So I am in my last year of grad school, and the thought of having to start dealing with my thesis soon is scaring the crap out of me. So I thought I would go to campus psychological services to see if they have any suggestions or things they could do to help. Except, uh, the only way you can make an appointment there is by calling them on the phone. I do not do phones, because they make horrible panic attacks happen and generally ruin my day, and I have some hearing issues that make them not always work very well anyway. Psych services doesn't have an email address listed on their website, so I can't try it that way or even ask them about alternate methods. I could go over to the office and try to make an appointment in person, but it's rather inconvenient and out of my way to go all the way there just for that, and it would use up a fair number of spoons, so I would prefer to avoid that. Often for this sort of problem I have my mother call for me, except in this situation that is not a good idea due to reasons. I can call them myself if absolutely necessary, but it will require a ridiculous amount of spoons and seriously fuck up my day, so that is a method of last resort. My boyfriend said he would be willing to call them for me, and that would be my preferred solution, but I am not sure if they would let him make appointments on my behalf when he isn't related to me or anything. And he can't just pretend to be me, because his voice is rather distinctly masculine and my name is rather distinctly not. Sooooooo I am not really sure what the best option would be here. Does anyone here have any experience with this kind of thing? Does anyone know if university health/psych centers will let you make appointments for other legally-unrelated people without a ton of hassle? Is there something else I am failing to think of? Am I being unreasonably paranoid and/or ridiculous about this because anxiety disorders are fun like that? Input would be much appreciated.
hmmm - i feel like a good first step would be asking boyfriend to call and specifically ask about those legalities/policies. something like "hi, my girlfriend has an anxiety disorder and has serious issues talking on the phone. can you give me any information about making an appointment?" even if the answer is "sorry, unless you're married or related we can't discuss this with you", at least you have an extra point of data? what about asking the bf to accompany you to the psych office, or being around if/when you call? would that help with the spoon usage at all? fyi, you're not being unreasonably paranoid/ridiculous. i also have hella issues calling people on the phone, especially if my script relies on them interpreting my question properly and giving me the info I need.
maybe your bf could try to set up an appointment, and then if they won't let him, explain the situation and ask if there's any other way you can contact them? idk if they'd let him set up an appointment, but they might at least be willing to answer questions from him if not good luck! eta: hahahaha, ninja'd. took the words right out of my.. keyboard.
possibility: have your boyfriend call and ask if it's possible for him to make an appointment on someone else's behalf; if not possible, ask if they have an alternate method of booking appointments. or if the health centre has an e-mail, try contacting them asking if they have an e-mail for psych services. if your school has an accessibility services office they might know of a workaround too.
Ooh, I somehow had not thought of getting him to call to ask about the policy on this specifically. That is an excellent idea for a starting point at least, I will have to see if we can do that. Thanks, guys. Having him go with me to the office would definitely help, and is probably what I would do normally, but unfortunately he is currently in another state ): Remote support is helpful, but not as helpful as it would be in-person. Yeeeah, I have lots of anxiety issues with unknown or unexpected things. So phone calls to get information about how to do a thing are already bad, and people going off the script I planned makes them worse. I like it so much better when people let me just do things via email. Health center does not have an email, since they do their appointments via a fancy online system (which I really wish psych services would also use, arrgh). The accessibility office I know does have an email that they seem to actually answer, so if all else fails I might try asking them. My plan was to talk to psych services and then go talk to accessibility services, but *throws hands in air*
Oh it's a shame he's states away. I was going to suggest him calling, being like "hey my girlfriend can't do phones, but she's right here. Can she give consent for me to make the appointment?" and then you get on the phone real quick to be like "yes he can make appt for me" and then let him do thing. There might be a way to do that with 3 way calling? but i do not know.