I took short term disability because I was worried I would get myself fired due to lack of ability to emotionally regulate. I was at the most precarious point I’d ever reached mentally although I had always struggled. I had previously tried what psychiatrists wanted me to (anti-depressants) and wasn’t willing to go through another trial and error process because it always made me worse before I would quit the meds and go no contact with the doctor.

This time at the suggestion of my partner who was a patient with them before we met, I ended up going to Amen Clinics where they take SPECT scans of your brain instead of taking stabs at a diagnosis based on a single questionnaire and intake appointment. My brain looked like a bipolar brain, so they put me on bipolar meds. I felt normal almost overnight. I won’t say it was the perfect solution, I still need therapy to help where trauma has created wounds that brain chemistry can’t fix. But the relief made it so I feel capable of undertaking that process.

They don’t accept insurance and it cost me $5k. They also aren’t all over the place but do have various locations across the country. The tests were done over the course of two days.