Alivation Health

*this is a long review so apologies in advance.*
After my GP reached a stalemate in being able to help me with my depression, anxiety, and insomnia, I was referred to Alivation. That was almost six years ago. I was nervous about having to see a new doctor and explain all the issues I was dealing with, etc. they were very helpful from the start. Given my history of mental health issues, they didn't want to jump right into changing any of the medication I was currently on and instead ran other tests that I had never had done before such as an EEG (which I believe they did to see how the depression and anxiety was affecting how my brain functioned, after all, it was 6 years ago). When the results came back, it was apparent that there was an issue that I had NEVER even considered. ADHD. BAD ADHD. I was 31 years old and had never displayed any of the 'typical symptoms'. But once they had asked me questions about my life, especially my childhood, they told me that I had ADHD. my first thought was 'what the heck are you people on? I don't have ADHD. I have a college degree, not hyper, straight As, quiet, etc' while I was thinking these things, the Dr was showing me the results and explaining it to me and stops and looks at me and says 'you aren't really paying attention right now are you?' ohhh.... This diagnosis suddenly explained SO much about my entire life. and having the correct diagnosis for one of my major issues, along with them reconfirming the issues I originally went in for, was huge in the journey of finding the correct 'cocktail' of meds. Did I have to go in really frequently when trying various things? yes, of course. Was it frustrating at times? yes, since I live about 100 miles away, but I also had researched various meds and so I KNEW the HUGE number that these doctors have to try to weed through. and I knew that unfortunately, finding something that helps is like a needle in a haystack. It took over a year and a half to finally find a combo that didnt 'fix' everything, that's unreasonable, but at least made my life more manageable than it had been in YEARS. and I also know that this combo is going to need tweaked at times the rest of my life, that's how mental health illnesses work. I'm grateful for telehealth so that I don't have to drive 90 minutes there and back monthly in order to get my refills.

I would give 5 stars but the only big issue I have had is the number of times in the last four years that I've suddenly had my primary doctor changed. I saw Dr. Beal the first 18 months and suddenly he was gone. so then Jen was assigned to me, I saw her for about 2-3 years and suddenly she left. Next was Michelle for 6 months, sudden departure, and the last was Summer I think? I saw her once. this caused me to have huge anxiety because it's very hard to be open with a doctor I don't know. However, I expressed this issue with the scheduling dept and since then I've been seeing Dr.Duffy exclusively. and it's been working out great.

I don't think that everyone understands that these doctors are not therapists, they work with the medication side of treatment, so appts aren't going to last very long. even so, ive never felt they don't listen if I DO have an issue with something, and again, they're not therapists. I've read many reviews that they 'push pills' and i don't like that phrasing, but, in a way, that IS THEIR JOB. to find different medications and then prescribe them. But there's no 'magic pill' or treatment like TMS that will just be a 'cure'. It typically takes a combo of medication, therapy, CBT, etc. Which they have also always made sure to ask me about and make sure I'm also doing those things. Which I am.

Like I've said, this is a really really long review, but I wanted to share my own experiences from the past 6 years. Is my life perfect and happy all the time and my mental health issues cured? Nope. Do I feel that I'm going to the right place to get the best help possible to manage things? Do I feel that my overall mental state is better than 6 years ago? Yep.