Medical Health Archives - World of Psychology

Need Mental Health Treatment in 2 Weeks? Fat Chance So let’s say you needed mental health treatment right away. Let’s say it’s an emergency — so much so that you sought out help at the local emergency department, and the doctors there said that you absolutely needed to get into treatment immediately — within a week or two.

Now, let’s assume you’ve got good private insurance. You know, something like Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts Preferred Provider Organization. This is one of the best insurance policies you can buy in Massachusetts.

What sort of chance would you have in getting to see a mental health professional within two weeks? 90%? 80%? 70%?

How about just over 6%? Welcome to the American healthcare system.

Increasing Mental Health Awareness: Too Much of a Good Thing? Today is the American Psychological Association’s “Blog Party” in recognition of May being mental health month. The marketing effort behind designating a specific month a time to recognize and help increase awareness of a certain disease, disorder or condition is intended to help people learn more about various medical and mental health concerns.

But a few weeks ago, physician H. Gilbert Welch wrote an op-ed in the LA Times that questioned whether the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Have we become a nation of people who will get diagnosed for all sorts of sub-clinical problems at the drop of a hat?

Indeed, I think there is a very real danger of that becoming the case. And nowhere is that more likely than in mental health.