Dear Anita

The counselor said that I would need to go through insurance to pick up prescriptions if the psychiatrist referred me to them. The thing is that the insurance I have is under my parents and I am afraid of having them find out if they receive a bill. I rather pay out-of-pocket if I can afford it. My parents found out about me using insurance to get labwork done once because I needed to go for labwork to check my health when I was recovering from anorexia and they yelled at me for spending money. They often think that mental health is mostly about willpower where if a person focuses on the positive they will power through and they don’t really need to go to therapy. They think that therapy is more of a luxury than a necessity which I disagree with. I called the insurance company today to see how I can check the costs of prescriptions and they said that it depends on the prescription name and type since there are some that are covered and there are some that aren’t covered so I would need to have the psychiatrist prescribe the medication first and then ask them about coverage. If it is not covered, there may be higher out of pocket costs, but there is a chance that the psychiatrist can help work out a sliding scale of what I may be able to pay based on the fact that I am a student who only makes a few bucks doing deliveries for my parents. Likewise, if the prescription isn’t covered and there is a chance that I can pay for it out of pocket then I will be able to get help for my anxiety without my parents knowledge. However if the insurance covers the prescription the costs will likely be lower, but there is a chance that if I go through the insurance my parents will find out. So I feel like I’m facing a problem with making the decision. I want to see the psychiatrist and I think medication would be helpful but I hope that my parents don’t find out or they will likely just emotionally hurt me by yelling at me.