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What to do when you can’t afford health insurance and you’re depressed

February 25, 2016 By Kay Walker

When you have a mental health condition, in many cases you are unable to work. If you live in the U.S. this can be especially problematic because it can affect your ability to received health insurance coverage. So, if you find yourself having difficulty getting the help you need because you can’t afford it, refer to the list in this article. Below, there are ten possible things you can do to deal with what may seem like a devastating and impossible situation.

And remember: Your health is the most important thing in your life. If you aren’t healthy you can’t live and enjoy life. It’s not a possibility to give up on getting the healthcare you need even when something as tough as lack of finances stands in your way. There are things you can do. Although you feel alone you are not the first person to deal with this issue. In many states, there a funded resources to help people in need.

What to do when you can’t afford health insurance and you’re depressed

Search for sliding scale therapists. Many therapists offer what’s called a sliding scale fee, which means you pay a rate per therapy session that is based on your income level. This could be as little as $20 per session. It’s helpful for you and for them. Many therapists don’t like to have to turn away business to those who need it most. They realize the truth of the market they’re in, that many people with mental illness cannot afford therapy.

Look into federally funded programs. In many states there are federally run programs. For many of them you can participate by a pay by donation fee of what you can afford. To find a center near you visit: http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/

Seek out local organizations and crisis resource centers. Your city or state may have crisis organizations and centers that help community members dealing with many issues, including mental illness. In many areas you can access one of these centers simply by dialing 211.

Look into patient-assistance programs provided by pharmaceutical companies.If you’ve been to a doctor and have been prescribed a medication that you can’t afford you can see if the pharmaceutical company that manufactures your offers a patient-assistance payment program. If you need prescription assistance visitPartnership for Patient Assistance for more information.

Are you eligible for Medicaid coverage? If you are a U.S. citizen with a low income or a disability you may be able to apply for Medicaid and CHIP. They provide free or low-cost health coverage to millions of Americans, this includes people with mental health issues. Programs are run by federal and state governments together so the details vary between states.

Use the free immediate help features on this site. ReadThisBeforeYouKillYourself.com has a suite of free and low-cost resources specifically created for people suffering from depression, mental health issues and who may be considering suicide. You can use the Ask an Expert feature to send an anonymous question to a team of healthcare experts, or take the 7-day Feel Better Now program that will teach you tactics for immediate pain relief.

Use Quora. Have a question for an health care expert? You can also use Quora to post an inquiry and get it answered by many professionals. They can help point in the right direction.

Participate in clinical trials. It may not sound ideal but participating in a clinical trial can be a free way to get the therapy and drugs that may be able to help you. There are many research studies being conducted across the country and many are at the forefront of the latest therapies for treating mental health.

Appoint a health advocate. As you read through this list of options you may feel overwhelmed and exhausted by everything you need to do. Appoint someone in your life to help you navigate the healthcare system. This person can do all the research and find the resources for you, when you can’t do it yourself.

Don’t give up. No matter how alone you feel, there are thousands of people who want to know about what you are dealing with and who are waiting to help you. Sometimes acknowledging that you don’t know what to do and asking people in your life to help you will give you the support you need to succeed.

Need help now? Use the Ask an Expert. Let us know what you need by providing us with a question and the details of your situation. It’s anonymous and you’ll get a response within 24 hours.

Teen depression and types of depression

February 22, 2016 By Kay Walker

There are six common types of major depression and they are listed with symptoms below. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the different types so you can understand if your teen is dealing with one of them.

It’s also important you understand that teen depression has some distinctive features, here they are:

Teen depression symptoms

In additional to the regular symptoms of depression, a teen with depression may exhibit:

Irritability
Self harm
Negative emotions expressed in art
Skipping school or bad grades
Lack of socialization with other teens or lack of drive to be social
Abusing substances
Complaining about physical symptoms like headaches or stomach ache
Highly sensitive to criticism

Types of major depression

Major depressive disorder, also referred to as unipolar depression

Interferes with ability to function
Affects all areas of life – relationships, work, sleep eating
Episodes may occur several times in a person’s life
Slowed movements, speech and thinking, speak less, some stop speaking
Have recurring thoughts about their own death – range from thinking about it to seriously considering

Manic-depressive disorders, more commonly known as bipolar disorder

Serious mental illness involving episodes of depression that alternate with mania. Mania is feelings or greatness and elation, sudden energy, and feeling uncontrollable power. Sometimes depression and mania occur simultaneously shifting from one to the other rapidly.

