The mental health "system"

I sometimes write about the mental health "system" and with the quotation marks around "system", but I think I really did not fully "get" it: in this country, at least, like the rest of health care, there is no system. I think most of the picture I have developed in my own mind about mental health has been as a result of my own experiences and with my own reading -- very little as a result of hearing anything understandable from any practitioners. There is no advocate explaining anything, or directing one towards effective help. It is like a market and I am the buyer and I am left to my own devices to figure out what is going on. If I am a poor buyer, it is pretty much "buyer beware" and "good luck".

I am not sure why it has taken me so long to really realize this. Maybe I did not want to realize it. Maybe it would have been too scary for me to comprehend it. It might have been a lot better for me if I had understood this years ago. There is no system.

I truly believe its our responsibilitye to figure what in the system works for us and then go for it. We are our own best advocates..and we need to do the research for ourselves. There is so much avaiable for us even on this site. Search the forums and then feel free to aks question and share experiences with others on this site.

Are we the only ones responsible?

As I have said in the past, I believe it should be a law that our representatives spend two hours a week at sites like PC explaining among other things why they have the best health insurance coverage in the world but do not believe their electors deserve the same.

Pachyderm, You make a good point. We should not have to be the only ones responsible for figuring out the health care system, but the reality is more often than not we are put in the position of self advocate.

Sometimes in life you just have to advocate for yourself because no one is a better advocate for your needs than you yourself. It isn't just mental healthcare that this is an issue with. Medical care, education, employment. They are all things we daily advocate for for ourselves all the time.

People suffering from mental health issues often go undiagnosed and without treatment because of the many barriers put in our way. Whether it be ourselves and a lack of understanding, or a health care system that is possibly inadequate. Its so hard to fight for yourself and so easy to give up. I dont to ever want to see someone give up, as I did myself for many years. The suffering is too painful. We have to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and get the help we need.

There's no Parental System either; learning to and taking responsibility and care for ourselves is what "Life" is to me. Mental health, regular health, education, making a living, making a family, retiring -- none are guaranteed or able to be quantified/qualified for everyone. You can't legislate morals or standardize care; one size does not fit all.

It's hard to figure out how the system works when the people who wrote the bill don't understand it, and some against the bill claim it doesn't even make sense.

Of course, my opinion may be a little biased...

The system fails.
I hate the system.
I've been seeing CAMHS since I was 7 & I've only ever gotten worse.
Despite trying so desperately hard to get help, the professionals have been awful.
Countless professionals.
I did try.
I gave up hope.
Hope makes things worse.
I'm what they call "a lost cause".

But yes, the mental health system fails many, and saves a few.
In my eyes.

Treatment for mental illness is trial and error. Most everything one therapist has told me another has disagreed with. What one psychiatrist has prescribed another takes away. I have been diagnosed as loosely concrete and intellectually abandoned. I have been told I could give seminars on how not to live your life like I lived mine. Too, I have been told I am a social retard. I suppose the seminars could be billed as tragic comedies. Therapists tell me I make things too difficult but that I have a personality not conducive to therapy. I expect I will always be dumber than a box of hair. Yet, I have learned enough to get by.

I'm white, post graduate education, upper middle class income, english is my first language, I'm articulate, and perfectly capable of advocating on my own behalf when I'm relatively healthy. God help you if you don't have any of my advantages. When I was really sick, I got superb care, but only becuase of the resources I put into place when I was healthy. When my pdoc left the hospital, the hospital wanted to drop me without any referals. If I hadn't known my legal rights and be willing to complain and fight the system I would have been dropped. As it was it was a major hassle to get assigned to aa new psychiatrist. Now try to imagine doing the same thing if English isn't your first language or you're on disability wondering where your next meal is giong to come from. We definitely have a two tier system - those for the wealthy, and those for everyone else. It's not a sytem, it's a patchwork of loosely tied together supports.

--splitimage

Hi guys

I think most of the picture I have developed in my own mind about mental health has been as a result of my own experiences and with my own reading -- very little as a result of hearing anything understandable from any practitioners.

I take it you are quoting from my first post, in agreement...