WHO describes mental health as a state of well-being whereby each person recognizes his or her potential, can handle the normal stresses of life, can work prolifically and fruitfully, and can make a positive contribution to his or her community (WHO, 2018). The WHO’s definition is in tandem with the definition of health in the constitution, which is described as a state of full physical, mental, as well as social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity. From the definition, any undesirable change in the elements stated translates to mental disorder. Statistics reveal that mental disorders are prevalent in the US, affecting tens of millions of people every year. Newsweek points out that approximately 42.5 million American adults every year suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Besides, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that nearly 9.3 million adults which translate to about 4 percent of Americans aged 18 and above go through serious mental illnesses that impede their day-to-day activities (Blackwell., Lucas & Clarke, 2014). The objective of this article is to give a personal experience of a mental disorder and the process I went through to get assistance.
When I was in high school, I suffered trauma. I witnessed a bad road accident one summer holiday. I had decided to visit my relatives who lived in Oklahoma when an over speeding truck lost control and crashed over a personal car. All the passengers in the car, who were members of the same family perished. The family was returning from vacation when the accident happened. The youngest member of the family, a four-year-old boy was crashed beyond recognition. The scene was so horrifying that nobody would look at it for the second time. Although people tried to rescue the family members, all of them were dead and badly crashed.
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The accident had a bad toll on my mental well-being. I experienced scary dreams the days that followed. I suffered more when I was in lonely places. I would think of the scene and feel very terrified. I could not take a shower with my eyes closed or walk in the dark. At night, I would wake up to find my parents at my bedside, who would inquire why I had screamed or talked loudly during sleep. I could not get the courage to explain the problem to them. However, the situation got worse when my grades began to drop. I could not concentrate in class. I also did not care about basic hygiene, an issue that made most of my friends to abandon me. I would sit alone both at school and at home. I had initially been a member of the scouts’ movement but began to avoid any of the movement’s activities.
My parents got concerned when I began getting very aggressive. I would retaliate at the slightest provocation. I had also turned to drugs. I would smoke and drink excessively, things that made me get late to school. Most of the time, I dozed off in class and even snored, to the amusement of the tutors and my classmates. One day, the school counselor was brought to class to talk about mental illnesses. Am sure the school administration intended to relay the message to me in a way that did not make the other students sideline me. I also learned that my parents had had me covered under a health insurance plan, mental health included. I decided to contact my mental health insurer, Coughlin Insurance Agency to find out the details of the insurance cover (Coughlin Insurance Agency, 2018).
Just like other insurance companies, Coughlin Insurance Agency offers limited cover for individuals suffering from mental disorders.
Even after the Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act nearly ten years ago, not many insurance companies are providing favorable insurance cover to individuals with mental conditions. A risk management and healthcare providing company known as Milliman established in 2015 that insurance companies paid primary care providers approximately 20 percent more for same types of medical attention than they paid addiction and mental care specialists, including psychiatrists (Han et al., 2016). Coughlin Insurance Agency requires that a doctor examines a patient before they can pay for the medical attention. The health specialist who does the examination is outsourced by the insurance company. Also, the examination does not take a day; the health specialist requires that the patient attends various sessions before he records his recommendations. It took me almost a week before the health specialist made his recommendations. The assessment entailed many aspects. Apart from interviewing me, my parents, teachers, as well as friends were interviewed. Some of the sessions I attended were meant for observation. The specialist would watch me from a concealed place and would later pretend to apologize for coming late or tell me that he did not have time to carry out the interview.
Coughlin Insurance Agency has a limitation on time and finances it spends on a person with a mental health condition. It is expensive to cater for medical expenses of people with a mental health condition, the sole reason that scares away many medical insurance companies. One other condition that hampers proper medical coverage for people with a mental health condition is that Coughlin Insurance Agency requires the particular patients to be treated in their facility, Coughlin Health Center. In that case, I did not have the freedom to choose a mental health specialist of my choice. Just to speculate, Coughlin Insurance Agency views referral of patients to other medical facilities as a rise in the cost of treatment. Treatment of patients in their medical facilities is viewed as a way of saving on costs.
