That Can’t Be Healthy: Issues with Mental Health in an Era Where Mental Health Can ‘Do No Wrong’

(Trigger Warning:  Extremely Heavy Material)

I’m a victim of child psychiatric abuse. There, I said it. No big deal, especially since it happened over a decade ago during my childhood right? Wrong. Now more than ever, as in our current mental health system, an overwhelming majority of the changes I see enacted for the purpose of better mental health services are actually huge enablers for the system to treat patients as bad as I had been, if not somehow worse. But no one wants to talk about these issues because we’re so “pro-mental-health” now, and people are ready to object before I tell them of my abuse. Like it or not, every system has good and bad things about it, and here are some of the things wrong with mental health treatment and how they can be fixed.

INFORMED CONSENT AND EXTENSIVE RECORD KEEPING: GOOD FOR MEDICAL PRACTICE, NOT SO MUCH IN PSYCHIATRY

While informed consent is a great tool to protect from faulty or cash-grab lawsuits, signing all those forms is the last thing someone on the edge of a mental breakdown and seeking counseling for it wants. It is important to remember that we have an alternative: judges and courts throw out faulty lawsuits every day, so why would they accept or maintain a lawsuit against a mental health practitioner that’s obviously going nowhere? Medical malpractice lawsuits may be a cash-grab, but mental health malpractice? Not at all. Even without informed consent paperwork, mental health malpractice is very broad and hard to prove if the lawsuit isn’t thrown out, and the damages awarded are very miniscule compared to a physical medical malpractice lawsuit. This means that the informed consent paperwork just ends up being a hassle to the patient seeking mental health services. Getting rid of, or at the very least, minimizing the informed consent paperwork to one signature, is something that would be a change for the better. In regards to record-keeping, while important notes and information should be kept or sent to a primary care provider, the sheer length and detail of certain records is both questionable and a data liability to the patient. Is it really necessary to keep a record of former employees or students who sought counseling one time, six to ten years after they left the organization? And what trust dynamic does this show? For anyone who thinks such extensive data is necessary, keep in mind only a few years ago, crisis counselors were required to take minimal notes and not share any data, and they did their jobs just fine. Especially in an age of data leaks and breaches, assuring people seeking mental health services that they won’t have to worry about another paper trail is relieving to say the least. 

STATE MANDATED REPORTING: EASE UP ON CALLING THE COPS

I’m sure you think you know where this is going; cops aren’t trained mental health practitioners, and so on, but sadly, it’s a bit worse than that. State mandated reporting can be a nightmare. What started as a stipulation in mental health service providers’ jobs as a requirement to contact the police (if they think someone is in immediate danger), has since snowballed into an escape route for more questionable practitioners to call the police on an exaggeration of what constitutes danger. This has become a fear that is applied to all mental health practitioners by some people, as people often talk to others like counselors about some very serious things; even if hypothetical, they don’t want the police called on them for a wayward description of their emotions. If we are to usher in people to mental health services as a society, we should be giving them the freedom to talk about their darkest moments or biggest worries without fear that it will result in misinterpretation and a visit by the popo. We can start by better defining the guidelines for state mandated reporting, and establishing it as something that's only used when immediate danger isn’t hypothetically talked about, and instead is a physical absolute.  

DIAGNOSES: PERMANENCE ISN’T A GOOD THING, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S A MISDIAGNOSIS

In the age of mental health services being glorified on social media, it’s fairly common for people to get a diagnosis and act like it’s both a revelation and a turning point in their life. What this doesn’t show is the swarms of people who opt for a “soft” diagnosis, off the records from a counselor, so that they don’t have to deal with how permanent a diagnosis can actually be on your medical records. Unfortunately, even a misdiagnosis proves extremely difficult to fix on a medical record, as it’s virtually guaranteed to stay on your medical history. This not only is a problem to people who work to deal with whatever they are diagnosed with - to the point where they don’t need the diagnosis for treatment -  but also closes doors for people because of the stigma attached to certain diagnoses. Nothing should be truly permanent, let alone when it can be damaging to the patient. While this issue doesn’t look to go away in the near future, there is no shame in advocating for “soft” diagnoses for those who need it, as diagnoses are still important.   

IDOLIZATION: NOTHING DESERVES INFINITE PRAISE, AND IT IS HARMFUL 

Let’s be honest, idolization is a problem. It lets certain figures get away with some pretty nasty stuff; whether we’re talking about celebrities, mental health services, or even singing the birthday song. Nothing is perfect, and understanding and improving on imperfections are how we grow as individuals and as a society. We shouldn’t oppress those who had bad experiences with mental health, just like we shouldn’t be jealous of those who had good experiences. Instead, we must work to improve our mental health system so that everyone receives fair treatment. That starts with both acknowledging the room for improvement, and recognizing how far mental health has come in our society, and (hopefully) how it will continue to grow. 

Author’s Note:

The beginning was not an example, and I actually am a victim of child psychiatric abuse. To learn more about child psychiatric abuse or psychiatric abuse in general, check reliable resources and articles, and make sure they are accurate. Nothing pertained in this article is meant to offend, hurt, or point fun.