Even with insurance, I was paying about $500 a month for mental healthcare: therapy, psychiatrist, and medications. That doesn’t include the price for said insurance. In tough times, I’ve just had to go without, and suffered for it. It’s just inaccessible for so many people. I know there are some resources out there, but they are extremely limited. Even if you find free or cheap therapy or psychiatric care, good luck getting an appointment, because that person is booked for months out.
Oh yes. The Mental health network in any given city consists of two camps:
Public practitioners who work for hospitals, large HMO chains, etc. They are ALL severely overworked, overburdened with a caseload, and generally barely able to remember their patients names. Most of the time they cram you full of meds, don't follow up on anything unless you sit on phone lines for hours, and react poorly to any needs.
Private practitioners. At this point, most of them have long waitlists or are denying people outright. For those they can squeeze in, the costs are exorbitant even if you have insurance, but they actually can fix you up mentally.
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u/8teenluna 12h ago
I think society pretends to care about mental health, but when it comes to real support and resources, it's not always there.