Depression and money, part II. Case of no money.
Now let’s talk about the no money case. Mental health support varies significantly by country, so it is hard to think about specific actions, especially for me, as I’ve got majority of my treatment through private medicine. But I’ll try to generalize some things I know.
Obvious thing — medication is typically cheaper than therapy. It requires one or two visits to the doctor, general practitioner and/or psychiatrist depending on medical system you are in. If you are in a country with a universal healthcare, this typically can be done through public medicine. Therapy may be included as well, though availability, quantity and quality of this support varies. Of course, if you are insured and insurance covers mental health, this is also an option.
Public mental health support in my country of origin is often suspected in sending information to police or employer or even using involuntary treatment, so people try to avoid going there, but this is not how things work. They can treat you involuntarily only in case of danger to oneself or society, it needs to be proved through lengthy process, so nobody would bother. It is in fact hard to get in-patient treatment because the system is overburdened and you need to prove that there are risks. Doctors are overworked and tired, they have no connection to employer and so on, also they stick to confidentiality.
With therapy there is an arbitrage opportunity. If you are fine with remote support and live in a bigger city/advanced country, you can find a specialist outside of your geographical area and it might be cheaper. In general, there is quite a range of therapy prices and correlation between price and quality is not necessarily there. Also, there are services helping people to find therapists, sometimes first counselling session there is free or they even allow one to apply for financial aid. Example here and here.
Actually, universities and organizations preparing doctors, counselors and therapists, sometimes have programs allowing their students to get experience and people around to get help. Sessions are curated by experienced professional. Again, local search is the best, a lot depends on how education is organized.
Quite a number on NGOs, public organizations and foundations offer psychological support if an issue is close to their area of operations. Cancer, violence survivors, LGBTQ — the list is far from being complete. For both countries of my recent residence, I’ve managed to find local NGOs offering support. Even if it is a hotline — this can be useful in crisis situations.
If you are a student or an employee of a large organization, it is likely that there is resident psychologist or hotline in place. Some examples — here and here.
Speaking about hotlines — it is very likely that there is a municipal or state-level suicide prevention hotline. In fact, while writing this post I’ve found this list with hotlines for different countries. My father and I actually used local hotlines and got help.
All these people are working so you can get help when you need it. Reach out. Of course, again, this all is easier said than done, but I believe that the wonderful person who you are can go through that with some luck, if needed.
