The common theme in the field of mental health is that stigma keeps people from getting treatment, which is why there are so many anti-stigma campaigns and initiatives. The truth, however, begs to disagree. There are much more important reasons why people who need care don't receive it, even though stigma may in certain situations hinder them from receiving it.
This raises the following issues: Why do campaigners keep bringing up stigma? Why are anti-stigma programmes so prevalent? What could actually aid those who suffer from mental illness in receiving mental health care?
Is it Actually True That Stigma Prevents Mental Health Care?
Thus when we discuss the stigma of mental illness, what we really mean is the social rejection of people who have a mental disease. It concerns being degraded due of your sickness. Those who suffer from mental illness might actually sense this emanating from others.
Yet, according to two important studies, stigma around mental illness isn't what keeps people from receiving mental health care. Social stigma against mental illness is mentioned as a reason in one study for people not seeking medical attention, but overall, it's obvious that other factors are far more significant.
If not stigma, what hinders access to mental health care?
Every year, a significant study on the reasons why people with mental illness don't access mental health care is conducted by Mental Health America, the nation's foremost community-based nonprofit organisation devoted to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all. (They even rate States on numerous criteria from best to worst.)
The most recent statistics provided by Mental Health America show that the same constraints that prevent some people from receiving any therapy at all also affect those who seek treatment but do not receive the necessary services. Here are some of them:
- No insurance or perhaps partial service coverage
- Lack of doctors and a small mental health workforce overall
- absence of some sorts of treatments (inpatient treatment, individual therapy, intensive community services)
- Systemic disconnect between primary care and behavioural health
- inability to pay for costs, such as copays or uninsured treatments, or when providers refuse to accept insurance
Everyone with a mental illness has difficulties, regardless of whether they are able to receive care or not, as anyone who has sought mental health therapy can confirm.
Provision of Mental Health Services, National Council for Mental Wellness?
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing (The National Council), the unified voice of America's health care organizations that provide mental health and addiction treatment and services, and The Cohen Veterans Network, a national nonprofit charitable organization, jointly released a thorough study on access to mental health care.
High cost and inadequate insurance coverage were cited by 42% of respondents as the biggest obstacles to receiving mental health treatment. One in four (25%) Americans said they had to choose between paying for everyday necessities and receiving mental health spravato treatment.
Long wait times and little options people seeking mental health care choose access to face-to-face therapy over medicines. 38% of Americans—96 million—have experienced longer than one-week wait times for mental health services. Yet nearly half of Americans, 46%, have had to travel more than an hour roundtrip for medical treatment themselves or know someone who has.
Lack of knowledge: Although most Americans make an effort to seek therapy, a sizeable percentage of people (29%) had wished to but did not do so for themselves or a loved one, in part because they did not know where to go if they needed this service. 53 million American adults (21%) have also expressed a desire to consult a professional but been unable to do so due to circumstances beyond their control.
Social stigma more than one-fifth of Americans, or 31%, have even lied to avoid informing people they were seeking mental health treatment. Almost one-third of Americans, or 31%, have worried about others judging them when they informed them they had sought mental health care.