Dysthymic disorder

Milder form of depression that lasts longer.
Feeling of melancholy
Unable to get really excited about life
Can still function but feel gloomy

Seasonal Affective disorder

Often brought on in the winter months, though it can occur as a reverse
Could be a result of disruption of circadian rhythm or lack of Vitamin D
Full spectrum lights can help
Less that 2% of people in Florida have SAD, while 10% of people in New Hampshire do

Psychotic depression

15% of depressed people experience delusions or hallucinations
Often need to be hospitalized to prevent themselves from suicide

Postpartum depression

4 weeks – year after a woman gives birth
Most women experience baby blues, postpartum is far more severe
May involve delusions or hurting themselves or their newborn
Many women feel a great amount of guilt
10% of new mothers

Stress-relieving financial blueprint to help you while you get well

February 19, 2016 By Kay Walker

Many people who suffer from depression are unable to work. Some people have to quit their jobs. Some people get let go because they’ve become inefficient workers.

If you find yourself in that group – you’re a depression sufferer that can’t work right now because you’re too sick – don’t feel bad or wrong or guilty about it. You currently have a mental illness that affects your ability to think clearly and your energy levels, which affect how you operate on the job.

The toughest part about depression affecting your ability to work is that you may lose your ability to generate income or generate sufficient income to meet your survival and medical needs.

At DZ, we’ve developed a map to help guide you in the actions you need to take if you’re struggling with depression and unsure about how to manage your career and finances while your sick. Here is the map (you can download a PDF copy below):

The Stress-Free Personal Blueprint

When you’re trying to recover from depression you need to reduce your stress levels, which means figuring out a way to manage your money so you don’t have to be worried about it when your sick and not working. You also NEED to take a minimum of one month to one year time off to focus solely on your health and getting better. Recovery from depression is a full time job. It’s important you find a way to take the time you and your body needs to get healthy again so you can work.

Step 1: Book time off if you’re working

Don’t feel guilty about taking time off. If your depressed you need to be relieved of all stressors including work so you can focus on relaxing and recovery and getting your health back. It’s suggested that depression sufferers take a one month to one year recovery time, which depends on how severe your depression has gotten.

If you’re working right now your first step is to have a conversation with your employer to negotiate time off. You may be able to take vacation time. You may be able to take a leave of absence (most employers are legally required to allow employees to take 12 weeks of for major health issues). You may be able to continue a bit of work (not ideal) but negotiate a work from home or lighter workload with time off.

If you’re not working you already have time but you still need to look at how to manage your finances and mood. The fact that you don’t have a job and perhaps a bad financial picture may be causing parts of your depression. Some people need to consider what they’d like to do for work and how to get back to a good financial state as part of their recovery plan.

Step 2: Plan your recovery time budget

Based on your new negotiations with work you’ll be able to figure out how much income you’ll be earning during your recovery time off. This is important for coming up with your time off budget.

Your first step in creating a budget during your time off is to evaluate your base survival expenses. You’ll need to add up all the things you need like: A place to live, food, medical expenses, and a car (in some cases). When you add up the monthly amounts for all these items you’ll arrive at the monthly amount of money you need at a bare minimum to live while you’re not working.

After you calculate your monthly expenses you’ll need to review all sources of income. Will you be getting money from your employer during your time off? Do you have money in savings you can rely on? Do you have family members that can help support your costs during this time? Are there government supports you can tap into? And although not ideal – can you borrow some money to help support you during this time so you can get better? These are all questions to consider.

The big question to uncover: Do you have enough money coming in to manage your expenses during your time off?

Step 3: Put your budget into action

If you answered “Yes” to the question above than the only thing to do is manage your budget. You may be able to have someone do this for you. You may want to set up automatic payments so you really don’t have to focus on paying bills while your sick. You don’t need any financial stress right now.

As part of your budget plan you may need to research and apply for government bursaries. For some people, mental illness is a disability that the government may support. If you begin applying for government resources it’s important to remember that these take time to process. It can take months to a year to get coverage and see checks coming in.

If you don’t have enough money to manage your expenses so you can take time off from work and recover you’ll want to look for other options. You can ask your employer if you can work from home or cut your hours so you work less. You may need to ask family members to help support you. You may even want to consider a new career. There are easy ways to make money these days from home selling products or services online. This may be something for you to consider now and in future.

