Three Cheers- A Seven Year Slump is Slowly Moving Forward

“It’s about opening up the doors and ending the shadow of discrimination against the mentally ill.”

-Patrick Kennedy 

Today’s news is quite uplifting.   And the 268-148 vote does speak to the dire need to continue towards enacting mental-health parity and mandating health insurance coverage equal to that of physical illness for mental health  and addiction.  I think Paul Wellstone would be encouraged to see some progress being made after nearly a decade of back and forth bi-partisan bickering and huge corporate influence , (and currently, to no one’s surprise, big-ph-arm Eli Lilly  is really throwing a tantrum!), to strangle this vital legislation.

And there are plenty of critics who are rallying this victory as “mental-health insanity” and clearly looking only at their own financial dunk, but it’s truly time to stop stigmatizing those with mental illness who clearly need the same standard of quality care and treatment that any sane society would not withhold or financially ruin one with personally while working towards full health, healing and recovery.

I, unfortunately live in a state that does not currently have mental-health parity- yet.  But I was impressed to read an in depth study done last spring by the La Follette School of Public Affairs in our state, that despite not having all the conclusive data to make absolute recommendations regarding mental-health parity, has incredibly convincing and thought-provoking details putting to bunk some of the primary reasoning against implementing mental-health parity that I would encourage anyone interested in advocating for mental health disparity to read.   These studies really can be applied and adapted for further critique and implemented across all states, so that we will eventually see more than thirteen states that have adopted mental-health parity law.

-shanti

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Err on the Side of Caution…

… I always say, especially when it comes to ED’s and medication- specifically anitdepressants and children/adolescents. 

It’s a call that I personally feel many clinicians make way too early before steady gains in weight, and full nutrition have been sufficiently addressed, and this takes time.  As parents, we see a significant change in mood with increased nutrition, as well as the opposite when our children are not eating enough or metabolizing properly during refeeding and recovery. 

Of course this will be an intimately personal and individualized decision, and antidepressants, without a doubt, have helped countless numbers of inividuals from seemingly endless and needless suffering. 

And you would want to have a physician who would have all the up to date, accurate, and forthright information in helping you make the best decision possible for your child, but after reading Dr Turner’s published report/study as well as the New England Journal of Medicine’s abstract about “selective reporting and clinical trials”, and “efficacy overstated for antidepressants” I’m convinced it’s vital to continue scrutinizing, as well as reseaching the use of antidepressants within the treatment of ED’s; and question why some clincians seem a tad overzealous to prescribe them.

And as some counterbalance, not completely overlooking how antidepressants have assisted many, CEO David Shern of Mental Health America shared a brief response.

When Silence is Deadly

Extremely tragic news of a mother who “believed there was no hope” for her daughter who was suffering from anorexia and depression, which ironically she herself began battling around the same age- but seemed to be particularly well hidden from the rest of the family’s awareness– ends in the death of a promising young life.

This heartwrenching loss brings to mind many who struggle in silence and isolation, but what few still come to terms with is that this illness can indeed take lives not fully lived, and at any age.

Families, parents, and sufferers affected by disordered eating and self-starvation need and deserve compassion, effective treatment, and ongoing support.  Public awareness, insurance coverage and access to quality care, along with early intervention are still what we all need to keep pushing for so that HOPE becomes reality; and lives can be restored.