Mental Health Crisis
Americans of all ages suffer from mental illness and are not receiving proper care. Over 40 million adults suffer from a mental disorder and many are not receiving any health care at all. Sever depression is the leading cause of young adult disability, and suicide coming in as second. More then half do not receive appropriate treatment. Mental Health Care professionals have concerns that proper programs and educations are not up to date with the changes in health care. Most of the mentally ill do not have access to reduced or free health care since their disorder has kept many unemployed.
There are so many facts and mental illness statistics that have been published. Around 1 in 100 people are affected by schizophrenia in their lifetime. Each and every year around 80 million workdays are lost die to stress, anxiety and depression. About 16 people out of every 100,000 people commit suicide each year - in the USA it's about 11 per 100,000. 2.6% or 5.7million adults in America suffer from bipolar disorder. Over 70% of the prison population suffers from two or more mental health issues. 1 in 10 children have a mental health disorder between the ages of 1 and 15. Women are more likely to suffer from mental illness than men. Mental health problems affect 1 in 5 American families. Between 70% and 90% of people treated with drugs or psychosocial measures reported a significant reduction in symptoms. 13% of adults suffer from anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorders. 4.1% of adults suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. As statistic show, we have a mental health crisis, and many are going untreated, due to the fact that they do not have health insurance or support from family. Stigma with mental disorders, many do not want to disclose that kind of personal information to their employer, and many do not seek treatment.
As I researched mental health disorder organizations, I came across one called NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness). I learned a lot by talking to members and their website. NAMI members stated that health insurance coverage continues to be a source of much stress and inequity for people with mental illness in America. Health insurance is a lifeline for many people with mental illness as expensive medications and numerous doctors' visits are commonly needed to manage their illness. Even though many of the individuals represented in the survey relied on public health insurance programs like Medicaid and Medic-cal, nearly as manyâ€"36 percentâ€"had private health insurance policies, either self-paid or through their employers. Ten percent reported no health insurance coverage at all. The open-ended comments underlined the frustrations of many people with mental illness and their families with the policies of some private health insurance companies that restrict access to necessary care.
A web-based survey of visitors to the NAMI website in August 2003 confirms that private health insurance coverage is critically important to many people living with a serious mental illness. Fifty people answered the questions on health insurance of which 57 percent were individuals with mental illness and 36 percent were family members or friends. The majority 56 percent was covered by private health insurance provided through an employer, either part or fully paid and an additional 18 percent had self-paid private health insurance. Almost one in five respondents had no insurance at all.
Although most of the respondents had private health insurance, the survey data reveals major problems with this industry. One quarter of respondents said they, or their loved one, had been denied private health insurance because of a mental illness, and of those that had private health insurance, only 17 percent said that it adequately covered the cost of mental health treatment. Disturbingly, 25 percent of respondents also said that they had been deterred from employment or moved to public health insurance programs such as Medicaid because of the lack of private health insurance coverage for mental illness treatment. Clearly discrimination in the field of private health insurance is a major problem within our nation's troubled mental health system. That survey was 6 years ago and in 2009, more then half are not covered by any insurance. Many patients are also seeking relief from SSI or early disability insurance to help cover health costs and basic necessities. It can take months or years for patients to even know if they qualify for Medi-cal or Medicaid. Many members mentioned they have had to resort to emergency hospitalization for their loved ones that suffer from a mental illness; the county mental hospital will only keep them for a short time and not the 72 hold like stated. Due to many patients not having any health insurance they are released, and at times without family knowledge.
I spoke with one family member that mentioned her daughter was sexual harassed by another patient at the county hospital, and hospital staff let her sit outside without supervision so the other patient would not harass her. Unless a person with a mental illness is arrested, he may never receive any information for services available. There seems to be some help out there but it is not being properly communicated to the public. The options most people believe they have are: you have private health insurance, or public assistance such as Medicaid/Medi-cal. If you have neither, it seems like you cannot be treated. Due to lack of funds, hospitals will not take a patient that has no health insurance. A mental patient should never be turned away and refused health care, especially in a life threatening situation. Even those with health insurance are only allowed a certain amount of therapy sessions per year, and are usually not sufficient to receive proper treatment.
Mental health care services are not covered by health insurance packages and health plans to the same degree as physical health care services. Not only are there usually more services excluded as covered benefits, but those services that are covered are often subject to higher co-pays and are capped at a maximum number of covered treatments. Less well known is the fact that those with severe mental illness are less likely to have health insurance coverage of any kind.
According to a recent survey by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the leading reason that people with mental health issues don't seek treatment is cost. They fear the fees. "There's a misperception that care is always expensive, but that's not the rule," said John Draper, a psychologist and the project director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a free 24-hour service supported by the federal government. "There are plenty of ways to get help," he said. "Some of them are very affordable." But while affordable mental care exists, it's not always easy to find or get immediate access to. Delay in treatment is also another reason why many just walk away from being treated. They estimate a median delay of 10 years after onset until the first contact with a general medical doctor and 11 years until the first contact with a psychiatrist. Even though more severe mental disorders were associated with shorter delays, the average delay between onset and first treatment contact for even the most severe disorders was 5 years.
Thus, a large body of evidence supports the argument that people with mental illness, especially those with more serious and persistent problems, need access to general health care as well as mental health care. The findings point to a serious problem in our health care system.
REFERENCES:
National Institute of Mental Health http://www.selfhelparticles.net/mental-illness-statistics
NAMI Members http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Public_Policy/Policy_Research_Institute/TRIAD/Results_from_NAMIs_online_survey_about_health_insurance_coverage_for_people_with_mental_illness.htm
LESLEY ALDERMAN; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/health/21patient.htm
Catherine G McLaughlin, Ph.D, Senior Associate Editor http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361004
