Nothing happens unless first a dream

Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys discusses how, by understanding mental health from the predatory lens of free market logic, we’ve abandoned the most vulnerable in pursuit of capital. Some excerpts:

There’s something that really bothers Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys. When he thinks of all the years he has spent training the next generation of psychiatrists, the enormous investment in medical school and residency, he wants those doctors to devote that education to taking care of people with serious mental illness.

Many of these psychiatrists instead set up a private practice, where they can charge $400 an hour in cash to help people who Humphreys calls “the worried well” –- people who enjoy the self-exploration of therapy but don’t necessarily have a mental health problem.

“A minute I spend training that person is a minute of my life wasted,” Humphreys says. “That very well-trained person should be taking care of very, very troubled people. When they don’t, everyone who needs that care loses out.”

“That’s why you can have a lot of mental health professionals in an area, but still have a shortage of care for people in need,” Humphreys adds. “The person who’s hurt is the person who’s suicidal, maybe they’re horribly addicted to OxyContin or their child is showing signs of bipolar disorder, and they can’t find somebody to take their insurance. It’s unjust.”

(via

actuates

)

People would sometimes just reblog this for the sake of it. But honestly this is EXACTLY how I live, and I absolutely hate it!

(via kushandwizdom)