After waiting for many years, I thought I’ve been at least on track to get treatment for the past 6 months. All out of pocket, in addition to the nearly EUR 1000 health insurance premium per month.
Lengthy psychologist sessions, official diagnosis by a licensed therapist in writing. Doctor appointment with the written diagnosis, but he said only a licensed psychiatrist can do the initial prescription. Find one, make appointment.
But then he needed up to date blood count and ECG first, appointment cancelled 2 hours before it started. The blood count was at a different doctor than my usual one, because last time, mine was on vacation. So ECG and blood count from two different locations. All during hours I actually had to be at work. But what can I do - botch one last job before I get treatment and everything will be great for the future, right?
Sent it all in upfront, and another problem: Apparently, the ECG must be evaluated for findings. Which any doctor is trained to do, but it needs to be returned to the doctor who did it, like this magic quest, because in theory, I could send an ECG that is not mine to a different doctor for the findings. (Cui bono?)
The last 4 steps, I’ve been told that this is “this one really really really last thing”, and it sounds like one of these advance fee scams that are like “just one more Apple gift card for the taxes, and we can transfer your lottery winnings”.
I bet all of these things would be easy for somebody who does NOT have ADHD. They just do them one by one, and somehow that happens at a magic hour where the doctor office is open but also their workplace is not.
The lack of understanding how ADHD works, by the very people who are supposed to diagnose and treat it, reminds me of this scene from Groundhog Day: He explains the problem of being in a 24 hour time loop to a seemingly understanding therapist, who then is like: “I understand completely, come back in 3 days for a solution!” Ah, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFdwLNiZq7M
I hear you, and I totally understand where you are coming from. And a system like that would not be the end of the world. I think about like I think about any tax-funded government service. You can’t opt-out of the fire department for instance. It’s almost the exact same thing. By all of us contributing, we defray the level of expense for everyone, and everyone benefits. I think a pay-per-fire system would be…disastrous.
I think it should work exactly like the fire department. Entirely tax funded, no hassle. A hospital is, in my eyes, more similar to a fire department or a police station than it is to a super market, and that’s how it should work.
But it only works well all-in. A strange system of compromises forged between parties with entirely opposing views over 50 years is terrible.