Treatment of depression

The systems of mental health available in America today are incomplete, complex, and counterintuitive. Attempting to trace the paths to gaining mental health care in America is difficult, even for an individual who is not in the midst of a mental health crisis. The resulting gaps in care can cause unnecessarily tragic outcomes, yet finding ways to fill those gaps poses financial and political obstacles that will be difficult to overcome. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ARE NEEDED

When an adult first presents with symptoms of severe mental illness, there is no way to predict what the long-term outcome will be. It is illegal for an independent adult to be forcibly institutionalized when there is no immediate danger posed to himself or others. Even when such an immediate danger is present, there is no guarantee that space will be available in an institution to admit the individual as a patient. Should space be available, there remains the often insurmountable obstacle of how this inpatient mental health care will be paid for[1]. In the absence of appropriate mental health care, an ill individual faces a significantly increased risk of job loss, homelessness, involvement with the criminal justice system, Emergency Room (ER) boarding, co-morbidities, substance abuse, suicide and violence against self or others.

Typically, patients experiencing a severe mental crisis end up either in a psychiatric hospital, hospital psychiatric ward, hospital ER, outpatient clinic, or, most frequently, without care. Unfortunately, because of the high number of barriers to care, over 40 percent of Americans with severe mental health go entirely without care each year