An article to make you think

This is a phenomenal article that everyone should read. It brings tears to my eyes for several reasons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html

My mother, who sold Seroquel for years, always told me that mental illness is under diagnosed, untreated and most important, extremely difficult to get help for when it comes to psychiatric or in-patient treatment - and this article portrays a mother, who knows her son needs help, but cannot find the right way to get it.

Read this, digest it and put yourself in this mother's shoes.

Since mom died, I now sell a mental health drug and I see first-hand, numerous times a day while sitting in psychiatry offices that the mother in this article is 100% correct. Offices are slammed pack, 99% of them do not take health insurance (requiring hundreds of dollars per visit), once diagnosed, and a medication is recommended, such medication is often times not covered on the patient's insurance, again requiring hundreds of dollars cash, OR if it is covered, patients experience a large copay. Also, the days of Medicaid psychiatrists are pretty few and far between, leading to zero treatment available for those who are not fiscally able to afford it. These facts lead you to wonder why patients with a mental illness are basically "punished" for having such.

I have so much more I could write but I should stop as to avoid too many thoughts on paper.

Carmen