As I look back on my 18 years experience with the mental health care system, I can see clearly that one HUGE obstacle was always in the way of getting proper care. It is easier to see how different it could have been now that I have lived in Belgium with it’s socialized health care system.
Here in the U.S., nearly every time you change jobs, you change insurance carriers and must find a new “preferred” provider. Because of the depressions and the sicknesses brought on by the “cure”, I changed jobs more times than I can remember in the last 18 years.
Each time I saw a new doctor, we were starting from scratch. I wasn’t the best patient and didn’t keep track of my symptoms or the drugs I was taking and it always seemed like shooting in the dark. The lack of a proper medical history never seemed to worry them much and so I guess I didn’t let it worry me either.
I read on Gianna’s blog that she collected all her various records some time ago. I wouldn’t begin to know where all my records are. I can’t remember the names of all the doctors.
It’s crazy that these people with whom I had so little contact made such a huge impact on my life with seemingly little care for me as a whole person.
