Stigmas of Mental Illness

This is a post that I have been working on for a few weeks. I did my own investigation online and did some research from credible resources. Also, I checked out many forums to get opinions and different ideas of the stigmas and prejudices they may have faced.
This post come from my own wondering thoughts and my own experiences. I wanted to make sure I was not alone in my endeavours as a person.
It is a far cry from many decades back, when a mental illness diagnosis almost ment a terminal stigma that will folow you forever. You were treated differently and almost inhumane.

Definition- Stigma- #1 a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation. #2 a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease.

Most mental illness are chemical imbalances in the brain. Those imbalances have been treated successfully in the age of modern medicine. Usually a mental illness is treated by a "treatment plan." A treatment plan can be set up by a doctor or psychiatrist, possibly even a therapist. A treatment plan is a plan to treat your mental illness in the most effective way.



It sounds perfect, right? Not always. It seems like once you get the treatment plan in order things should turn around for the better. Not always.

My own personal experience with treatment plans have been mediocre at best. Some of them worked well, but had to stop treatment either due to financial or insurance issues. Other plans did not work as well. I felt on occassion that people felt that I was looking only for attention. I was not serious from the start. I just got a bad vibe from the psychologists. The idea that I was only making everything up. Not something that is productive in a treatment plan.

I am going to be going back to a psychiatrist that works on sliding scale fees. It is going to be through a local hospitals outpatient program. They are going to try to get my insurance to pay for some of the costs, but my insurance company did not get rich by writing out checks.

I am going to be developing a treatment plan with the mental health program and use it effectively. I am going to use it to be best of my ability.

This was kind of inspired by a post that I wrote a few weeks back about becoming my own advocate. the blog of ljg: Becoming My Own Advocate
I decided to actually practice what I preached on my blog and do what I wrote. I did reasearch on what I could do without having an insurance plan that would not pay a huge amount towards my care. I discovered that I could apply for free services or sliding scale services that I actually qualified for through charity care programs. I am hoping that I find a successful treatment plan through the outpatient program and be involved within my treatment.