Physical Illness, Mental Illness, Invisible Illness

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Kimmio said:
I really don't know anyone with private insurance here. I'm sure it is possible - for people with their own businesses or who decide to for whatever reason - but I don't know a single person here, in my whole life, who has that.
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Do you ask everyone about their health and dental insurance?
Do you know anyone self-employed?
What about those who are retired, it isn't included in everyone's retirement package.
 
I'm sure their are. I wasn't arguing. My parents never had it. Not my mom when she was self-employed. We did have dental but nothing else. I am not saying people don't but none of my friends do. Several people I guess have work plans. Low income people without work plans can't afford clinical psychologists regardless. It's more of a priveledge. I think Alberta has had a two tier system for awhile but BC is a bit different, no? So maybe it's more common there for people to purchase private plans. I could be wrong.
 
Kimmio said:
I'm sure their are. I wasn't arguing. My parents never had it. Not my mom when she was self-employed. I am not saying people don't but none of my friends do. Several people I guess have work plans. Low income people without work plans can't afford clinical psychologists regardless. It's more of a priveledge. I think Alberta has had a two tier system for awhile but BC is a bit different, no? I could be wrong.
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As far as I know, it's pretty similar everywhere. How have prescriptions been covered over the last 'awhile' in BC? Orthotics? Glasses?
 
Premium coverage is for people who are low income either long term or temporary. Single who work minimum wage would qualify for it. Often, the employer pays MSP for every employee otherwise. I haven't had to pay MSP for a long time - I don't think I actually do qualify for premium assistance anymore, but I do qualify for Fair Pharmacare. My employer pays our MSP. For people who have been on disability and have PWD status, I believe we can retain extra benefits like partially paid for physiotherapy or a certain amount for glasses or dental unless a work plan covers it - then you are expected to use your work plan. I haven't checked because I now have a work plan but haven't used any dental or optometry in a long time. But MSP doesn't cover clinical psychology. Fair Pharmacare is what I was thinking of also. I think if you make under 50, 000 per household, it covers the most of the cost of most generic prescriptions.
 
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Kimmio said:
Premium coverage is for people who are low income either long term or temporary. Single who work minimum wage would qualify for it. Often, the employer pays MSP for every employee otherwise. I haven't had to pay MSP for a long time - I don't think I actually do qualify for premium assistance anymore, but I do qualify for Fair Pharmacare. My employer pays our MSP. For people who have been on disability and have PWD status, I believe we can retain extra benefits like partially paid for physiotherapy or a certain amount for glasses or dental unless a work plan covers it - then you are expected to use your work plan. I haven't checked. But MSP doesn't cover clinical psychology. Fair Pharmacare is what I was thinking of also. I think if you make under 50, 000 per household, it covers the most of the cost of most generic prescriptions.
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What's MSP? It sounds like your government is on a bit of a two-tiered system.
 
Medical services plan. If you are low income you pay little or nothing. It gets adjusted according to income but the employer often automatically pays for MSP. My husband pays about $25/ month for prescriptions because he meets the income criteria to have most but not all covered. I am covered too - but if I needed a prescription that wasn't covered my work group plan would cover 80%. It is based on income. If you are lower income you won't pay much, if you are PWD and no work plan but are working without a group work plan you can retain premium MSP to cover the things it covers which does not include counselling.

It is based on income. Most union jobs though will pay MSP and many private employers. People working at McDonald's though don't have to pay MSP or for prescriptions but would not have ability to get psychotherapy either.
 
So...people with high incomes pay high MSP premiums. So unless you are wealthy and/ or have work coverage or private coverage you can pay upfront and wait to be reimbursed, nobody's getting psychotherapy. Lots of people are getting drugs when drugs may not be the most helpful option for them if they could only qualify to pay for therapy - was my point.
 
No, I guess he doesn't get any assistance, even though our income is below the premium cut-off. $25 is just how much it costs. My work plan should now cover most of that I think but we haven't submitted receipts since I became eligible to get benefits at work.
 
I understand what you're saying Kimmio, I just disagree :)

Some things for some people are quirks. My husband, for example, is an extreme introvert with a different attention span and a genius who doesn't understand social cues and is unable to empathize - I think he might actually be on the autism spectrum. But he can hold a job and is a good partner for me in an untraditional sense. He doesn't really have any friends but does socialise with some of mine. This can make him unhappy but he copes (although he has a huge amount of anxiety often). Do you ever watch the show Scorpion? Mr Me is a lot like those guys and I'm his Paige (although I don't really have a handle on reality all the time lol). His workplace is ok with looking the other way on things like his hours or the fact that he will play games or read when he should be working (but when he works he gets done in an hour what most people take five hours to do). And he chooses not to medicate (or really acknowledge that there is an issue).

