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A Boring Dystopia @lemmy.world

return2ozma @lemmy.world

2y ago

America Has Reached Peak Therapy. Why Is Our Mental Health Getting Worse?

Therapy Won't Save Us

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return2ozma @lemmy.world

2y ago

America Has Reached Peak Therapy. Why Is Our Mental Health Getting Worse?

time.com /6308096/therapy-mental-health-worse-us/

39 comments

The price tag on that therapy, for one.
Legitimately, it's one of sickest jokes about this country, that you can spend an hour with a therapist working on improving your mood, walk out of the session, and have it immediately undone when the receptionist tells you what the copay is.
- This is so crazy to me. Many mental health places near me won‘t even take insurance. I got an estimate on getting tested for ADHD the other day at 5k. This was after the year wait to even hear back.
  
  I had the same problem with my provider that tested my children, the provider recently stopped taking insurance so they quoted me 11000 dollars to do an autism/ADHD battery of tests so I had to decline, I need to eventually get back around to calling around and see if I can find some luck
  
  At that point, would going to mexico be better? I mean, goddamn, 5k. I got mine done for the equivalent of 500usd.
- 100% agree that it's fucked up, but also you should check on if there's some sort of a community counseling program. I know where I live they do community counseling and it's sliding scale down to $5. I really wish that was more places
  
  Those community counseling programs tend to be absolutely overwhelmed and have very long wait times.

I wonder if it could have anything to do with this apocalyptic hellscape we’re living in courtesy of the ruling class?
- No, it's probably personal failings of a few hundred million people. The systems are great

Broadly gestures at everything

I had a call with a government agency recently about benefits. I was asked why I didn't seek therapy.
I told the truth. My benefits did not include therapy. It was not financially viable for me to seek therapy.
Government worker had nothing in their script for that and simply said nothing and moved on to the next question.
It is maddening that we as a society are expected to play dumb about the shortcomings of our government.

I submit that's it's impossible for us to have reached peak therapy when there's such a shortage of mental health professionals available.
- What's worse is that those of us who are qualified, have the degrees, were working before, and are reentering the field, are stuck behind delayed bureaucratic bullshit. Like all of my stuff has gone through, and it's been 6 months. I can't start working until they take it to a board meeting and then vote on approving all of the applications at once. It's Fucking stupid.
  
  Yes, this is infuriating, along with your struggle to get paid by insurance companies, etc, or make other such tough decisions that may make you available to fewer patients because of similar bureaucratic tape. It’s all a mind fuck for everyone involved. Peak therapy, my ass.
- Affordable, quality therapists, at least.
  
  I mean, yes you are right, but even if you don’t narrow it down and are willing to talk to whomever will listen, there’s still not enough. Can take months to get an 1st time appointment in some places.

It's almost like things are so fucked for most people that therapy isn't going to fix it. Might help you cope a bit....

Because of late stage capitalism and climate dread. There is no longer hope for the future.
- Agree with your two concerns wholeheartedly but never appropriate to give up hope. Hang in there please!
  
  I think or of absolutely reasonable to give up hope on climate change. Its too late to stop it. We are now living in it.
  
  I've always appreciated a short dialogue from the show Monk.
  Monk: I had hope. Isn't hope the worst?
  Natalie: No, Mr Monk. Hope is a good thing.
  Monk: You're very young.
  
  "Hang in there" is not therapy, to me it's infuriating if anything. I can list several well-grounded in reality reasons which made me lose hope. Random phrases are not changing either these reasons or my ability to adapt to them. At some point "hope" feels like self-delusion. But it's nice to know others are not there yet.

"Peak" implies it is currently at its maximum and will go down from here. That is incorrect. We still need more mental health services for people and for those services to be affordable.
- Yeah what an insane false premise. Setting aside the US, which is a shitshow, almost no countries with publicly funded healthcare include mental healthcare under that system.

Maybe because they jumped the gun on declaring things “peak therapy.”

Republicans and climate change and income inequality.
- This seems like bipartisan greed, tbf.

We haven't even begun to peak. So many people are entering the field. So much more awareness and acceptance of mental health is being cultivated. So many more people are going to be getting care. We haven't peaked. We haven't even begun to peak.

Because gestures to everything

Because it's all nonsense.

Because, there is no such think as sanity.

39 comments