The Bad, The Old & the Ugly b y M a rt in Ve l a s co As someone who has struggled with depression and symptoms of ADD, I understand how difficult it can be just to get out of bed, let alone find help. And it’s not like I don’t want the help. Like most of you, I just want to live a normal life. I want an education. I want to work and provide for my family. I want to pick up those hobbies I used to love and
Alexandra Farmisaran is a hardworking wife and artist
call back my friends. But most of all, I want my life back. I
out of Woodlake and an old friend of mine. She has been
want to wake up and feel like I have a future. I want to walk
struggling with depression since childhood, with her first
outside and enjoy the blue sky again. And when someone
suicidal thoughts appearing as early as the fifth grade.
asks, “How are you?” I want to smile and say I’m good—and
This followed her into adulthood and lead to multiple
truly mean it.
hospitalizations. “I would have owed tens of thousands of
But the reality is that we are in the middle of a mental
dollars to the hospital if I didn’t have insurance,” Farmisaran
health crisis. There are roughly 43 million people in the
said.
U.S. suffering from mental illness—that’s more than the
“I just think it’s funny how if you’re dealing with
depression and not wanting to live and then get hit with
population of California. And those are just the people that
these hospital bills, it would make me want to kill myself
are open about it. God only knows how many more are
even more to escape that because I’d never be able to pay it
suffering in silence. Yet, the system put in place to help meet the growing need is ridiculously expensive, old, and just plain
off while dealing with all my other debts.”
broken.
A Dying Profession
The Price is Just Too High
Psychiatry is one of the oldest workforces in the United
I don’t have to tell you that medical care is expensive.
States. According to the Permanent Journal and notable
But medical care for mental illness is notoriously pricey.
physician firms like Merrit Hawkins, most psychiatrists have
For those that are lucky, a local college counselor or a close
met or are near retirement age. In fact, nearly half of them
friend and some lifestyle changes are enough to keep their
are expected to retire within the next five years. So while the
demons at bay. But others aren’t so lucky. For those with
demand for mental health services is growing, the supply of
severe mental illness, it is imperative not only that they
psychiatrists is dwindling. There are states like Idaho where
seek counseling, but that they also find a good psychiatrist
there are only five psychiatrists for every 100,000 people.
to diagnose and prescribe them with proper medication.
And the story repeats itself beyond the psychiatry field.
Neither of these options is cheap. Although insurance may
Other departments in the mental health arena routinely find
partially cover the cost of your medication, it’s unlikely that
themselves understaffed and overwhelmed with patients. It’s
a psychiatrist will take it.
not uncommon for people to find themselves on a waiting list
Most psychiatrists run a cash only business. To give you
for weeks or even months before they can see a counselor.
an idea of what it can cost, a popular psychiatrist in our area
And once you do get a counselor, there’s no guarantee that
will charge $500 just for a consultation. After that, it’s $100
they’ll be a good match or that they’ll stick around.
for every 15-minute session. It’s no wonder we choose to self-
I have, personally, gone through a variety of therapists
medicate, or it takes us an average of 10 years to get proper
before finally finding my current one. That was after
treatment after symptoms of depression have emerged. We
dealing with a revolving door of “student therapists,” just
live in a society where we’re forced to choose between our
completing their hours, because I couldn’t afford or find a
mental health and paying our bills.
psychotherapist with more experience.
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