Meaning of Money

Dear blog reader:

This week I would like to comment on a particular issue, which sits at the heart of much treatment debate, controversy, and lamentation.

I think we have all heard of the shortage of money in regards to public funds for mental or physical health. There is always some bureaucrat stating that "we need to curtail spending," or "create sustainable treatment programs," or the worst "achieve cost-efficiency." One might think that on the outside looking in, it may make sense that spending money needlessly is a stupid endeavor. In fact, that has some validity.
However, when one also begins to examine the large amounts of money that is made from the health industry and then poorly redistributed, it is difficult to look at the same argument and not feel a bit nauseated. For example, heatlh insurance companies notoriously make very large profits from the healthcare industry and simultaneosly willingly provide petty sums for mild preventative treatment (to the nearly healthy) and carefully limited amounts the most exacerbated patients who can no longer be denied healthcare services.
The most upsetting part of this picture is that if the system goes under reorganization - it would be possible to provide better treatment at cheaper prices to a larger portion of the population. Of course this is difficult because there are so many points of view about treatment, health insurance, money allocation, etc.
If you dear reader are interested in learning about how to make treatment successful and how to teach others empathy all the while empowering them to work with oppressed populations - please read Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains.
The book is the story of Paul Farmer, an American doctor who has done much to encourage others to help the poor. He has done it by providing an excellent level of care to a very disadvantaged population -mostly through hard work and a devotion to making others around him realize this is possible.

So what is the point that I am belaboring: I think we need to make more effort to change the general viewpoint that mental health is unachievable, too expensive, or unworthy. In fact if enough of us make an effort to work with oppressed populations we can create pathways, beliefs, and points of attentions that others can focus on and elaborate over time.

anyway - just thinking out loud.
take action!