When you recover from depression and start to feel ready to work again before you get into action assess your job. Many people with depression have to make major lifestyle changes. Some have to change occupations and leaves ones that are too stressful and don’t serve them.

Watch this brief video for a explanation of the Stress-Free Personal Blueprint led by depression expert Kay Walker. If you need additional support you may also want to consider Kay’s online course that teaches you how to build online businesses so you can learn how to make money from home in ways that inspire you.

How to minimize crisis and achieve more of what you want in life,

January 5, 2016 By Kay Walker

Dwight Eisenhower

PLEASE NOTE: This article contains a game changing tactic for achieving more of what you want in life while minimizing crisis and feeling more relaxed and joyful. It’s all here…

How minimize crisis in your life

President Dwight Eisenhower remains the most productive and efficient president to ever serve in U.S. history. Here’s why: He created and used the “decision matrix”.

It’s a diagram that helps you evaluate what tasks are priority so you manage your time daily on what is most important for furthering you to whatever it is you desire.

When his matrix is used effectively, you can also mitigate crisis situations and decrease overall stress levels.

Learning how to follow his matrix is simple — and for most people it’s a “game changer”. When you learn how to use this you’ll immediately feel more relaxed in life. You’ll increase your levels of productivity and decrease the amount of major life crisis you experience.

Specifically for people who suffer from depression, following this model may help you take positive actions to avoid bouts of low mood. Or, if you’re trying to help someone with depression, you’ll be able to stave off major crisis situations (like depression that leads to suicidal thoughts).

Here is what Eisenhower’s Decision Matrix looks like:

eisenhowermatrix

The Decision Matrix explained:

Let’s get a few basics out of the way before we get into the full on explanation of how to use this matrix.

Your life is made up of a series of actions. Based on the actions you take you’ll either wind up in either positive or negative situations in life. Well, that’s half true.

Of course, your environment also plays a role. Where you get to in life isn’t simply about what you do – the actions you take – to get there – you also need to factor in the things that happen to you (ie. a family member passes away). So, your life is not fully in your control. Because, you can’t stop time and as time moves, things change and life changes, and well, “shit happens”.

BUT, the actions you take everyday and how you take them are vastly important determinants for your quality of life in the short and long term. Consider this: If you were to exercise for 45 minutes daily for a year, you would likely end up with a very healthy body on day 365. Conversely, if you didn’t workout or eat well and sat at a desk every day all day, you may end up with a weight issue and high blood pressure.

The decision matrix simply allows you to organize the actions you take so that they you are doing what you need to do NOW to get to get yourself to a FUTURE YOU DESIRE. (And also, so you avoid a future you don’t desire!)

The time management errors most people make:

Many people spent the majority of their time in Quadrant 1. If that’s you, it means you mainly engage in tasks that are urgent and important. In other words, tasks that require your immediate attention and contribute to some long-term goal or commitment in life. Activities like:

Delivering a work project by a short deadline
Calming a crying baby
Seeing your doctor to get a plugged ear de-waxified
Cleaning out a moldy kitchen fridge

Yes, these are important things to do, but spending most of your time here is a trap that’s easy to fall into. You see, us humans are hardwired to manage short-term disasters first. It’s how our early ancestors survived. It’s a mechanism that’s hardwired into our brain and it keeps us safe.

But the brain doesn’t delineate, which is why we can sometimes fall into a trap of living a life where we are always “putting out fires”. That means, we get into a routine of always reacting to crisis, versus doing what needs to be done to ensure the crisis never happens in the first place. As smart as our brain is, sometimes we need to override it’s automatic mechanisms.

The problem with having a “I have to do this now!”mindset is that it can put you in a reactive mode in life. From this perspective you are always rushing to finish or fix something. Your thinking becomes narrow with no concern for the long-term future. Which ultimately defines where you are going in life.

You can’t avoid Quadrant 1 altogether. There are times where crisis situations arise around you that are not under your control. For example, if your boss drops a project for a multi-million dollar client with a two-week deadline on your desk, it’s in your best interest to comply even if you don’t exactly want to (especially if you want to keep your job!).

But, the way you work is on you. You can be someone who rushes last minute the night before. Or, the moment you receive the project you can spent some time planning your hours of work over the two-week time frame to ensure you’re not rushing and have time to do your best work.

