There has been much concern in my community about the implications of having medical records digitized and available to all doctors as is being put into effect by the Affordable Care Act. I believe that this fear is well founded when applied to diagnosed conditions that carry with them the burden of public ridicule, fear, shame, and stigma such as befalls people diagnosed with psychiatric conditions. I have heard many stories over the years of people seeking medical treatment and once it is discovered that they have a psychiatric diagnosis that becomes the focus of their visit instead of the physical symptoms that prompted them to seek medical attention. It is logical that these people also face many medical problems since people with diagnosis' die on average 25 years earlier than their undiagnosed counterparts in the wider populace. I am not writing this because I wish to inflame these fears. I have a personal belief that much good will come from the Affordable Care Act and I hope that part of this good is a greater understanding of psychiatric treatment and its effectiveness. I am personally encouraged by much of the change that is being directed in the mental health system by various government entities fueled by feedback from stakeholders. It seems like wisdom to me to encourage people not to spend the rest of their lives being taken care of in institutions or lingering in day treatment programs but to return to the full, productive, rewarding lives that people like myself have proven that we are capable of living.
That brings me to my insight of the day and my cause for putting type to page. In the darker moments of my life people have trusted to me the truth about their lives. They saw that I had lost hope just because I was diagnosed, in the system, and seemingly surrounded by hopelessness. They confided to me that they had once been diagnosed (schizophrenia, etc.) and were now living as though it had never happened. I would never "out" these people because charity was their motivation and they had prestige to lose and nothing to gain. I would never violate that trust. However, now that medical records are being digitized all the people who left treatment and never looked back will now have this show in their records. I hope that the Affordable Care Act facilitates anonymous statistical data collection. I suspect that people having a one-time life episode happens far more than is generally accepted. I am not saying anything against treatment, I use it. However, I look forward to there being a greater understanding of how many people have been diagnosed with mental illness and gone on to a lasting recovery. I believe the facts are obscured due to the fact that those who recover for the most part disappear into society and bury their experience with the mental health system as a bad memory due to the fact that being diagnosed is not viewed as a positive thing. I have hopes that the light of the truth will shine on how many people have actually recovered from mental illness (whether they still take pills or not) and work toward dispelling the damage done by sensational journalism and the ignorance in society that it produces (not that facts have been able to stem that tide so far). I believe the Affordable Care Act will do a lot of good. I hope that information can be gleaned to greater judge the effectiveness of treatments through all of medicine to improve services. If this can be done it might serve to help free people diagnosed with mental illness from some of the discrimination that we face. The truth is on our side...and the truth will set you free.
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