My psychiatrist called and cancelled my last appointment on Thursday an hour before I was to see him. Cancelled all his appointments suddenly. No reason given.

When I do get to see him again, I'm going to ask to consider electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). I can't think of any reason why he might veto that decision - several years without improvement, medication cocktails ineffective at best and harmful at worst.

My rationale for also considering a dog as an animal companion (have only ever had cats, but unable to foster cats at my current residence) is logical. Some are trained as legitimate emotional support animals, and I think the overwhelming benefits are twofold: loving attention from a goodboye is therapeutic (lowers blood pressure and increases parasympathetic nervous system activation/turn on the rest&digest signal); dogs require a fairly strict scheduled regime which is absolutely essential to mental health recovery (but one of the toughest obstacles to master, for the mentally healthy and the ill alike).