To say that my mental illness is a quirk I feel does a disservice to my experience. Would you tell someone who is missing a leg that the fact that they walk with a limp is a quirk? I don't see much difference, really. My Mom was a resource teacher at my school and she hated for a child to be "labelled" - especially her own child who she thought she could discipline into "typical" behaviour. A label may have helped me - it might have gotten me help so that I wouldn't be so miserable and beat myself up constantly. It may have also stopped some adults from being such meanies - imagine a parent-helper coming into a class with an art project and announcing it to the class but saying Justme can't participate because we know she won't pay attention or be careful enough but the rest of you - here's what we are going to do? Or another teacher mimicing you for having tics? A label might have helped to prevent this. Discovering Ritalin at age 21 (on my actual birthday) was a Godsend - it was like putting on glasses for the first time - would you tell someone that they didn't need glasses that the world should adapt to them?

Behaviour and thinking can ease my symptoms and I'm actually living a better life after an intensive therapy year but the last weeks have been humbling - despite all this I can't always function. It's fine to say that the world or a job should adapt to me, but they don't. It takes a lot of energy to fight for that. I remember we spent over $10k putting in a standing work station and other measures for a women with a bad back. I asked for about $2.5k in assistance after being on disability for five months and was turned down and referred to an area to assess my abilities to perform my job. I was a senior official in the federal government - even represented Canada on the international stage. I was asked to step down from my managerial position because my tics made people uncomfortable (even after an info session to explain them) and people couldn't have confidence in someone who couldn't control themselves.

I actually think what you're saying is a bit of a self-stigma - I don't want to be defective in two regards - so I'd rather be quirky. I recently took a local tv host to task for calling Howie Mandel a germaphobe and was told that it was ok because Howard calls himself that - it actually isn't - it devalues his experience and makes light of his real struggle.

As for counselling - I just finished with a Social Worker through my therapy program and she was awesome - I accessed her services through the Canadian Mental Health Association but that is for extreme cases. I have a group plan through my work and my husband's work - it used to pay for 80% of $1k for psych services and my psych charges $195. It has now been doubled but it still doesn't go a long way. We need a different funding model that combines emotional and practical theories.

I know this is really long but I just wanted to say about Robin Williams - would you allow high school athletes to reduce their life expectancy dramatically by taking steroids because they would be gifted athletes that you would enjoy watching on the field? I see no difference to what you are saying about Robin Williams.
 
I have cerebral palsy and I call myself a gimp all the time! :) I guess it is because I have lived with a disability all my life, it is just who I am (imagine if you never knew any different, does that make you defective? No. Imo. ) and a lot of my anxiety and depression I am certain is from confidence and self esteem issues and trauma that goes way back to early in my life, as well as the experience of having CP in a world with physical (as well as attitudinal) barriers around every corner. I was called "handicapped" growing up. Actually, it makes more sense because one is handicapped in relation to the barriers in the way. Whereas "disability" is more internalized "I can't because I am faulty". I don't like that. And mental illness - that's even worse because I know damn well where it comes from, would like the social barriers aknowledged, and pills don't agree with me unless they give me more pills to combat the side effects of the last pills until I feel like a (barely) walking pharmacy. I hate pills - only wish to take them if I must. But the current system gives few options for the low income people who need it. As it is now I don't have a spare $100 an hour to pay every week and be reimbursed so even my work plan does me no good.
 
That is not to say depression and anxiety doesn't affect me. It certainly does. I barely worked for months after my grandma died last year because the grief turned into depression. My employer was great. Held my job open and let me set the pace. He likes me and my work. But I didn't even apply for EI because I had only been there a few months, past jobs were part time temporary for awhile - and I really got down on myself. I was caught in between people saying "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and "get some medication" which I did try for awhile but it was the same old same old side effects, and I felt NOBODY would listen to what I needed. Then my husband lost his job (again). He happens to have epilepsy. Then we had to move to a cheaper place. Then my husband got really sick last month. I have been having muscle stiffness due to anxiety and a hard time walking and I know if I take antidepressants again that will stiffness get worse which will feed the anxiety. Doctors, GPs, really don't have a good handle on the interplay between the neurology of CP and the physical affects of anxiety and depression. It's not something they see often so they guess what to do. And I gave to put up with it in the meantime. I am really of the mindset that a person should have input and their insight into their own condition should be respected as much as possible. And social barriers removed. I don't believe a lot of cases of anxiety and depression would exist without social factors at play - not like a broken arm, or a metabolic issue that needs a simple fix.

As for Robin Williams...we don't know what was going on in his mind. He was reportedly depressed. All I know is he was gifted and his "mania" was when it was evident. We don't know how he felt during those times.
 
