Mental Health and How it Affects us All

[mike carey]

This week is Mental Health Week (in Australia at least) and to mark the occasion our national broadcaster is running programs with a mental health theme across TV, radio and on-line platforms. The series of programs has been dubbed 'MentalAs'. Discussion panels, documentaries and a host of other things. Last night ABC-TV's flagship discussion program, Q & A, had a panel of mental health professionals to answer the studio audience's questions for an hour. The first question was from a young man of about 17 named Xavier Eales who related what he asked to his lived experience of mental illness. It was a smart and focussed question.

 

As it turned out he is the School Captain of St Ingatius' College, Riverview, one of the elite Sydney private schools. A couple of months ago he had 'come out' in a speech at a school assembly as somone who had suffered a mental illness. Xavier is also the nephew of John Eales who was the captain of the Australian Rugby team that won the world cup in 1999.

 

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[TruthBTold]

It seems that other countries of the "developed" world do much better as regards mental health treatment and funding. While states in the U.S. all have some commitment to helping those with mental health issues, those same resources are the first to be cut in any kind of financial crises that arises in their budgets. The federal government also commits monies to set up and sustain mental health programs. Later, however, in many cases the feds decide that certain mental health issues are really "state issues" and throws the ball back to them. It then promises monies will be given to the states or but then the state cuts the programs that are to be sustained by the funds. Without appropriate and available programs, those with mental health problems go untreated and end up in nursing homes, in prisons, or on the streets. They fail to receive the medication treatments that might allow them some possibilities of integrating into the community. They also do not receive the follow-up social services that would help them be able to be integrated - things that we do without having mental health issues, i.e., paying bills on time, buying groceries. Certainly our governments do not have unlimited resources to spend. However, it seems that we currently do not spend those monies very effectively nor do we integrate the varied programs (federal and state) we do have so that they are more effective. At any rate, we need to take a bolder and more varied approach than we have because mental health issues will always be here.

[marylander1940]

[SteveStacks]

Great points!

 

I would be remiss if I didn't also point out that mental health services can benefit ALL of us to some degree.

Therapy and related services can improve performance, as well as correct illness.

 

Particularly in a field like escorting for example (where the instrument one uses for working is oneself) doing work in therapy to not only "fix" mental health issues, but doing work in therapy to improve, upgrade and maintain one's mind the same way you would go to the gym to improve your body makes sense to me.

 

If anyone is interested in working with a really skilled, experienced therapist who specializes in sex worker clients and helping them improve their game and their mind,

 

Elena Remingon in San Francisco, and

David Ortmann in NYC / SF

 

are both really amazing to work with.

 

I'd be happy pass their contact information on if anyone is interested.

Please feel free to send me a private message here or at my email of steve@stevestacks.com.

[Lookin]

Patrick Kennedy's Voices Against Violence piece on CBS News yesterday is a very compelling voice for early treatment. Unlike many other diseases, where early treatment is standard practice, we are now becoming aware of the importance of early diagnosis and early treatment for mental illness.

 

Many thanks, Mike, for starting this thread. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.png

[TruthBTold]

Marylander1940, thanks so much for providing Representative Kennedy's testimony regarding his disorders and the fact that treatment for his disorder and so many others is not treated with equity as "purely" medical issues. This is even more demonstrated by an illness like epilepsy. There is no doubt that epilepsy is a medical disease. People have seizures that are destructive to various parts of the patient's brains. While it does reek this type of havoc on a patient's brain epilepsy also causes major depression. Moreover, the drugs given to treat epilepsy often have a side effect of causing depression. Finally, and very understandably, the very fact that someone suffers from epilepsy can cause a patient to be depressed. However, while a patient can be treated as a medical patient under their insurance for the actual seizures and prescriptions, the same patient's resultant mental health issue of depression is often treated differently and without equity. Treatment is often done under a system where the patient is allowed a certain number of beginning sessions and then the insurance company rather than the physician determines whether follow-up treatments are necessary. Or insurance companies pay less toward treatment of the depression issues. Hopefully, as Representative Kennedy stated there have been steps taken to equalize the disparity between "pure medical" versus mental health issues. We just aren't there yet.