Post by Sikotik_Psyphi on Apr 5, 2009 3:23:07 GMT -5
I currently work as an editor and contributer for a quarterly magazine put out by people currently dealing with chronic mental illness. This is an opinion piece I wrote for the May issue.
The nation’s healthcare system is largely a joke compared to the rest of the developed world. When people in the US suddenly find themselves suffering from a devastating illness or injury, unless they have an excellent private healthcare plan or they’re independently wealthy, they can find themselves forced to make one of two untenable choices, bankruptcy or death. This situation is inexcusable considering how we like to consider ourselves the “greatest country on Earth.”
Many of the healthcare reforms put forth thus far focus primarily on preventative care to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, STD’s, etc. Thus with a reduced need for expensive procedures, costs would be reduced. But is there truly a way to prevent mental illness, a potentially fatal and often invisible disorder? Aside from avoiding illegal drugs and using legal substances responsibly and in strict moderation, I can think of no truly reliable way to significantly reduce the risk of mental illness.
We are bombarded daily with radio and television commercials that tell us that depression and mental illness are serious but highly treatable conditions, just talk to your doctor about counseling and such and such pill and everything will be fine again in time. What they don’t tell us is what many of us know all too well, treatment of mental illness is all too often a very lengthly and very expensive proposition, especially for chronic sufferers.
It is true that there are many more medications and treatment methods than there were in the past, but unfortunately finding the right solution is still mostly a crapshoot and it can often take months and even sometimes years before the winning combination is almost literally stumbled upon. Meanwhile the bills begin to pile up and the client’s frustration level steadily increases. Once again, unless the client has world class insurance coverage or is independently wealthy, the costs and frustrations may become so unbearable that the client simply gives up when his or her so-called lifetime mental health benefits are used up before a workable treatment plan is found. Even with a 90 percent discount at a community mental health center and patient assistance for medication, the costs still can become overwhelming and too much to bear. People’s lives and finances often become ruined as much from actively and sincerely seeking treatment, as they would be from just ignoring the problem or attempting to medicate themselves through drugs, alcohol or through trying to buy happiness and overspending.
Many chronic sufferers of mental illness find themselves needing to be hospitalized at least once in their lives. The cost is enormous even with insurance chipping in. The client may find themselves recovered for a time afterward, but without adequate support, they may become so overwhelmed when the bills start coming in that they relapse, but opt to not seek further treatment because they couldn’t pay for the first round.
This is totally disgusting and unacceptable. With this current generation facing financial, energy, and environmental crises on a global scale, as well as epidemics and famine in the developing world approaching biblical proportions, many of our best and brightest people who could be out there finding solutions are sidelined or already dead due to an inability to acquire and afford adequate mental health care.
The solution is quite clear. This nation needs an affordable, universal healthcare program now. How many more people have to be ruined by the current system before the conservatives in government change their views and allow a universal healthcare bill to pass? Such provisions have not ruined Canada and most of Europe. Why should it be too much of a burden for “The Greatest Nation on Earth?”
The program facilitator really liked it. What do you think?
The Dire Need for Healthcare Reform
The nation’s healthcare system is largely a joke compared to the rest of the developed world. When people in the US suddenly find themselves suffering from a devastating illness or injury, unless they have an excellent private healthcare plan or they’re independently wealthy, they can find themselves forced to make one of two untenable choices, bankruptcy or death. This situation is inexcusable considering how we like to consider ourselves the “greatest country on Earth.”
Many of the healthcare reforms put forth thus far focus primarily on preventative care to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, STD’s, etc. Thus with a reduced need for expensive procedures, costs would be reduced. But is there truly a way to prevent mental illness, a potentially fatal and often invisible disorder? Aside from avoiding illegal drugs and using legal substances responsibly and in strict moderation, I can think of no truly reliable way to significantly reduce the risk of mental illness.
We are bombarded daily with radio and television commercials that tell us that depression and mental illness are serious but highly treatable conditions, just talk to your doctor about counseling and such and such pill and everything will be fine again in time. What they don’t tell us is what many of us know all too well, treatment of mental illness is all too often a very lengthly and very expensive proposition, especially for chronic sufferers.
It is true that there are many more medications and treatment methods than there were in the past, but unfortunately finding the right solution is still mostly a crapshoot and it can often take months and even sometimes years before the winning combination is almost literally stumbled upon. Meanwhile the bills begin to pile up and the client’s frustration level steadily increases. Once again, unless the client has world class insurance coverage or is independently wealthy, the costs and frustrations may become so unbearable that the client simply gives up when his or her so-called lifetime mental health benefits are used up before a workable treatment plan is found. Even with a 90 percent discount at a community mental health center and patient assistance for medication, the costs still can become overwhelming and too much to bear. People’s lives and finances often become ruined as much from actively and sincerely seeking treatment, as they would be from just ignoring the problem or attempting to medicate themselves through drugs, alcohol or through trying to buy happiness and overspending.
Many chronic sufferers of mental illness find themselves needing to be hospitalized at least once in their lives. The cost is enormous even with insurance chipping in. The client may find themselves recovered for a time afterward, but without adequate support, they may become so overwhelmed when the bills start coming in that they relapse, but opt to not seek further treatment because they couldn’t pay for the first round.
This is totally disgusting and unacceptable. With this current generation facing financial, energy, and environmental crises on a global scale, as well as epidemics and famine in the developing world approaching biblical proportions, many of our best and brightest people who could be out there finding solutions are sidelined or already dead due to an inability to acquire and afford adequate mental health care.
The solution is quite clear. This nation needs an affordable, universal healthcare program now. How many more people have to be ruined by the current system before the conservatives in government change their views and allow a universal healthcare bill to pass? Such provisions have not ruined Canada and most of Europe. Why should it be too much of a burden for “The Greatest Nation on Earth?”
The program facilitator really liked it. What do you think?