I'd rather joke around lightheartedly that I am a little gimpy than to always live in a society where I am a PWD - in relation to the elusive perfect person. I am a PWD because that's the label we get. I don't like it and I am not alone in that. Especially because I was born this way and I should only need to keep up with my own best, not the elusive normal person best. Physical barriers like sidewalks and stairs without railings - that is getting better but I am constantly feeling rushed or being told to hurry up - beyond what I am able to do. I hurry, and I then can't think. I walk into stuff. I get confused. I can't multitask very well. I am otherwise well spoken and well put together so it can be embarrassing for me. The job I did as a "token" gimp I had to give the impression I had it perfectly together - because well...that's the way it is. I knew they would have biased and prejudices and I my job was to get them to see past those. The appearance of confidence was a must. I pulled it off for the most part. I just pretended I was somebody else - an exec for a minute for the presentations. And I'd have little meltdowns after. It would be really liberating to be able to show anxiety and not be judged for it! Even though no one really does have it all together all the time. We all know that. So, society is really disingenuous about norms and expectations.
 
ChemGal said:
What's MSP? It sounds like your government is on a bit of a two-tiered system.
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This is wrong. I was reading up on it. I got MSP premium assistance and something else mixed up. It's called medical services only - not premium MSP coverage (that's for everyone with net family income of $30, 000 and under) which is retained when you go off disability for employment, which I am still eligible for based on household income. It used to be that it wasn't income dependent, PWD status was permanent and you could retain the same medical services, if you worked, no charge for prescriptions, but as of 2010 apparently, there is a stipulation that if you become ineligible due to income you no longer get MSO after one year of ineligibility unless you got PWD status before 2002. The income criteria otherwise is a combined net cap of $30K. Which is fair in a sense - but in another sense it is not because PWD's income can fluctuate from year to year if a condition is chronic and not static and it's a lot of red tape to apply all over again for PWD status. Imagine someone with a dangerous immune condition like HIV - one day they have their meds and supplements all paid for and the next minute they are dropped and pay out of pocket. And if they get really sick in the meantime, scarey. That's a huge difference - and if you make $31,000 and have a lot of extra medical expenses - such as orthodix or assistive devices or extra nutritional needs - which many PWDs do, I guess you'd be SOL under the latest rules unless it was a psychiatric drug (plan G). Fair Pharmacare applies when you have to pay over your deductible amount in a year for prescriptions and allowable expenses. Which is 70% coverage over that amount. So most people do pay full for prescriptions without a work plan unless it's a psychiatric drug and they are low income or they have a work plan or have PWD medical services only status, or they are on disability or welfare. Clear as mud. MSP adjusts this according to income year to year.
 
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As for psychiatric drugs. They just seem like a cheap and poor substitute for compassionate care and understanding of the circumstances that led to bouts of chronic depression and anxiety or are barriers themselves to getting better, in my opinion - from this person's point of view- the social conditions of a person are important.
 
Kimmio said:
As for psychiatric drugs. They just seem like a cheap and poor substitute for compassionate care and understanding of the circumstances that led to bouts of chronic depression and anxiety or are barriers themselves to getting better, in my opinion - from this person's point of view- the social conditions of a person are important.
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The psychiatric drugs treat more than just chronic depression and anxiety. They do work well for some.
 
ChemGal said:
The psychiatric drugs treat more than just chronic depression and anxiety. They do work well for some.
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I realize that. But for those who they don't work for...you get, "try another one" instead of really listening "Uh, I've tried about 4 and they are all the same. I want in depth counselling." Nope. Not available.That really depresses me. And for those living in poverty and the psychosocial issues that can accompany that? There is nothing but pills available - pills don't solve poverty, don't pay the rent for safe homes - and people are reduced to both stigmas. Of being poor, and of having a mental illness.

And yes, @Justme you do really have to fight the stigma at work. I fought and fought for it. I gave up the whole "token gimp"tiearly four years ago I gave up advocacy work - employment services work and I gave up anything that resembles corporate environment for good - they can be soo toxic I am never doing it again unless society changes. I am actually ashamed that I tried to keep up with the Jones' and thought I wanted to. I'm not putting up with the toxicity and ignorance for a bigger paycheque. The Jones' are deluded about elusive norms. It nearly did in my soul. Not holding my breath for anytime soon - but I'll keep hoping that there will be a world with no disability. Not no health differences - we are never going to be invincible. But a world where people don't self identify with clinical labels that disempower. People here don't seem to get how that happens. Disability and mental illness - many people do not find those empowering cultural identities. The only commonality between people is a dysfunction compared to norms that don't sincerely exist. That shouldn't come as a surprise to people. All I hope for now personally is someday to get out of the rut we've been in for awhile - stabilize our employment and home situation- and not live paycheque to paycheque. Actually worse. There were several months with half or no paycheque - that's depressing! Fighting over money is depressing. Not being able to go out with friends to concerts or whatever is depressing. No big ambitions of saving the world from prejudice anymore and ridding society of labels though. Somebody else can do it. I did my best but nothing changed.
 
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Lol! I am actually traumatized by my experience of doing that work - got a good look at the cruel world from a different angle! Was fighting for my own rights on the job while trying to help others when I wasn't even really doing very well myself. So...sorry for the melodramatic posts but it really means a lot to me to find people who get what I am saying - I may be alone in my opinion here but not overall - and I hope there are hearts to change it...someday.
 
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