[nottrustin]

After reading some of the posts today I wondered if some that have had negative experiences with therapy in general maybe live in areas where mental health services are lacking. The state I live in rates very well in fact one of the best in the country.

So I wonder how does your areas rate???

Our Health Policy Matters: The Ten Best and Ten Worst States for Your Mental Health

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838042#vp_1

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

After reading some of the posts today I wondered if some that have had negative experiences with therapy in general maybe live in areas where mental health services are lacking. The state I live in rates very well in fact one of the best in the country.

So I wonder how does your areas rate???

Our Health Policy Matters: The Ten Best and Ten Worst States for Your Mental Health

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838042#vp_1

I see private practice therapists, and the study is talking about public mental health practices, and also possibly spending per those officially diagnosed with a mental illness, which I have not been. So I'm not sure you can conclude that public and private services are of the same quality in those states. There could be spillover in attitude towards mental health, but it's also possible public services in certain states aren't very good because private practices pick up the slack, and vice versa.

But I live in one of the top ten states, and didn't have any problems.

I live in a state on the worst list. That doesn't surprise me. It is a deeply conservative state politically, and mental health issues tend to be way the the bottom of the list on that end of political spectrum. I've had very good care because I have insurance, but it is such a large state and we have so many people living in poverty, so many immigrants who are without services completely. Our public health system is pretty awful in our state.

[nottrustin]

Just realized the link to the second article will not go to the correct page here is part of the article..



Although it is too soon to get a big-picture assessment of the effect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had on US mental health services, a new report from Mental Health America (MHA, formerly the National Mental Health Association) offers a snapshot of the nation's mental health care status based on the most recent data, and it is not a pretty picture.
"[The report shows] there is tremendous variation across the states, which means that states are responsible for the mental health of their citizens and have the power to improve it if they invest in it," MHA president and CEO Paul Gionfriddo told Medscape Medical News.
"It [also] shows that political philosophy doesn't matter ― conservative and liberal states are both in the top tier," he added.
The report ranked states and the District of Columbia on measures reflecting mental health status and accessibility of care using the most recently available national data, mostly from 2012, before the ACA went into effect, but ranging from 2010 to 2013.
Measures included rates of mental illness in adults and children, drug abuse or thoughts of suicide, rates of the failure to receive treatment among adults and children who were uninsured, and state hospital readmission rates.
In the overall ranking, the top five states, reflecting the lowest prevalence of mental illness and the highest rates of access to care, were Delaware (5), North Dakota (4), Maine (3), Vermont (2), and Massachusetts, which was ranked number 1.
The five states with the highest prevalence of mental illness and the lowest rates of access to care were Louisiana (47), Washington (48), Nevada (49), Mississippi (50) and Arizona (51).
The report showed that overall, 42.5 million adults (18%) suffered from any kind of mental illness; 19.7 million (8.46%) of the population had a substance abuse proble

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

"The five states with the highest prevalence of mental illness and the lowest rates of access to care were Louisiana (47), Washington (48), Nevada (49), Mississippi (50) and Arizona (51)."

How odd, Arizona is no. 7 in spending = top 10 on the other list but no. 51/dead last in access to care and the number of mentally ill? So they have a goodly percentage of people diagnosed with mental illness, and they spend over $1000 per each, but the problem is access to care?

I know one shouldn't combine studies like I am, but the discrepancy is striking.

[stopdog]

I am fairly surprised the state I live in is not on the worst list. I am not surprised it is not on the best list.

[yagr]

While my state is in the top 20%, I find the data misleading and believe that would carry over into other states as well. In a major metropolitan area within my state, I would expect excellent mental health care. In this little backwoods area of the state I live in, where you can hear banjos strumming the melody from Deliverance - not so much.

Originally Posted by yagr

While my state is in the top 20%, I find the data misleading and believe that would carry over into other states as well. In a major metropolitan area within my state, I would expect excellent mental health care. In this little backwoods area of the state I live in, where you can hear banjos strumming the melody from Deliverance - not so much.

I was thinking the same thing about Texas. In and near the cities I would guess there is access to fairly good care, but there is A LOT of rural Texas that probably has little to no services available.

[precaryous]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

After reading some of the posts today I wondered if some that have had negative experiences with therapy in general maybe live in areas where mental health services are lacking. The state I live in rates very well in fact one of the best in the country.

So I wonder how does your areas rate???

Our Health Policy Matters: The Ten Best and Ten Worst States for Your Mental Health

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838042#vp_1

California is rated at #19...which doesn't seem too bad. But my assault and exploitation perpetrated by a psychiatrist occurred in an extremely poor and isolated area. If you didn't have a car, you had to use whatever limited medical or mental health help available...or not use it at all. Interestingly, there was another case of a different psychiatrist having sex with his female patients just 20 minutes away in another small isolated town...happening near the same time.

Now, looking back, I understand if you wanted quality mental health care you had to traverse mountain passes, deserts and long stretches of interstate highways. The poorer people had no choice, really.

I think that many times, the medical community refers around their unethical colleagues. If these unethical professionals want to treat clients they must move to remote, isolated and under-served areas. Apparently, we wound up with more # than our share of these a$$holes.

[nottrustin]

Originally Posted by yagr

While my state is in the top 20%, I find the data misleading and believe that would carry over into other states as well. In a major metropolitan area within my state, I would expect excellent mental health care. In this little backwoods area of the state I live in, where you can hear banjos strumming the melody from Deliverance - not so much.

I suspect all states have that same issue.

I have always seen Ts who had private practices, so I don't think my experiences have anything to do with the study. My state was not on either list.

[magno11789]

I have only seen Ts who do private practices and I only had one bad experience. So, I don't think I can relate to this study. Also, the state I currently live in and the my home state are not on either list.

[gayleggg]

Mine rates in the worst. But I feel like I have gotten good services through insurance however I doubt that those without insurance get as good of treatment. Texas is way behind on helping the poor to get treatment whether physical or mental.

Just the way it's treated Planned Parenthood shows its lack of concern for the poor.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by nottrustin

I suspect all states have that same issue.

In states like Texas, it also literally takes 12 hours to go from one end of the state to the other, so there is a great deal more physical distance between services, perhaps literally several hundred miles to the nearest metropolitan area which creates another challenge.

[divine1966]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

In states like Texas, it also literally takes 12 hours to go from one end of the state to the other, so there is a great deal more physical distance between services, perhaps literally several hundred miles to the nearest metropolitan area which creates another challenge.

Oh yeah I thought about MI too. Big difference between Oakland County where everything is available on every corner and remote village in UP, where you can't even get around in the winter or sometimes get cell service and nothing is available. It's like different countries

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChipperMonkey]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

After reading some of the posts today I wondered if some that have had negative experiences with therapy in general maybe live in areas where mental health services are lacking.

I think this is perhaps a generalization? Bad therapists are everywhere.

State funding has nothing to do with private practice. A state could be in the crapper in terms of the $$$ they spend on MI yet still have quality therapists available.