict]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, and I would make it a point to mention the rudeness to your counsellor. I can almost understand that at an ER or Urgent care facility, but you'd expect a counseling service to be a bit more considerate.

I don't know specifically about their service, but in a lot of medical fields the people with a face to the public like receptionists are not allowed to make any judgements on the persons condition since they aren't technically qualified to do so. Almost all of those people are told to rely on the patients judgement for determining what is urgent, or an emergency. They are generally not allowed to give advice or make medical judgements, and can get into big trouble if they do. She should have explained this to you instead of being rude.

So if you feel you are in urgent need of a counsellor, be sure you tell them firmly. My dad used to call it "putting the monkey on someone elses back". If they don't listen, try another clinic - or go to the ER/Urgent care facilities. They won't have counselors there, but you can expect to get much faster service with a doctor referral if you truly do have an emergency.

Be glad you got an appointment in a week. I called a dermatologist a couple of years ago and the quickest they could get me in was over 6 months away!

[Orclover]

The Millitary will never make you wait to get in, they will have you shipped off and doing something as fast as humanly possible. After your enrollment they will provide you with all the motivation you will ever need, and if you dare finish a task half done....you get to spend time in the BRIG! Now thats motivation.

Join the Marines.

[Kaji]

I think by need she meant the people at the desk waiting for her, as it's hard to tell what your needs are if you haven't been in yet (as you figured out). Hope things work out for you, man. I run into that in fits and spurts, found that developing a hobby (such as linguistics, in my case) does a lot to help with that, for what it's worth.

[Psychochink]

One week, and you're complaining? This is reasonably good, even if you're paying for it. If it's a free service, then you really have no reason for complaint.

Let me clarify "need" for you, when it comes to getting an urgent appointment with a counsellor: "In imminent danger of causing harm to self or others." For further clarification, "imminent" means that you're likely to go home tonight and eat a bullet, not that you've considered suicide or even that you stared down the barrel of a gun a couple of weeks ago.

Get some perspective here. Other people are in just as bad (worse) straits as you are. They don't need to be shunted aside because you feel like your specific issues should be the top priority for the service's staff.

The receptionist is not a counsellor, and you shouldn't be unloading your problems on to her in an attempt to cut the line. It's neither her business nor her worry.

Wait until next week, and go to counselling. It's healthy. If nothing else, simply making the decision to get counselling in the first place is a turning point.

[fo0d]

Psycholink. The moment that i started to try and get an earlier appointment, i knew i was being selfish. I knew there are people who have worse case. I should know this best, becuase all my life i have always put other people first, even strangers. thats what i'd do. I would forget about my circumstance, and try help others. Maybe thats one reason why im so unhappy. Because never been very assertive in my own needs.

While i am upset about it being 1 week... i am more disappointed in the manner in which she handled the conversation. If she took a better route in trying to explain to me, then i would have understood, but instead she decided to tell me that she's busy and don;t have time for this. Should i just simple give in and say "oh ok... you're busy, i see. I'm sorry." The moment my voice started to tremble, she started to talk calmly and slow. Do i need to sound like im breaking apart to get people to talk?

I understand that she is busy. I understand that there are people who might have a worse case. But I am just a mere human bottled in my own body and mind. I don't have the power to jump to other people's body and sense their thoughts and feelings. All i tried to do was get an earlier appointment, which i felt would do me good.

Kaji, when she said about "need", its just as Psycholink described it to be.

[Psychochink]

No reason to forget about it, just because other people have problems. Your problems are automatically more important, because they're your problems.

Hmmm...understandable on both counts, unfortunately. Remember, receptionists are people too; and I can see that particular reception job as being particularly stressful. I can see half the people that go to the service insisting that their case should be treated differently than all the others, it's got to wear. In any case, it's not something that you should be getting overly worried about - and you know that.

It's also about appropriateness. No, you don't need to break down to get people to talk to you, but you do need to pick your person, time and place. You wouldn't start unloading onto the person sitting next to you on the bus. Just because she works at a counselling service does not make her fair game.

That's what the counsellor's for. One thing to remember, though - a counsellor can help you put things in perspective, assist with coping strategies et al, but the only person that can make any kind of change in your life is you, and you need to start thinking that way.

[Monkey]

Stop whining and acquire a little bit of patience.

[Trump]

One week is a VERY short time for anything involving a professional. Perhaps the receptionist didn't react in the proper fashion, but you also sound like you were upset at the time and may have a skewed view of what happened as well. It was likely a combination of the two.

[Jon885]

Was the person you were talking to the secretary? Sounds like it.