Random Spiel, Policies on Budget for Mental Health
Inspired from a recent consult at the out patient department, an old woman came in with his son in his late 40's for regular consult. The son was a diagnosed case of Schizophrenia and only his mother aged 70 to take care of him.
Although the behavior is controlled and he is on the maintenance phase (trying to prevent a relapse), I can't help but think what the future lies for the both of them. The mother had the look of worry for his son who can't take care of himself and they only have each other now. She's a fish vendor and has to do manual labor meant for the working age. She can't retire even if she wanted to.
And you know what the worries her the most? what's going to happen to her son when she's gone. There's no other relative willing to take care of him and she knows without her, he'll go into relapse and be homeless in the streets.
For now, she's managing her hypertension and diabetes just fine but sometimes she would opt to use the budget for her own meds towards her own son's medications just so he doesn't act out and fall into psychosis. This is praiseworthy and I admired the woman for it. But how many years does she have left I wonder.
It's social ticking time bomb. We could ask the government for help to cater to these cases but the resources are often stretched and lacking. Mental Health support in this country is lacking but things got better than they used to be 5 years ago.
It's not that the future that played out in my mind is set in stone but I've seen enough cases where patients who could've been well are left to the streets because their loved ones are dead and relatives already abandoned them. I posted a similar story before and that only shows how common this scenario is out there but you hardly get to see it happen in real time because it's the sad norm we just got used to.
I thought about putting my own mental health care facility later on but was asked about the hard ethical questions that came along with starting the business. While promoting mental health was the purpose of putting up the unit, it's still a business and most of the demographic that need help the most couldn't probably afford the care.
It brings me back to the time when I used to work part time as an assistant for the hospital's secretary. I get to attend some meetings and discussions like prioritizing keeping the business floating. An institution exists to provide a service that could help the people but at the same time, it's a business and it can't thrive on charity.
Before financial aid was given for antipsychotics, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers by the government, hospitals were often overrun with patients having psychosocial disabilities because they couldn't afford the medications for maintenance. When the government provided health care packages for subsidizing the meds, we saw a gradual drop in admissions and relapses.
It's not that patients don't want to get well, they just couldn't afford the meds to keep them sane and functioning in society. While not all patients that take the meds go back to their pre illness state, some patients who take the meds as prescribed live normal lives to the point you can have a conversation with them and see nothing out of the ordinary.
Thanks for your time.
I read once, alcohol soothes the voices they hear. I think I read that in a Mark Vonnegut book.
Thank you for your time sharing. It's a sad story. There is a lot of mental illness in my own family and I share this mother's concern.
That’s a really sad situation. We have a neighbor that her son is severely mentally rewarded and she’s in her 60’s now. Her biggest worry for sure is what happens to him when she dies as the family won’t take him. Really sad stuff!
That's one of the sources of regret caregivers have. People can't afford to die because they live for others sake and yet this happens too often that it becomes a norm and there's not much we can do about it. We don't have a lot of resources to spare for these cases long term.
@adamada, I paid out 0.606 HIVE and 0.194 HBD to reward 4 comments in this discussion thread.
Gosh... It's very strong. Cases like that poor lady's are part of a great statistic.
No one is perfectly functional in society and in a world like this it is all too easy to lose your sanity.
We all need selfless help to get on with our lives, but since institutions run on money, it seems to be too much to ask.
Psychiatry is too important for people, emotional and mental well being is essential to keep the world turning.
That poor lady's son is hanging on by a thin thread, and it is sad to think that we can only stand idly by.
We move on acknowledging it too shall happen eventually. We dwell on a problem where the solution isn't on our hands, we become less functional and that's just how things have always worked.