Mental Health Month Blog Party
We can’t be bystanders on mental health care disparities
One week from today I will be at the statehouse here in Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio Psychological Association’s Legislative Day. I will be helping to staff a table at OPA’s Health Fair for legislators and will be talking with legislators about health care disparities and health care reform. I am looking forward to the event, but I agree that it would be much easier for me to go about my business and try to ignore the many in need. It is often much easier for all of us to go about our business and ignore the many who need mental health care but just can’t access it. However, we cannot stand idly by while rampant disparities in the way health care is delivered plague our families, friends and neighbors. We should be devoted to bringing access to timely, high quality care to everyone who needs it.
The Bystander Effect suggests that the more people present looking on the less likely a victim is to get help. People feel less responsible and see others doing nothing- which makes it seem more acceptable for them to also look away and do nothing. When psychology students learn about the “Bystander Effect” they say that they wouldn’t just stand by and ignore a victim’s pleas for help and do nothing. However, all around us there are rampant disparities and the all too early deaths of those who are asking for our help right now. People with mental illness have life expectancies that are more consistent with developing countries than what is expected in the USA. This is unacceptable. No family should have to say goodbye to their loved one a decade or more sooner than they would have otherwise. We can’t just walk by and look-away from the many people who need our help but just can’t access it.
In my APA presidential election statement I note how psychology can begin to address this problem. “In the future, we’ll need more psychologists, not fewer. Psychology saves health-care costs. SAMHSA’s statistics reflect millions of Americans who’d access our services if they could just find a way. It makes great business sense for psychologists to open up this market, but it also reflects our ethical principle of justice. We have the greatest opportunity in a generation to bring high-quality, affordable care to the many people who need our help but can’t access it; we can’t wait or we’ll miss our chance. We can’t wait to ensure that all Americans have access to quality psychological services. Quality care saves money, improves outcomes and is an integral part of our health care system. This is our moment to tip the scales toward an expectation of evidence-based approaches for everyone.”
The span of time in between “HillaryCare” and “ObamaCare” offered little to stop the rising costs and disparities in health care delivery we have experienced. Whatever your opinion of “HillaryCare” was back in the 90′s or whatever your opinion is now of “Obamacare,” it must be clear now that we can no longer fiddle while our health care system burns. We cannot fiddle while health care takes an ever-increasing toll on our nation’s economy. We cannot fiddle while it accounts for large percentages of home foreclosures. We cannot fiddle while the lack of health care takes an ever-increasing toll on the lives of Americans. We cannot fiddle while large percentages of Americans with mental illness go untreated and die a decade or more sooner than they should because of it.
Right now, however, is our greatest chance in a generation to change the course of health care history. We can’t wait; now is the moment when each one of us must stand up and act to be sure that psychology and mental health services are a part of the solution to the health care crisis. Millions of Americans can’t access quality mental health care but would if they could just find a way. We know that “care” means not walking by and not looking away from these millions in need. Now is the moment when we ensure that each one of us has access to the best available mental health care; no matter where we live, how much we make or who our ancestors were
We can’t wait; and we can’t be bystanders. Find out more and get resources from the American Psychological Association on Health Care Reform
Thank you,

