Well... I don't mean to bring drama or anything... but I'm pretty sure I got some serious problems.
The most serious one right now is depression. I know I've been prone to it and it runs in my family... but lately I've been concerned that I may actually need to get treatment for it, because in retrospect I think it has been a large part of why I've had so much trouble over the last ten years of my life.
I already know that I'm ADD. I've been told by my mother that there has been a diagnosis for it, but I have no clue how to find the man that made that diagnosis - it was so long ago I don't even remember it. My mother was at least able to provide the man's name and where he might be located... but it's a needle in a haystack.
I'm worried that I may also be somewhat autistic. I have loner tendencies and I have extreme difficulty relating with people. It's weird that I can be polite and sociable with strangers... case in point where when I was cranking for the mess decks on my ship and we made a major port visit to Vladivostok on the Russian's Victory Day - huge political deal, complete with Ambassadors visiting the ship for a dinner party hosted on the flight deck. I chatted up a US Navy Captain and his wife while serving. They were so charmed that they brought me over to my CO to say just how so.
And yet, there are times I put my foot in my mouth so badly that people give me these looks as though to say, "What in God's name is your malfunction?"
Anyhow... has anyone here on the boards had any experience in dealing with a mental health system of any kind? Exactly how should I go about seeking treatment and what are things I should look out for? I already know that there isn't much that my veterans benefits can do for me... my issues are most likely all pre-existing to my term of enlistment and they're mostly concerned with trauma inflicted on the battle field. I already applied anyhow, but with the current backlog of applications here in Texas it's gonna be a long time until I hear back on it.
The most serious one right now is depression. I know I've been prone to it and it runs in my family... but lately I've been concerned that I may actually need to get treatment for it, because in retrospect I think it has been a large part of why I've had so much trouble over the last ten years of my life.
I already know that I'm ADD. I've been told by my mother that there has been a diagnosis for it, but I have no clue how to find the man that made that diagnosis - it was so long ago I don't even remember it. My mother was at least able to provide the man's name and where he might be located... but it's a needle in a haystack.
I'm worried that I may also be somewhat autistic. I have loner tendencies and I have extreme difficulty relating with people. It's weird that I can be polite and sociable with strangers... case in point where when I was cranking for the mess decks on my ship and we made a major port visit to Vladivostok on the Russian's Victory Day - huge political deal, complete with Ambassadors visiting the ship for a dinner party hosted on the flight deck. I chatted up a US Navy Captain and his wife while serving. They were so charmed that they brought me over to my CO to say just how so.
And yet, there are times I put my foot in my mouth so badly that people give me these looks as though to say, "What in God's name is your malfunction?"
Anyhow... has anyone here on the boards had any experience in dealing with a mental health system of any kind? Exactly how should I go about seeking treatment and what are things I should look out for? I already know that there isn't much that my veterans benefits can do for me... my issues are most likely all pre-existing to my term of enlistment and they're mostly concerned with trauma inflicted on the battle field. I already applied anyhow, but with the current backlog of applications here in Texas it's gonna be a long time until I hear back on it.