Which person would you rather be?

Now, if you spend most of your time on urgent activities that are unimportant – they don’t further a future that matters to you – you might spend most of your time in Quadrant 3. Activities like:

Dropping what you are doing to help a friend or family member do something that requires immediate attention and is important to them but doesn’t further your life
Going to a job you hate every day without making any other plans to change your career
Responding to personal text messages or emails that get in the way of important tasks

If the majority of your time is spent in Quadrant 3 you’re likely busy yet you often feel like you’re not getting anywhere in life.

What’s worse is spending most of your time in Quadrant 4. If you spend most of your time having fun, engaged in activities that make you feel good but don’t forward your life in any productive way, you’ll likely have an enjoyable life but limited achievement. These activities are primarily distractions. You may feel unfulfilled in life. Do you do these things often?:

Watch tv
Play video games
Browse the web or social media
Shop
Gamble

This not to say that you shouldn’t engage in fun. It’s very important for your mental health. But, if you have too much fun it doesn’t forward your overall commitments.

How to manage your life so you feel relaxed, organized, “on top of things”, and you get where you want to in life:

If you already divide your activities like the diagram below – spending most of your time in Quadrant 2 – then, BRAVO! If not, you might want to try this right away:

decisionmatrix2

Spend approximately 75% of your time engaged in activities that are IMPORTANT but NOT URGENT. If you do this, you’ll minimize crisis situations because in many cases you’ve already taken care of these issues before they developed into major problems. If you throw out expired food on the day it goes bad you’ll be able to avoid a dirty, moldy, stinky fridge.

Many people with depression don’t spend enough time doing important but not urgent activities

When it comes to depression many people have not developed effective daily management skills for their own wellbeing. Which means, they either don’t know what to do, or don’t do what’s healthy and good for them enough of the time. So, their system malfunctions.

They may not eat well or engage in exercise, or they may be dealing with negative situations on a daily basis for a prolonged period of time that cause a stress overload and collapse. Doing many of these healthy and simple and sometimes “not urgent” activities are extremely important for long-term health and avoiding future bouts of depression.

When a person has depression they have already reached the level of a health crisis situation. In some cases, it could be avoided by changing activities in a person’s lifestyle.

If you’re a caregiver with a depressed loved one and you’re reading this article you should also keep this in mind. You want to make sure your loved one is engaging in healthy actions on a daily basis to ensure they minimize depressive symptoms and prevent their situation from getting worse.

You also want to avoid waiting to make sure they get the help they need. Waiting wastes time and makes the situation worse is most cases. It’s human nature to think “I’ll deal with this tomorrow”. When it comes to depression waiting can lead to suicide.

Try this today!

The power of Eisenhower’s decision matrix is in its application. Put it to use in your life. Try it for a week and witness the results. You’ll likely feel more in control, more relaxed, more joyful.

Download and print this Eisenhower Worksheet PDF to help you organize your activities and produce results immediately.

Depression Self Help: 9 steps you can take today

November 2, 2015 By Andy Walker

If you think you may be suffering from depression then there is a series of action you need to take to feel better and prevent yourself from getting worse. Go easy on yourself and engage in self care. Get sleep. Eat well. Take a bath. Look after yourself. Many cases of depression come from people becoming overworked or ignoring their well being. Start caring for yourself so you an be well.

Go see the doctor. Get a firm diagnosis and determine what the cause is. Is it related to another condition? Is it because of a neurochemical issue (usually genetic) or a lifestyle issue. Are you suffering because of you life circumstance? Or are you bipolar?
If needed get a second opinion.
Start your medication, if prescribed.
Share what you are deal with with your boss. And take sick leave if needed. You will likely need a doctors note.
Review your exercise and nutrition routines. Even a brisk walk each day is going to help. Healthy healthy brain foods such as green vegetables, low fat proteins, and health grains. See a dietician if you feed you need help.
Ask a friend or family member to be your health advocate. People who are support with everyday chores and who have companionship and even some one to go to the doctor with improve faster than those that don’t.
Seek alternative ways to feel happier. There are exercises and therapies you can use to improve your mood. See them out. There are some recommended exercises here.
Buy and read the book Feel Better Now and take the included 7 days to feel better online course. INFO HERE
Ask an Expert on this site for free if you have questions