(4/7) MY PSYCHIATRIST

 

Of the utmost importance for someone with a mental illness is having an outstanding psychiatrist. My psychiatrist is Dr. Todd Cox, who I started seeing when I lived in DC. I’m still under his care—we have Skype or FaceTime sessions now that I live in Pittsburgh. I have appointments with him every month or two, depending on my needs. Every person with a mental illness needs a Dr. Cox. He doesn’t accept insurance, which is relatively common in psychiatry, and his hourly rate is high—a decent car payment when I see him monthly. But I gladly keep seeing him because he’s by far the best psychiatrist I’ve ever seen and I trust him implicitly. He’s the doctor who finally prescribed me lithium and changed my life. Lithium is the first-line treatment and gold standard for treating bipolar, though my previous psychiatrists never prescribed it to me. After being prescribed lithium, within six months I met Bryan, my future husband, and was hired as a copy editor at the company I still work for today. I cannot imagine what my life would be like today without someone like Dr. Cox. He unfailingly provides top-notch care and gives the best advice on how to navigate stressful situations or life events and stay well, or as well as possible.