Ask HN: How to find a mental health professional?
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but having gone through long, severe periods of depression, I'm convinced that seeking help needs to be declarative, not procedural. One shouldn't have to go through the multi-step process of:<p>1) Deciding whether or not treatment would be helpful.<p>2) Figuring out what sort of professional would be best: psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, social worker, etc.<p>3) Wondering whether your choice of professional will influence the type of outcome you desire. For e.g. a psychiatrist is likely to prescribe meds while other professionals may prefer mindfulness, CBT, talk therapy, etc.<p>4) "Will they throw me into a mental hospital? I want to lead a normal life, I'm not one of those people!"<p>5) "Is it covered by insurance? How much will it cost?"<p>6) "How can I find a good professional? I've heard there are a bunch of shitty ones. I need a good one."<p>7) "I'm too scared to even pick up the phone. How do I determine availability? Can I schedule this online?"<p>8) etc, etc, etc.<p>This is something that needs to be solved with an online questionnaire that spits out an appointment time and location at the end. Telling depressed people to go through the aforementioned steps is like telling someone with a broken leg to just walk to the hospital that's a couple miles away.<p>To the OP: my suggestion is to Google around, find 3 people who accept your insurance or are affordable out-of-pocket, pick one, and make an appointment. It's 10x more important to make an appt, any appt, and go than it is to worry about finding the best person. You don't have to stick with the first person you see anyway. If you're still overwhelmed, I've found the average PsyD to be better than the average therapist/social worker.