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Although the stigma that clings stubbornly to mental illness still slows the treatment possibilities in too many cases, there is recent progress -- and what better time to note it than during May, Mental Health Month.
A beneficial congressional action which affects health insurance - the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act -- is now in effect.
Although the Act went into effect about four months ago, on January 1st for most insurance plans, it did so quietly. It's getting very little attention.
In fact, only 7% of Americans asked in a survey had even heard of the term "mental health parity," and even fewer had heard of the Act. The word parity itself is antiquated and so seldom used that, to many people, it is confusing.
The main reason the Act has become operational under the radar of insurance consumers is that it was signed into law more than two years ago - so long before it finally went into effect that many people who did know about it have forgotten it was coming.
The Act requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays and deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) related to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are no more restrictive than those applied to all medical/surgical benefits.
In other words, insurance benefits for emotional and mental health care now have financial and treatment limitation equality with medical situations.
So people who are interested in mental health coverage in their insurance plan should know that this equivalency stipulation is now in effect - just on the possibility that they do not get a reminder from their insurance company. It will impact large numbers of people, since mental disorders affect one out of every four adults in their lifetimes.
It's a sad fact fact that a law enforcing the equal treatment of illnesses was needed, to begin with. Consider the irrationality of the idea that some types of biological illness are socially acceptable while biological illness of other parts of the body are not acceptable and even stigmatized. It is an idea out of the Dark Ages.
It is a dangerous and harmful idea. It causes people to pretend nothing is wrong and avoid seeking the treatment that could improve their quality of life, or could even prevent a tragedy from occurring.
Stigma has other harmful social effects like rejection by family and friends, discrimination at work or school, difficulty finding housing, along with the struggle for adequate health insurance coverage. Such cruel treatment of the mentally ill is an embarrassment to our society.
Mental illness is still viewed by some people as a personal weakness. We now know that mental health disorders have a biological basis and can be treated like any other health condition.
Even so, continued effort will be needed to overcome the many misconceptions, fears and biases people have about mental health, and the stigma these attitudes create.