How's that for mental health?

My insurance company sort of 'outsources' to another company for their mental health stuff. Not sure if that's the way to put it, but whatever. So I receive mental health services through this company and that means I'm on another new mailing list. Yippee.

I got a big ole packet in the mail the other day, all about depression, etc, etc. It was like 30 pages. I don't need all that, I know all this stuff already. The letter enclosed said I'd be receiving a follow-up packet in 4-6 weeks. Oh joy. At the bottom of the letter it gave a number to call if you'd like to be taken off of the mailing list. I don't really feel the need for them to waste another 30 pages of paper that I'm just going to put directly into the recycling, so I called the number.

Thirty minutes later I slammed down the phone and screamed out loud. I know it was that long because I put a taped episode of Caillou on for Jacob so I could make the call in peace. The show was over before I was off the phone. I'd just spent that long on the phone being shifted around from person to person because no one knew what they were doing. The letter said to call this number if you wish to no longer receive mailings. Why didn't that number yield those results?

After the 7th human being I decided to call it quits. Every single person told me they didn't know how to take me off the mailing list, that's not their department, then they'd put me on hold for four or five minutes before another person who couldn't even find me in the system got on. But you know you stay on the phone and don't give up because you've already invested so much time in waiting on the phone for any form of intelligent life. If you hang up then those 10, 20, 30 minutes will all have been in vain.

I left the experience with two more phone numbers to try, but really I have little hope for what lies on the other end of those numbers. So here I am, coming down from a scream session, jaw clenched, blood pressure sky high and there's no one to yell at about it. Tell me now, you call that mental health???