Hello From Finland

[Jusael]

Hi all,

I thought I'd join the forum after I googled it up from the net. I'm a 23 year old finnish male, and I've been diagnosed with depression (not sure whether it's mild or major in english terms), and an undetermined personality disorder. I got hospitalized about three years ago after I attempted suicide. The treatment period in the hospital lasted for six agonizing months, and I may tell you that the day I finally got home was probably the happiest day of my life. I didn't like being in the hospital, but I guess it did help me get over the worst depression.

Today I'm almost totally changed from what I was back then. I've not felt depressed in a long time. I go to cognitive psychotherapy for the second year (I had psychodynamic therapy before that for a year, but changed therapists as my old therapist suddenly died of a heart attack). However, I think cognitive therapy has been more beneficial to me than the old one.

But I can't say I'm all well yet, as there are still some problems in my behavior and personal relationships that I've been discussing with my therapist. I joined this forum so I could share experiences with others and perhaps find support and help for my current problems. And maybe I'm able to provide help to someone else from my own experiences as well. There's a lot I'd like to discuss with you, but I think it might be too much for a single post. But I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better

 

[Cat Dancer]

Welcome, Jusael.

 

[sister-ray]

Hello and welcome

 

[Halo]

Hi Jusael and welcome to Psychlinks :welcome:

I am glad to have you with us and hope to get to know you better :wave:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Welcome, Jusael.

 

[Into The Light]

:welcome:

nice to meet you, jusael. i look forward to hearing your experiences, and hopefully we can be of value to you too.

 

[Retired]

Welcome to Psychlinks, Jusael. We'll be looking forward to your participation.

What's it like to avail yourself of treatment for psychiatric illness in Finland? Are services readily available or are patients required to wait to see a specialist?

We wish you well in your continuing recovery.

 

[ThatLady]

Welcome to PsychLinks, Jusael, and hellllooooo, Finland!

We'll look forward to sharing experiences with you. It sounds as though you've come a long way in your journey.

:welcome:

 

[Banned]

Welcome Jusael. I look forward to getting to know you better.

 

[Jusael]

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome!

TSOW: Well, I'd say the situation with getting mental treatment is not that bad, at least not here in the Southern Finland. I think if one has a really serious problem (requiring hospital treatment) they don't have to wait long. However, milder problems can take longer. For example, I tried to get accepted to the psychiatric policlinic of my county before the hospital treatment, but as there are only about 30 000 residents in here, and there's only one small policlinic, I had to wait six months before I met a psychiatrist. And I think that was after my first hospital treatment (I've been in a hospital twice) which lasted one month. Before the psychiatrist I visited my family doctor for my medication. Waiting to get to the policlinic wasn't that bad since I got immediately assigned to a nurse specializing in psychiatry, whom I visited once a week until my first hospital treatment. It helped a little to be able to talk about my problems to someone.

When I went to the hospital for the second time, I first spent two or three days in the emergency ward of a general hospital (recovering from the suicide attempt), and then I got transferred to the reception ward of a mental hospital. I spent maybe a month there while the doctors tried to get a place for me in the youth ward. Then I got the place, and spent the rest of my hospital time there.

Finding a therapist is not all that hard in Finland. Although there are only two places to see a therapist in my county that I know of, there are many therapists in the neighbouring counties, like Vantaa and Helsinki. Luckily I got a therapist from the small town I live in, so it's not hard to go and see her.

In finland it's also not too bad with the fees of the therapists as the Social Insurance Institution will pay the most part of the fee (if your application is accepted).

 

[Heather]

Welcome and I hope that you like it here and find what you are looking for