Psychiatry For Normal People

This post is originally from BioSocialPsych:

One in five Americans will receive a psychiatric diagnosis this year. Why isn't mental health care a bigger priority?

“’Normal’ people don’t need mental health care.”  That’s what we, as a culture, tell ourselves.  Mental health care, after all, is for “those people."  The homeless guy we drive past on our daily commute, for example, might be someone who needs mental health care--or someone with an addiction, or maybe a dangerous criminal we hear about on the news.  When we hear mention of “the mentally ill,” we don’t normally think of ourselves or our friends, family members or peers.
     Whether we call these ideas stereotypes, common sense, conventional wisdom, or unexamined assumptions, most of us walk around with beliefs about mental health, which may or may not be based on present-day truth.  For example, our stereotype is that normal people have jobs and responsibilities.  They have families, friends, neighbors and, often, kids.  Normal people are those we see as predictable and reliable, worthy of our trust.  They don't behave strangely.  They go to the doctor, but they don't need mental health care. They are successful and happy.

An estimated one in nine Americans is prescribed a psychiatric medication, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control.

     If we accept these stereotypes at face value, it makes sense that we have a societal blind spot when it comes to this piece of our health care.  We tune out media coverage about big policy decisions that determine who gets help.  We pretend that mind and body aren't inextricably connected.
     If we believe mental health is only for others, we might be part of the 96% of a group surveyed by the American Psychological Association, who have never heard of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a federal law that was passed, with great effort, to help more Americans access mental health care.  We wouldn’t know to care that the Trump administration recently passed a final rule that could jeopardize the Parity Act’s protections and create a market for insurance plans that might leave out mental health care altogether.

This post is originally from BioPsychoSocial.net. Read the full article there.

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