Remember Your Psychiatrist Appointment
Approximately 40.2 million people in the U.S. attend some form of therapy, and many of that number experience life-changing benefits. Yet, psychiatrist appointments are notoriously hard to keep for many individuals. With busy lives, fear of sharing, and heavy responsibilities, it can be easy to put your therapy journey on hold, forget appointments, and stop scheduling them all together. Unfortunately, you can’t benefit from a therapy visit unless you show up for it. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of tips to keep you on track, so you never miss out on a psychiatrist session again.
1. Ask your therapist if they have a notification system.
Inform your psychiatrist that you might need help keeping your appointments in check. Most offices offer a notification service or will accommodate you if you let them know that you need a reminder to schedule or attend a session, now and then.
2. Use an app like Ahead.
The beauty of modern technology is that we have more ways to get assistance than ever before. The Ahead app is a perfect example. You not only can schedule an evaluation with a mental health professional online, receive diagnoses, get prescriptions sent directly to your door, but you can easily create follow-up appointments, all from your phone! You even automatically get reminders when you need a prescription refill! Ahead is completely streamlined mental healthcare.
3. Try online care!
In the same vein as the Ahead app, meeting with your therapist online can make it easier to stick to your appointments! You can take their call from anywhere, so you can quickly get notified and hop on your appointment if you forget to attend. Plus, many online therapy apps have their own text notification systems that allow you to depend less on your memory.
4. Have an accountability buddy
Specifically, if you’re struggling with making your first appointment, have a friend help out. Ask them to check in with you daily or weekly until you schedule a psychiatrist visit.
5. Try a standing appointment.
Choose how often you want to meet up with your psychiatrist and then create a standing appointment on the same day of the week, at the same time. This style of scheduling not only helps you remember to plan your next meeting, but it’ll be easier to track your upcoming appointments as well.
6. Utilize alarms
Take matters into your own hands! Sometimes, the difference between missing an appointment and keeping it is setting a reminder for yourself. You can create a weekly alarm on your phone to go off before your meeting and cue you to get ready. This straightforward reminder system can be used to prompt you to schedule an appointment or refill a prescription as well!
