Source: Los Angeles Times
Almost 5 million California adults say they are in need of mental health assistance according to ta report from UCLA.
However, only one in three people who perceive a need for mental health services or are in serious distress have seen a professional for treatment, the survey found.
The survey was conducted among more than 44,000 adults as part of the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, administered through the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Since the survey was conducted, the recession probably has contributed to worsening mental health for even more people, said the lead author of the study, David Grant.
The survey showed that lack of health insurance coverage was a major reason why people didn’t seek help — a situation that may be rectified somewhat by state and national mental health parity laws now in effect that require insurers to cover mental health conditions similarly to the way they cover physical conditions. (The final phase of the federal law went into effect on July 1.) However, stigma continues to be a barrier to mental health services. The survey found that men, people 65 and older, Latinos and Asians were less likely to seek help because of the stigma associated with mental or emotional problems. But being poor is the biggest barrier to care.
According to the survey:
- Women were nearly twice as likely as men to say they needed help because they felt sad, anxious or nervous (22.7% compared to 14.3%).
- Adults under age 65 were twice as likely to perceive the need for help (20.2% compared to 9.2%).
- The poorest adults were more than five times as likely to report symptoms of serious psychological distress compared to those living well above the federal poverty level.
“The findings also demonstrate a crucial need for continued efforts to expand mental-health services and to meet threats to such services caused by the ongoing state budget crisis in Sacramento; reduced state funding for local mental health programs and public insurance programs could be devastating to hundreds of thousands of Californians with mental health needs,” the authors wrote.
Mental health services always seems to be a big target when it comes to trimming state and local budgets. Lawmakers can get away with it, of course, because the stigma surrounding mental illness prevents people from protesting such cuts. Given the number of people in pain, according to this survey, it may be time for Californians to overcome the perceived stigma and demand expanded public funding and insurance coverage of mental health care.
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My Take: The findings of this report do not surprise me in the least. I know a lot of people who say they would attend regular counseling sessions and even give up the high-cost of rock concert tickets or sell their cars for cash if they thought they could get their hands on the right mediation to help them cope with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Let’s face it, when you don’t have enough money to keep the bills paid and live relatively at ease, everything is expensive and that includes movie theater tickets, clothes, shoes, food, transportation and the basics. What happens when your 18-year old comes home and says he wants to go to an expensive academy truck driving school in NY? If you don’t have the money to pay for the basics, how do manage the cost of sending a kid to truck driving school?
You might sell damaged car parts at a swap meet or you could teach ballet at the local YMCA. It doesn’t matter. Stress and anxiety do not discriminate against race, color or creed. But there is truth to the claim that more well off individuals have less of a need for counseling because they have money to help them work out the little things.
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