Guaranteed Healthcare

I would like to share with you my experience with the mental health system. Years ago, when I graduated from college I went back to New York to live with my parents. I was confused and did not what to do with myself. I was getting into trouble, doing drugs, etc. My parents sent me to psychiatrist who diagnosed me as “mentally ill.” The “shrink” then referred me to a neurologist for tests. The neurologist examined me in Columbia/Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan for several days. I was given a CAT scan, heart exam, eye tests and a whole gamut of exams. The neurologist then determined I was fine; I just needed to “grow up.”

Afterwards, I went out to Berkeley, CA – the headquarters of the counter-culture. I have a sister that lives there. I had a nervous breakdown or a “breakthrough.” I then saw a “hippie” psychologist for alternative treatments for my “mental illness.” We did all type of therapies, both “new age” and traditional – such as bodywork, role-playing, relaxation-exercises, as well as one to one counseling. For several years, I roamed around the San Francisco Bay Area. I walked the “streets of San Francisco” and rode public transportation to various towns in the Bay Area. I had many jobs, washing dishes, pumping gas, and having temporary jobs at banks, utilities, and other organizations.

In June of 1986 I went back to New York. I finally find a permanent position at a major hospital on Long Island. (The way that hospital was or is managed is a prime example of how the health care works or doesn’t work, but that is another issue altogether.) Three years later I left the hospital and I obtained job at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Nowadays, I live in Philadelphia, PA. I still work at the Federal Reserve in check processing. I sometimes see a therapist for “anxiety.” I guess I part of the normal “mainstream.” I have a job, my own apartment, a car, and good friends.