Several health centers provide mental health services to patients in Lowell, Massachusetts. Some of them include the Coughlin Health Center, Lowell Treatment Center, and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. However, I had to inquire about the services offered by the Coughlin Health Center since it was a requirement by the insurance company that I seek the services of the Coughlin Health Center. Although the center is owned by the insurance company, its services are professional. The reason for the exemplary services is because the company is a profit-making venture. It, therefore, has to offer competitive services to attract more clients (Gold, 2017). After getting in touch with the customer support, I was informed that the center offered my mental therapy and counseling services. Also, they had specialists who could conduct home-based care. I was also informed that the insurance cover would only be provided for three months. In my opinion, such a duration is reasonable enough considering the few insurance companies that provide mental health insurance services.
Coughlin health center is within reach. I did not require a car to get to the health center because I could just walk to it. The center is also in a suburb, away from city activities. The place, therefore, has an ideal environment for specialized mental care. The other important aspect of Coughlin Health Center is that it has an appealing and interactive website. Individuals can navigate easily on the center’s website. All the mental treatment procedures are provided on the website. Crucial contact information is provided on the website; people can either call or send messages to the customer support team, which has a quick response. One of the setbacks of Coughlin health center is that it has a long waiting line. Patients suffering from different illnesses are supposed to use the same queue before they are directed to different specialists. Some of the patients suffering from severe conditions get urgent medical attention only when they fall and collapse. It would have been easier if the unnecessary queue at the reception was eliminated. Patients ought to be guided directly to the specific departments upon entering the hospital premises. Patients seeking mental treatment are usually fewer than those suffering from other conditions. The health center at that time did not have clear signage to guide patients to specific departments for treatment.
One of the other remarkable aspects of Coughlin health center is that it provides mental health services to individuals of different ages. Children, young adults, as well as adults, can get treatment. The mental health specialists are friendly and make their patients feel comfortable. On my first day upon reaching the facility, I was probed to narrate my past experiences. Afterward, I was prepared to interact with other patients who also suffered from trauma. Everyone narrated their experience and how it was impacting their life. We would then be taken through therapy and counseling sessions. Each person felt better with each session. Usually, an out-of-pocket mental therapy session costs between $50 and $240. I would not have afforded the therapy sessions if I had not acquired the insurance cover.
To conclude, it is accurate to admit that the cost of mental treatment in the US is high. The only way out is to get medical coverage through an insurance company. However, the other limitation is that only few insurance companies provide insurance for mental disorders. The core reason is that it is a challenge to estimate the time it takes for a mental condition to heal. As a result, many US citizens are unable to get access to mental treatment when they get mental disorders.
References
Blackwell, D. L., Lucas, J. W., & Clarke, T. C. (2014). Summary health statistics for US adults: national health interview survey, 2012. Vital and health statistics. Series 10, Data from the National Health Survey , (260), 1-161.
Coughlin Insurance Agency . (2018). Individual & Family Health Insurance - Dracut MA & Lowell MA - . Coughlinins.com . Retrieved 26 February 2018, from http://www.coughlinins.com/products/health-insurance/individual-family-health-insurance
Gold, J. (2017). Health Insurers Are Still Skimping On Mental Health Coverage . NPR.org . Retrieved 26 February 2018, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/11/29/567264925/health-insurers-are-still-skimping-on-mental-health-coverage
Han, B., Compton, W. M., Eisenberg, D., Milazzo-Sayre, L., McKeon, R., & Hughes, A. (2016). Prevalence and Mental Health Treatment of Suicidal Ideation and Behavior Among College Students Aged 18-25 Years and Their Non-College-Attending Peers in the United States. The Journal of clinical psychiatry , 77 (6), 815-824.
WHO. (2018). Mental health: a state of well-being . Who.int . Retrieved 26 February 2018, from http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/
