As mental health professionals, policy makers and advocates focuson taking steps to mend the fragmented mental health care system, the role of patients and their friends and families is sometimes overlooked.
Thats why the American Psychiatric Association is releasing a to decode in plain English the a guide for mental health providers that is also used to determine insurance coverage. The resource, includes in-depth of risk factors, symptoms and symptom management, treatment options and success stories.
This gets at one of APAs reasons for releasing this volume — to help create a more accurate picture of what a particular illness or disorder might involve.
Jeff Bornstein, a psychiatrist and spokesman for APA, said empowering patients with a better understanding of what they are facing will enable them to better advocate for themselves.
A new resource, Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide To DSM-5, from the American Psychiatric Association attempts to help patient better understand their symptoms and diagnoses.
Sometimes when there is a disagreement with a managed care company, the clinician speaks on behalf of the patient, Bornstein said. But its[also] helpful to have family [members] or the patient talk and say Im telling you, I have this symptom, its part of diagnosis X, Y and Z. Why are you not letting me have the treatment I need?
Former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a mental health advocate, said the book is designed to help families and patients overcome stigma and get more involved in treatment. He said it would have helped him in his own experience with bipolar disorder and alcoholism. I was the last one to know I had a problem, and thats often the case for those of us in crisis. The people around me would have benefited from this, he said at an event marking the books launch.
When people think they may have an issue, or are faced with a diagnosis, they often go to the Internet where misinformation and horror stories are widespread, said Paul Gionfriddo, president of mental health advocacy group Mental Health America. This [book] lays out in clear terms [what a mental disorder diagnosis means] so we dont have to live in fear of the unknown.
Take the experience of Melanie Carlson, 33, who suffered a psychotic episode in 2007 when she was 25. She ended up in a hospital, frightened and confused.
It was a very traumatic incident. I was afraid of my own thoughts and what I was capable of, said Carlson, who lives outside Ann Arbor, Mich., and manages her bipolar disorder with medication, exercise, therapy and abstaining from alcohol. But for almost a year-and-a-half she was in denial and refused treatment, mainly because she says her only knowledge of her condition came from media reports about high-profile, often violent events involving mental illness.
She says having more straight-forward information could have helped her understand that she could take care of her disorder and still live a normal life with a , friends and family.
It felt like a hopeless situation, Carlson said, who is now a social worker helping chronically homeless people get housing. If Id had a resource that explained my symptoms and explainedhow complying with treatment could produce long-term stability I would not have been resistant.
Its all part of the steady process of removing the taboo from treatment, said Jorge Petit, a psychiatrist and founder of Quality Healthcare Solutions Group, a health care and behavioral health consulting firm in New York City. Its no different than diabetes and hypertension — it requires awareness and understanding of how to maintain wellness and not to relapse, he said.
However, he added that the still not even. Its hard for people to call the and say, ‘Why are you sending me a prior authorization notice? Its the same as having a medical issue.'”
