Fornits

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An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

If you know a lawyer, doctor, or therapist then see if they will write the letter. It will seem more important and have more weight. I heard this from a lawyer well versed on the subject.

Yes the fee is to discourage you until the statute of limitations. I wrote Timberlawn for my records and we got some of it but not all of it (I think). My therapist said most of it was too disturbing to bother sharing with me. She read me a few passages that made me laugh. They actually thought they had succeeded at turning me into a straight person. How grandiose of them. She said their was a great deal of daily crap in there too. Like what time I brushed my teeth or whatever. Finding what we wanted in that thick chart was hard. Mostly, she was verifying the abuse I told her about, and trying to understand my nightmares. She was not charged a fee, but that was about 15 years ago and believe me Timberlawn had lots of lawsuits facing them at that time.

If a doctor or therapist friend requests it for treatment purposes with the proper release form (HIPAA-http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/) it will probably hold more weight. That does not mean go tell your doctor or therapist to do it. Ask a friend.  I found my current shrink read some screwed up testing on me and after a year, he said the results were a load of crap, and he had learned his lesson on reading other people's diagnoses. Point is you can't, and if you are a true diagnostician you won't. We finally figured out that the tester had just barfed up my old paperwork, I had given them from Timberlawn. A lesson I have learned is that I no longer ever tell a doctor about my hospitalizations. I have had that backfire once too often.

Unfortunately, sounds like Timberlawn in Texas. Restraints would be applied for weeks at a time. I saw some bad stuff. It was hard to believe an "accredited" hosptial got away with shit like that. I tried to go unnoticed and then they discovered me when I did a 72 hour letter. Then they decided room therapy (solitary confinement) would fix me. Thank goodness my parents finally allowed me to come home shortly thereafter and I left "at patient's request". I then went back to college 1000 miles from home and did not come back for 15 years. I still hate Texas, and hospitals still scare the shit out of me.

New Leaf sounds like the hell-hole I went to in 1985. The one year thing only made matters worse. Having my mail censored completely destroyed any sense of freedom of speech I had ever known. I came out a very censored automaton, and detached from my parents. It took another 14 years to fully open up to them again. I am finally close to my mother, but would never want to see anyone go through what I went through. I still have nightmares. I was 21 when I went in, and my big offense was being a lesbian. Thank goodness that does not happen too much anymore, I hope. The facility tried to convince me that I was not a lesbian. I came out of there (1986) still knowing I a lesbian, but had to go back in the closet until I finished college (1988). Try to bond with your kid don't ship them away to the experts.