This is really great and thoughtful Ben. Yes why do we always build new edifices w our resources? Donors
love their names on them of course. Institutions like universities and hospitals take full advantage. But that is not a solution that serves (the collective) “us” best.
If mental health could be properly treated and the hidden issues behind it openly discussed, there is much that could potentially be resolved. Say, mass shootings...
Dispersed treatment sounds excellent for patent engagement: home health visits, a day at the senior center or the church social hall, but it seems contrary to the economy of scale that keeps cost down. Can a provider make a living by driving from one location to another? It's a challenge to design programs that can scale and meet people where they are. Like many other design challenges, it difficult but not impossible.
Facts! if we tried building community versus profit driven healthcare then we would be cooking. The biggest issue I saw working in mental health was the overriding factor of unresolved trauma (lots of different diagnoses boiled down to typically (not always) situations or histories of unresolved trauma; deeply embedded traumatic experiences, leaving people living with pain, toxic shame, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness). and my trauma trigger is not yours and vice versa.
Then there is no community. Many adolescents and adults have no friends. The isolation and having no one to talk to, no one to share a deep connection with, no one who really cared enough to meet them where they were at, leaves them rudderless and opens them to more trauma.
You hit the nail on the head. Too many of those entities saw an opportunity to capitalize on a wave coming, many don’t really understand the core issues and by default are judgmental (I am helping you, why are you not better yet?!), and larger corporate structures who dictate the rules of how and what you need to get better (usually multiple pharma mixes and a timeframe if structured care)!. To remove mental healthcare, from substance use, addiction treatment, trauma treatment and even offending behavior, we are missing the mark. It is all tied together. There isn’t typically one without a smidge or smattering of the others. Not all. Not everyone. Not every situation. But I would argue anecdotally a larger % fall into this bucket. The failure rates for relapse and recurring treatment needs, on some level prove we are not getting it right.
I see Peer Support. Community and home based support, cultivating long term relationships, and building networks almost like AA or NA as a key to recovery. Having someone to talk to, having a human (non judgmental) connection is more important for mental health recovery, trauma recovery, addiction and more, having someone who has been there, someone who beat it themselves is huge. The current system is expensive, abusive, too structured and is really designed for short term crisis or for people who can afford to pay a LOT for help.
Mental Health is many things but it is not as random as we have been led to believe. Once the “chemical imbalance” theory took hold, we started going backwards. I don’t for one second believe this is a chemical imbalance - it is more a society imbalance. Open to being wrong but…
This is really great and thoughtful Ben. Yes why do we always build new edifices w our resources? Donors
love their names on them of course. Institutions like universities and hospitals take full advantage. But that is not a solution that serves (the collective) “us” best.
If mental health could be properly treated and the hidden issues behind it openly discussed, there is much that could potentially be resolved. Say, mass shootings...
Dispersed treatment sounds excellent for patent engagement: home health visits, a day at the senior center or the church social hall, but it seems contrary to the economy of scale that keeps cost down. Can a provider make a living by driving from one location to another? It's a challenge to design programs that can scale and meet people where they are. Like many other design challenges, it difficult but not impossible.
Facts! if we tried building community versus profit driven healthcare then we would be cooking. The biggest issue I saw working in mental health was the overriding factor of unresolved trauma (lots of different diagnoses boiled down to typically (not always) situations or histories of unresolved trauma; deeply embedded traumatic experiences, leaving people living with pain, toxic shame, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness). and my trauma trigger is not yours and vice versa.
Then there is no community. Many adolescents and adults have no friends. The isolation and having no one to talk to, no one to share a deep connection with, no one who really cared enough to meet them where they were at, leaves them rudderless and opens them to more trauma.
You hit the nail on the head. Too many of those entities saw an opportunity to capitalize on a wave coming, many don’t really understand the core issues and by default are judgmental (I am helping you, why are you not better yet?!), and larger corporate structures who dictate the rules of how and what you need to get better (usually multiple pharma mixes and a timeframe if structured care)!. To remove mental healthcare, from substance use, addiction treatment, trauma treatment and even offending behavior, we are missing the mark. It is all tied together. There isn’t typically one without a smidge or smattering of the others. Not all. Not everyone. Not every situation. But I would argue anecdotally a larger % fall into this bucket. The failure rates for relapse and recurring treatment needs, on some level prove we are not getting it right.
I see Peer Support. Community and home based support, cultivating long term relationships, and building networks almost like AA or NA as a key to recovery. Having someone to talk to, having a human (non judgmental) connection is more important for mental health recovery, trauma recovery, addiction and more, having someone who has been there, someone who beat it themselves is huge. The current system is expensive, abusive, too structured and is really designed for short term crisis or for people who can afford to pay a LOT for help.
Mental Health is many things but it is not as random as we have been led to believe. Once the “chemical imbalance” theory took hold, we started going backwards. I don’t for one second believe this is a chemical imbalance - it is more a society imbalance. Open to being wrong but…