SPARE (Constantly Battle)

Written by Andi Bazaar | Nov 18, 2022

Mental Health treatment doesn’t just mean “check on your friends,” it means access to therapy, psychiatry and doctors for survival — this means having insurance and or unlimited funds for treatment. Having money is suicide-prevention!

It’s critical that you donate to people with mental disorders for their treatments and no, not just people with depression and anxiety. Donate to people with personality disorders and disorders that haven’t been romanticized by media, mental illness can look ugly. It’s an illness!

When you see homeless folks on the streets talking to themselves and you’re uncomfortable, imagine how uncomfortable they feel living in a world that wasn’t built to aid them. Mental health is expensive, "why blame them rather than the system that put them there?"

Being broke is expensive, it made my suicidal tendencies flare to heights that made me not recognize myself anymore.

There has been some non-sense published about the way GPs are paid to do mental health work, here's the truth.

When you see a GP about your mental health they you get rebates from Medicare 2 ways, GPs can bill medicare the same item numbers used for physical health or they can use mental health ones

There is one code they have to use to get you a rebate from your Psychologist/SW/OT, they can charge it once a year for doing a mental health plan. When they charge this code, it lets you get MC rebates from your therapist. Its a 2717/2715/2700 or 2701.

The government has said that GP-MH item numbers cost them an extra $160 million in MH funding, this is not true. If we didn't have MH item numbers, your GP would still see you and you would get the same rebate you get for any other consult. Many PTS prefer we do this anyway.

This is why counting MH item numbers is a terrible proxy for the amount of MH GPs do, "why does this matter?" because articles like this imply that patients only need the care they get in consults with certain billing codes. This is nonsense!

https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2022/28/access-to-primary-mental-health-care-remains-critical/

In fact, MH codes on average cost the govt an extra $20 per consult. In return, GPs using these codes have to do extra training which they pay for themselves. This training is overseen by a special committee to make sure it is excellent quality and has consumer or carer co-teaching.

If we count up all those $20 "bonuses" the government has invested in GP, there is about $29 million invested in GP MH for 37 000 GPs. Who do the majority of the mental healthcare in the country.l, in comparison Headspace gets about $25 million which is about $170 per consult.

Its been suggested that psychiatrists should do assessments and management plans, I respect and rely on psychiatrists but it costs $372.40 more for them than an assessment and management plan with a GP and there aren't enough of them to do it. We should keep them for the complex ones.

"So why not assess via a psychologist?"

I respect and rely on Psychs/SW/OTs and my patients need their care but in the last week I have seen several patients with classic signs of depression and or anxiety who actually had thyroid issues, diabetes or other physical health issues.

People with serious mental health issues die about 15 years earlier on average with physical health issues, separating mental health from physical health is dangerous. They deserve medical care as well as psychological care, having a GP is essential to make sure they get the care they need.

However, GP is dying due to chronic underfunding. he MC rebate now only covers 1/2 of the cost of care, when we BB pts who can't afford to pay we donate 50% of the consult fee. We can no longer afford to do this. Practices are closing and young Drs are choosing other specialties.

We train for over 10 years like any other specialty, over half of our training focuses on mental health. Not just depression and anxiety but mental health in areas like abuse, violence, aged care, palliative care, adolescent health, drug/alcohol dependence, gender diversity, emergencies etc.

Many of us have additional quals in mental health like masters degrees in psychiatry. However, when we do a mental health consultation you get about $2.5 per min rebate. Doing flu vaccines gets $6 per min, this fee pays the whole practice (rent, nurses, insurance etc etc). Financially, mental health is hard.

This is why some GPs don't do mental health and the ones who do are burning out, if we want highly qualified GPs to do more MH work at least raise the rebate to the same per min as a flu vaccine.

Interrupting the WW3 article to bring you a short tale of how when I attempted to get diagnosed for anxiety in 2015 and 2016 I was experiencing "limited-symptom" panic attacks that were never correctly identified by any doctor or mental health professional.

And yes, I say "2015 and 2016" because it was a process that took me about 8 months in total. Experts? Saw a whole slew of 'em, I had an undiagnosed panic disorder that through sheer dumb luck I managed to break the hold of through benzos somehow without falling into their grip.

It's not 2016 anymore and in some ways for that, hail satan. I certainly have a much greater understanding of my mental health, though honestly without much thanks owed to any professional so much as through self-teaching and sheer force of will.

This article consists of a very detailed and illustrative guide, published in one of the most-read publications in the world. I hope it might help you and a lot of other people. Reading this would've changed my life back in 2015.

In honor of Mental Health Youth Crisis, I'm gonna talk about me on being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

To start, getting diagnosed at 18 has been very beneficial for me. After a lifetime of never feeling like I was living up to my potential, I started to put the pieces together.

ADHD doesn’t just exist in hyperactive boys, ADHD can present as hyperactivity, inattentiveness (👋🏻) or a combo. Hyperactivity is more common in boys or men and can be easier to diagnose, inattentiveness is more common in girls or attributed to anxiety, depression or other conditions. This happened to me, my inattentiveness was attributed to anxiety when *maybe* my anxiety was a result of inattentiveness.

