The Health Safety Net May Fail

Welcome to our article (56) Health safety net may fail

Dear readers, in this article we want to talk about the health safety net. The health safety net is run from the government health authorities, but because of its rules, it is not easy to access, so, it fails to help those people that need help most.

The most likely people that will be affected, are those people that need mental help, because this is where it can fail. So, we want to point out, that it is not easy to access mental help, because of the rules in the mental health act, so, the patient will suffer before he can get help. Now, we are not saying that the mental health act is to blame, because it needs to work that way for different reasons. However, we are writing this article, from the point of view of the patient and his family, because they are forced to go through hard times, so, we are complaining about it. In the hope that one day, a better health safety net can be set up, where it is easier for the sick people and their family to access. Anyhow, let us look at what is available to use today, when we need mental help, which are the most difficult to access.

We believe that a better health safety net is required, because we have problems when we need mental help. I am saying this, because I have been through myself a few times, and I can see that this is happening again to my family and friends. Anyhow, this outside help that we are talking about exists, but it should be readily available, to those people that need mental help. You see, there are times when the rules to get mental help are too strict, for this reason it fails to achieve what is meant to achieve. Now, let us look at the set up, and the reason why this happens.

You see, in most countries like Australia, this help is provided from the government, this could be the federal government, the state government or the local authorities. Of course, there are private organizations that provide this help also; but they cost money. So, here we want to talk about what the government of the day provide for its own citizen; whether this help is free, or you must contribute to use it. Anyhow, this can be different from country to country and from state to state, but any good government must have this health safety net in place, to help those people that need help, therefore, it should be readily available on demand to anyone that needs help urgently; but sometimes it is hard to access, for many reasons.

Therefore, the health safety net fails to provide what it is supposed to provide, in our case, medical emergency and mental health; this failure to provide medical help, can have real consequences for the people that need help. Now, if this help is for physical reasons, it is easier for the people around to decide what help they need; so, in this case they ask to see a doctor, because it is easy to see why we need help.

But what about if the person needing mental help does not know that he needs help, even when their families and friends ask them to look for help, they don’t admit it and keep making themselves sicker, like when a person has mental health problems, you see this is where most times help fails to take place. But let us see where people can receive this help.

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We know that hospitals have been built to solve these health problems. You see, when we are sick we should see a doctor, if you haven’t got one already, then the best place to look for help is your local hospital, because hospitals can solve all the health problems, because there are all sorts of doctors and specialists to help you; so, the hospitals are the main safeguard when we require medical attention, but even though they are there to help, sometimes it is not easy to get admitted and that becomes a problem that is hard to solve, so, in a way they fail to do what they are supposed to do.

Having said that the hospitals treat all illness, let us leave behind these cases that require medical attention for physical reasons, as they are obvious to the on lookers when a person needs help, for this reason, he can receive medical help soon and solve his problem. But what about those cases of mental illness, when we look fit, but we are not, therefore, no one knows that we need to be seen from a doctor; then that person has got to become very sick before he can receive help.

This is most likely to happen, when we have mental health problems, because to spot the need for help is hard to see, but the need for the patient to see the right doctors is important. Most times these cases are sad cases, because people around the sick person may think it is funny, how that person acts; so, instead of finding a way to help that person, they may laugh thinking that that person is trying to be funny, when that person cannot think straight, and half the time he does not know what he is doing, this person needs help like the other sick people, because he doesn’t know that he needs to be seen from a mental doctor to get better.

Perhaps it is the stigma that we attach to mental health people, that prevents the on lookers and the sick person to try to see a mental doctor. Whatever is the case that sick person needs to see a doctor, and it would be good if all parties involved accept that easily, because this can solve the problem. You see, when we need mental help and the patient doesn’t ask for it directly, the health safety net can fail. The patient needs to ask himself for help to receive help. Other people cannot be involved, that is the main problem.

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As we have said we all need help. Anyhow, I have decided to write this article about mental health, because things have happened in my family and my close friend family, therefore, we need to find help.

But that is not all, because I have reached the stage where I don’t know what to do, because this health problem is always on my mind, so, it needs to be solved; anyhow, I cannot think of anything useful or interesting to say, because these mental health problems in my family.

As we have said, when we feel sick, we to go to see the doctor, but that is not always the case for people that have a mental health problem, because they may not even know that they have this mental problem, or they are ashamed to acknowledge that they have it, but that is not the only problem that we have here, because the biggest problem is to gain access to a mental clinic and specialist.

Now this is another reason why the health safety net may fail to help, the mentally sick people, are living their lives beyond their control. So, whatever they do may not be what the normal people would do, but the mentally sick people may not even know, that what they are doing may upset other people, they are not aware of what they should do to act normal, because this is a problem beyond their control, so, let us see what some of those people do, when they live their lives beyond their control.

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In my lifetime, I have been involved with a few cases of mental illness, some from my family members, and some from close friends. From what I have seen, I believe that these mental life events, most times are beyond our control. Anyhow, I am going to write here how I have seen these cases, and what I have learned from them: To do that I have chosen two cases which I know what has happened; to write about them I believe that I must write two more articles in hub pages, because I want to keep them separate, otherwise it would be hard to understand the situation of each case.

Anyhow, we can say, that every time that there is serious mental illness in the family, or even in a close friend family, there is chaos around the place, and it cannot be avoided. You see, people that have a mental illness do strange things, they are hard to control, because of the simple fact that they may not know that they are sick, they keep doing strange things and most times they isolate themselves, they start isolating themselves, because they start to notice that the people around them, are suspicions about what they are doing; if anybody says anything to them, they will try not to answer that question, or answer it in a snappy way without thinking what they are saying; there are times, when they can become aggressive towards the people that talks to them, so, the people around them will notice that; so, they will try to tell them to see a doctor, to find out what is wrong with them, but whether they go to see a doctor is another matter. Sometimes they go to see the doctor, but when they are there, they will talk to the doctor about things that worries them, but they will try to avoid anything that might suggest their mental condition, by doing that they believe that they have been seen from a doctor and they are okay, so, any help that is available to them cannot be used, because they are denying the state of mind they are in, for this reason help fails to arrive for them.

But that is not all, you see, the hardest thing to do for the people around the ill person, it is that they cannot enforce anything at all, it is very hard to see when a loved one is sick and you cannot help them, because the ill person cannot accept that he/she is sick and should look for help.

There are a lot of questions that we can ask, but the most important one, is how we can force the sick person to see the right doctor, and admit that they are sick and need help, so they agrees to see the doctor and accept treatment; you see, today even if you are mentally sick, you can live free in the community; because even if the doctor know that you are sick, the doctor can only force treatment to those people that are so sick and they don’t know what is happening around them, so, they are at risk of injuring themselves or some people around them.

That is why help for the mentally sick people fails to take place, and presently it is failing us again; I will write a few things in more details when I write more articles about mental help, because I believe that I have said enough in this article, so, see you soon, in our next article of, Mental case enigma.

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