In general, the mental health world is seen as a subdivision of the overall physical healthcare world.
Mental health complaints are seen and treated like physical health needs. But are these two worlds really that similar? Is the system currently in place actually meeting our mental health needs?With physical health, you have a bump or pain that concerns you, you go into the doctor who determines if it warrants treatment or not, insurance pays for the treatments they warrant necessary, and you hopefully get better with treatment. Thank goodness for insurance coverage!
Now, this same chain of events is true for mental health as well. But there is one step in this chain that has always felt… bumpy… to me, “insurance pays for the treatments they warrant necessary.” The ICD-10 (Insert announcer voice here: International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision) has a list of reasons that a client might seek help that are not due to injury or disease. This list is also used by insurance providers to help determine when care is needed.
Here are just some of the issues that clients frequently deal with that are not directly covered*:
- Relationship or Marriage Problems
- Family Problems
- Bereavement
- Educational or Occupational Problems
- Problems Related to Parental Separation or Divorce
- Housing and/or Economic Problems
Now, I’m guessing you or someone close to you has experienced at least one of these to a degree that caused them distress and maybe derailed them a bit. Looking back, it may have been helpful for you or them to have had some support to process though that difficult time or challenge. Perhaps extra support may have helped you/them feel better or get back to daily functioning more quickly.
I won’t state the obvious here other than to say that I STRONGLY believe that therapy can be of great help to many people who are struggling with issues that aren’t directly disease related.
This is one of the major reasons that my own practice does not sit on any insurance panels and my services are all out-of-network. This provides my clients the freedom to access support for whatever they truly need mental health support with. In my opinion, decreasing the frequency of panic attacks is just as important as processing through a huge fight with a spouse!
My dream is that one day, mental health therapy will be accessible to everyone, without pre-determined restrictions by outside parties.
*This information I share here is only based on my experience and research with the major insurance providers in the state of Minnesota. It is not a comprehensive list and I am not a professional research institution. I highly encourage you to call your insurance provider to find out the specifics of your own mental health care benefits. And please let me know if you find out if any of the aforementioned conditions are directly covered by your insurance provider.