Just imagine if we had insurance policies that covered a day at the spa including childcare....as they do in Germany! Or a visit to an alternative medicine doc for things other than pills or diagnostic machines like:
Acupuncture
Chiropractic care
Massage therapy
Naturopathic medicine
Herbal supplements
Homeopathic remedies
Nutritionist
Rehab for addiction
I'd even settle for good old fashioned talk-therapy that is only minimally covered and infrequently offered by current policies.
Tina, I am a holistic nutritionist in the (US) so not covered under insurance. The problem is an RD is covered under insurance and many people prefer to use the RD in their doctor office b/c it's cheaper. The issue is an RD working in an allopathic office is not there to get you better or else that doctor would lose patients. So some may say, nutrition is “covered” but getting to root causes via a nutritionist is a different ballgame.
We need to change the model before we find ourselves in a state of profound suffering, where we really are in the position of victim for whatever reason. When you are vulnerable you need wise counsel not drug pushing. You need empathic mirroring not minimization. You don't need to be met with contempt, arrogance, cold logic, and suppressive treatment. The medical system is useful when cutting is needed, but other than that a doctor does not know how to treat a whole human being. If you have sinus pressure and eye pain, the ear nose and throat doc will not address the eye situation, it is all reductionistic, all of it, you cannot heal anyone in such a manner. Just say No, to pscyhe drugs, they are harmful.
I think to tell people that your emotional state is no big deal and just normal can have a stigmatizing effect that can make people feel dismissed. I think people need to know that one is not alone in their problems and that there are better answers than just “pulling up your boot straps” or “put on your big boy panties” or “just thinking positive”. Often people present non-answers as answers. People have all kinds of advice but can not tell you actually how to
do something.
Talking about mental health and giving people a wide range of emotions from which to use is important and we need to allow people to express that they are having a hard time by having the conversation. However, conversation and dialogue takes time, compassion, empathy and understanding.
Our world has become one of quick fixes, 15-30 min appointments. This is simply not enough time to fill out paperwork let alone get to know someone. Insurance companies require interventions and medication/drugs is the one that takes the least amount of time and personal involvement by the prescriber and can be the most profitable both financially and the giving of hope even if in just in placebo form. Not to mention the great harm they can cause that someone in distress is fully incapable of giving full informed consent to.
Teaching people the resiliency and life skills needed to manage emotions and relationships is where the real work needs to be done. However, those tasked with that job are incompetent and often overworked or overwhelmed. These jobs are often filled with case managers, teachers and family members who spend all their time criticizing, demanding compliance, and threatening rather than teaching and leading by example. I am not saying there are not amazing people doing these jobs but they lack the knowledge and resources they need.
Taking away people’s drugs before these systems are fixed can be devastating and deadly. There needs to be a balanced approach. Positive Psychology and Resiliency skills training needs to become mainstream and the focus of mental health education not the DSM or clinical diagnostic terms.
Basic self care such as sleep, nutrition and physical activity must be taught first before people will ever feel confident enough to do life without drugs. When people are taught how to manage energy, mood and physical sensations through these things drugs for most mental health concerns will no longer be needed.
People take drugs to get through the day till the system corrects its self. Asking those who are already barely making it, with the assistance of drugs, to be the ones who make the change is a big ask.
We need more voices from people who were in that space and were dependent on drugs and no longer are. We need people pointing out practical step by step ways forward.
Criticism without a way forward just fuels the hopeless and a return to the pacification of all of our “don’t give a damn pills” or “nerve pills”, which is what my grandmothers called them. Taking pills to deaden the pains of life are nothing new they are as old as alcohol they are just called by different names and different concoctions but all consumed for the same purpose….. a quick solution to a much more complex problem.
Just imagine if we had insurance policies that covered a day at the spa including childcare....as they do in Germany! Or a visit to an alternative medicine doc for things other than pills or diagnostic machines like:
Acupuncture
Chiropractic care
Massage therapy
Naturopathic medicine
Herbal supplements
Homeopathic remedies
Nutritionist
Rehab for addiction
I'd even settle for good old fashioned talk-therapy that is only minimally covered and infrequently offered by current policies.
Tina, I am a holistic nutritionist in the (US) so not covered under insurance. The problem is an RD is covered under insurance and many people prefer to use the RD in their doctor office b/c it's cheaper. The issue is an RD working in an allopathic office is not there to get you better or else that doctor would lose patients. So some may say, nutrition is “covered” but getting to root causes via a nutritionist is a different ballgame.
We need to change the model before we find ourselves in a state of profound suffering, where we really are in the position of victim for whatever reason. When you are vulnerable you need wise counsel not drug pushing. You need empathic mirroring not minimization. You don't need to be met with contempt, arrogance, cold logic, and suppressive treatment. The medical system is useful when cutting is needed, but other than that a doctor does not know how to treat a whole human being. If you have sinus pressure and eye pain, the ear nose and throat doc will not address the eye situation, it is all reductionistic, all of it, you cannot heal anyone in such a manner. Just say No, to pscyhe drugs, they are harmful.
I think to tell people that your emotional state is no big deal and just normal can have a stigmatizing effect that can make people feel dismissed. I think people need to know that one is not alone in their problems and that there are better answers than just “pulling up your boot straps” or “put on your big boy panties” or “just thinking positive”. Often people present non-answers as answers. People have all kinds of advice but can not tell you actually how to
do something.
Talking about mental health and giving people a wide range of emotions from which to use is important and we need to allow people to express that they are having a hard time by having the conversation. However, conversation and dialogue takes time, compassion, empathy and understanding.
Our world has become one of quick fixes, 15-30 min appointments. This is simply not enough time to fill out paperwork let alone get to know someone. Insurance companies require interventions and medication/drugs is the one that takes the least amount of time and personal involvement by the prescriber and can be the most profitable both financially and the giving of hope even if in just in placebo form. Not to mention the great harm they can cause that someone in distress is fully incapable of giving full informed consent to.
Teaching people the resiliency and life skills needed to manage emotions and relationships is where the real work needs to be done. However, those tasked with that job are incompetent and often overworked or overwhelmed. These jobs are often filled with case managers, teachers and family members who spend all their time criticizing, demanding compliance, and threatening rather than teaching and leading by example. I am not saying there are not amazing people doing these jobs but they lack the knowledge and resources they need.
Taking away people’s drugs before these systems are fixed can be devastating and deadly. There needs to be a balanced approach. Positive Psychology and Resiliency skills training needs to become mainstream and the focus of mental health education not the DSM or clinical diagnostic terms.
Basic self care such as sleep, nutrition and physical activity must be taught first before people will ever feel confident enough to do life without drugs. When people are taught how to manage energy, mood and physical sensations through these things drugs for most mental health concerns will no longer be needed.
People take drugs to get through the day till the system corrects its self. Asking those who are already barely making it, with the assistance of drugs, to be the ones who make the change is a big ask.
We need more voices from people who were in that space and were dependent on drugs and no longer are. We need people pointing out practical step by step ways forward.
Criticism without a way forward just fuels the hopeless and a return to the pacification of all of our “don’t give a damn pills” or “nerve pills”, which is what my grandmothers called them. Taking pills to deaden the pains of life are nothing new they are as old as alcohol they are just called by different names and different concoctions but all consumed for the same purpose….. a quick solution to a much more complex problem.
Well-said. We need to see the forest for the trees, and not put the cart before the horse.