Millions suffer from mental illnesses; however, due to it’s often unseen nature, many people go decades trying to cope with it themselves instead of seeing a professional for help.
In fact, with recent budget cuts that will reduce Federal spending on behavioral health care totaling to about $168 million; will render roughly 373,000 mentally ill adults and children without health care for their behavioral health issues.
The costs associated with mental health disabilities is tremendous. A report from the World Economic Forum estimate the global costs of mental health issues to be in the $2.5 Trillion dollar marker in 2010 and by 2030, this is expected to grow to $6 Trillion dollars per year.
In order to remedy this situation, physicians are recommending that people ‘conduct a mental checkup’ once a year just like a physical regardless of patient family history in order to detect behavioral health issues before they become problematic.
Treat Your Mind Like Any Other Organ
In most cases, people don’t address mental illness until it has an impact on their daily lives. This is largely due to the stigma still surrounding mental health issues and the general social ignorance to what it really is.
Mental illnesses can be treated and someone can live a normal and functional life with the proper medication, however if the problem is left untreated, the symptoms could become more severe resulting in a higher price tag in terms of treatment.
Thus, a regular mental health screening could wind up saving patients thousands of dollars in the long run and could even be conducted at regular annual checkups.
How do Behavioral Health Screenings Work?
It’s very different to screen for illnesses in the mind and the body. Typical behavioral health screening includes a series of questions about lifestyle, eating and drinking habits, overall psychological “wellness” in order to screen for potential mood and anxiety disorders which may include things like substance abuse, depression and PTSD to name a few.
In the case your physician identifies symptoms pertaining to a mental health issue, he or she may recommend that you see a psychiatrist or a psychologist to help facilitate the process and give you more specialized help. A psychologist or psychiatrist will have more insight on what should be done and whether therapy by itself could help you cope with the issues at hands or whether medication is required.
Losing the Stigma of Therapy
When people think of ‘therapy’ they think you have to be crazy first. This however is not true at all. The reality of the situation is that our lives and psychological interpretation of the world is very fragile. Even the strongest of minds can break under pressure.
We live in a very deadline driven society where expectations are high and time is always scarce. We don’t learn in school how to effectively deal with these issues and this continues for most of our lives. Therapy in essence is externalizing your thoughts and allowing you to see your reality from an objective perspective.
In many cases, behavioral health disorders like depression, anxiety and substance abuse identified in early stages can be treated with basic coping methods. Thereby reducing the need for medication and in turn significantly reducing the costs associated with these conditions.
You Should Take Care of Your Health – Physical and Mental
Patty Wollenburg, the Director of The National Alliance on Mental Illness believes that it is just as important to take care of your mental health as your physical health. In fact, a vast majority of physical illnesses are psychosomatic, in other words, influenced by a mental condition.
Depression lowers the immune system and in turn, one who suffers from depression has a higher likeliness of getting sick. This is just one example of how a mental health condition can affect your physical health.
Taking care of your mental health is taking care of your physical condition as well. A regular checkup, regardless of your family history, is merely a sound investment into your health in general. With roughly 1 in 4 Americans suffering from a mental health issue, taking precautionary steps is just a good idea.
