First lets defined what depression really means: According to Public MD Health "Depression is described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable or down in the dumps. Clinical Depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger or frustration interfere with everyday life for a long period of time". Now here's the twist... does pain cause depression and then depression from the pain cause more pain? See I believe this is the case... For many people who are depressed they really don't know how or what to do to get help. What happens when they do get help and it doesn't work? They are in a system in which seeks to medicate and numb the senses. Is this the right way? Don't get me wrong for many people who have been dealing with depression, the medication is the only way they can continue. But what about those who are still in pain and depressed. It takes so much energy to get up and go to the doctor in the first place but then to keep returning time and time again... Most depressed people will not be able to do it. It makes me sad just thinking about it.
I lost a friend today.
She had been in pain most of her adult life and has spent more money on medicine & doctors than we will in a lifetime. I always had hope for her, I always thought she would find the answer, I always thought I would see her again.
Yes, it would be so easy to tell you..that all you had to do was to have faith and to keep trying. But it isn't and it's not that easy. I can only hope as a society we can change and bring back some of things we've lost in the madness of money and greed. Can we change? Is it possible to rebuild? Or are we just going fold our own cards and call it quits.
Thank you so much for your post. It's hard to write something so personal and put it out there to the world.
ReplyDeleteI understand how you feel. My brother commited suicide last year after a lifetime of sadness and struggle. Our family reached out to him over and over, but he stayed isolated and eventually chose to end it all. In a way I don't blame him. He never found a way out of his problems.
I also agree with you about our medical system and how mental health is considered a very different thing from our physical health. When I have looked into getting therapy for certain issues, I could tell right away that insurance companies discourage people from finding therapists.
But one positive thing is that other countries do regard both forms of illness as part of one health system, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine. So Acupuncture can address all issues at once. People who are reading this post and would like to get help, but not get stuck on medication, may check out Acupuncture as an option.
I'm very sorry that you lost your friend. The feeling of helplessness is devastating. Just hold on to the happy memories and know that she isn't suffering any more. That's how I got through losing my brother.
Big hugs,
Debbie
Thank you Debbie~ It's very comforting to hear your story and your very thoughtful words. Acupuncture has helped me in past as well~ thank you for reminding me of it. I also believe we really need to encourage alternate forms of medicine to achieve good health.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss of someone who meant a lot to you.
ReplyDeleteIt's so important to speak out about this type of situation instead of sweeping it under the carpet, so I applaud you for your courage and candor in posting this.
As someone who has also dealt with a lot of chronic pain and discomfort throughout my life, and maybe more importantly as someone who has firsthand knowledge of what goes on in medical policy meetings, having worked in the medical insurance industry for a quarter of a century, I think it's going to be a hard fight in this country to get alternative medicine recognized as valid therapy, and what we all term behavioral or mental health issues recognized as being something other than a matter of attitude, emotional strength, or simply behavior.
If I had to pick any body of society to blame, it wouldn't be the doctors necessarily. I would tend to point the finger at our legal system. Driven by over-litigation and in the case of prescriptions - excessive patent rights, medical costs will continue to rise. Often, the first question a medical board will ask when determining coverage (after what are they charging for it) is to their lawyers, asking the consequences of not covering it. Often, after that, it's a matter of risk either way.
Medical organizations realize they have the upper hand, and many of the alternative medicine providers do too, unfortunately. It seems like "doing no harm" has often out of necessity given way to "do no harm, but don't get sued" and until that threat to them is diminished by tort reform, I don't think change will come easily -especially when some specialties are paying upwards of half a million a year in malpractice premiums.
There needs to be re-alignment of values and a rethinking of the value of time honored methods of healing... but then how do the corporations make their millions. It's sad and scary.
As for me, I've found that meditation is my best friend, along with as healthy a diet as I can tolerate (in my case, I found out that sugar causes me a great deal of pain, even though I'm not diabetic). I think I also got some wise advice from a dr once who told me that sometimes being depressed is healthy and normal - and that worrying about how depressed I am can often lead to the vicious cycle of even deeper depression. If I'm having a bad day, I let myself have a bad day. Doing that usually helps me get through the next :)
Great post - and I think if more people would be open and vocal, change might come to pass! Thanks for this opportunity to voice an opinion!
mysticwynd- Thank you for that enlightening post. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences in the insurance field and helping shed a light on how it really works.
ReplyDeleteI believe we will change only because I cannot think any other way. Personally I have been a positive person most of my life so when I was hit with a pain syndrome it was a major setback. Something I didn't know how to handle, fear mostly on how bad it could get. It's the not knowing that really kicks you in the gut and the feeling of it never going away.
I love the advice the Dr gave you~ It is a vicious cycle indeed.
Thank you~