Once I was diagnosed, I would read stories of other women diagnosed in adulthood and cry. It was a massive relief to know that others felt the same way, I wasn’t a hyperactive kid-very active but not the ADHD stereotype. I got good grades and didn’t struggle much.

But, once I got to my sophomore and junior years of college my grades started to slip in the classes that didn’t hold my attention. Straight As in the classes I loved though, same in grad school.

A prof said to me, “when you’re motivated, you do really good work.” — I think over time I just adapted and compensated even when I was struggling.

I’m fortunate to be self-employed and can make accommodations for myself (i.e. manage my own schedule) but I’m still figuring out how to be my best, most content self at home also work.

ADHD is fucking frustrating but there are ways to make it better.

• Enough sleep, this is tricky because the ADHD brain can struggle with falling and staying asleep but sleep is crucial.
• Exercise, the more I move the happier my brain is.
• Therapy.
• Time outside.
• Medication, stimulants aren’t party drugs for people with ADHD, they can be a lifeline. For those of us who don’t like the side effects, there are non-stimulant options as well. (obviously talk to your doctor, not medical advice)
• Supportive friends and family.

If you are struggling, please know that there are lots of us out here in neurodiversity land, we tend to be friendly, and there is help available. Be gentle on yourself, take care of yourself. You don’t have to struggle alone.

Ok enough sincerity, back to shitposting about how we're all gonna die!

Today's objective is to raise awareness and dispell the tabboo surrounding mental health, as a doctor and somebody who has dealt with serious mental health issues I find it imperative to come out and speak.

I had a troubled childhood where I was constantly picked on by bullies for being obese, soon enough I developed body dysmorphia and an eating disorder. When I was an adolescent, I lost my beloved grandfather which my mind refused to process and absorb.

During college, I was subjected to all sort of hate and isolation by my peers which made me an easy target for guys to bother. Somehow, none or this could break me over the years. It was as if I had attained some extraordinary tolence towards tragedies.

However, the tipping point occured post my graduation. Fresh out of college, I was just a few weeks into my NEET prep. The pandemic was upon all of us, illness and death of close family members especially under my watch was gut-wrenching.

I took on a lot of guilt, the family feuds surrounding it just added to the stress. All this was happening when I was trying to study for the most important exam of my life.

Something changed, day by day I could sense myself transforming into this extremely anxious person. I'd watch a lecture for 30 seconds, soon after which I'd rewind it and watch it again because it didn't make enough sense to me.

Rewind again, rewind again until my mind felt like it wasn't able to process anything. My anakastic traits were at a peak, I became extremely detail oriented and more than I usually am. I'd put down even the most useless detail in my notes.

My mood had hit rockbottom. Anxiety, an all time high. I’d be lucky to get some sleep once in 72 hours or so, I was constantly nauseous, always sweating, hyperventilating even passing out at times.

No no no, this was no ordinary stress or sadness "it was pathological." The moment I sensed that it had crossed over to the realm of disease, I rushed to the hospital (where I later worked). God had sent the best possible man to help me out, my psychiatrist.

In the very first visit, he knew I needed to be started off on drugs immediately. Although initially I was very skeptical, he convinced me that it was for my own good. I trusted him completely and began my journey towards recovery.

He was a gem of a man, who'd listen to me for hours and hours at a stretch during therapy. There were occasions when he'd sit with me even till 10 p.m. in the night.

7-8 months went by and nothing got better, I'd lie on the bed all day like a lifeless ragdoll. I can't even imagine how painful it must've been for my mother to see me go through this illness.

After several counselling sessions, he somehow convinced me to join work to aid my recovery. Meanwhile, he also changed my medications. That's when things started to look up, the new drugs suited me well.

Simultaneously, being back to my profession was just the right push I needed. Slowly but surely, I began to heal. It took nearly 1.5 years but here I am today, at my happiest and the absolute best.

Even to this day, I sulk about my career, my future, my responsibilities. I am subjected to the routine stressors that come with just being alive but I'm able to cope beautifully because I am now healed.

A mental illness is no joke, just like a truck running over your leg can cause injury, similarly, extreme mental trauma can cause you to get sick. It is not your fault, it is absolutely treatable and it is never to be dismissed off as "just saddness or nervousness."

I hope this helps those who needed to hear it and trust me with the right medical attention, things are bound to get better. Stay strong and seek help.

For the rest of us who are doing absolutely well, let's look out for the ones around us and treat this matter with utmost sensitivity and well deserved dignity.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• Dr Oliver Schofield, MD (Consulting)
• Dr Seth Gryffen, MD (Consulting)
• Clayton Euridicé Schofield (Editor/Journalist)
• Henrie Louis Friedrich (Analyst)
• Timothée Freimann schofield (Photographed)
• Shot at GQ’s Studios by José Schenkkan and Benjamin Schenkkan Joseph
• In appearance Emmanuel Piero-luccá Schofield