The case for publicly funded therapy

&quot;Mental illness affects one in five Canadians. It is a factor in 90 per cent of suicides. And its cost to the economy in health-care dollars spent, and in lost productivity, amounts to nearly $50-billion a year. Yet, no province currently pays for therapy provided by a private psychologist or social worker...<p>Research has found that psychotherapy is as effective as medication – and in some cases works better... In 2013, a team of European researchers collated the results of 67 studies comparing drugs to therapy; after adjusting for dropouts, there was no significant difference between the most often-used drugs – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – and psychotherapy.&quot;<p>Naive question: Is the current consensus that SSRIs and other medications are generally effective? If therapy manages to match the efficacy of something that&#x27;s not at all effective, that isn&#x27;t a strong reason to fund it, even if the other thing also happens to be funded.<p>I suspect the answers are &quot;sometimes&quot; and &quot;it depends.&quot; But, yes, therapy should be funded for conditions that evidence shows will likely respond better to therapy than to pills or placebo.<p>ETA: Found this article, which describes the issues and takes a pro-SSRI over therapy or placebo perspective:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;07&#x2F;ssris-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;07&#x2F;ssris-much-more-than-yo...</a>

Kidney problems are covered. However, a failure in the most important organ in our bodies often is not covered. Here are some common explanations:<p>* It&#x27;s hard to point to a physical cause. Really this amounts to saying, the causes are more complex than we currently can comprehend (at a high level of precision), therefore we&#x27;ll pretend that there is no cause at all.<p>* It&#x27;s a matter of laziness &#x2F; willpower. Think this through: All you need to do is drive through town, or look in the mirror, to know how absurd this analysis is and how ineffective this solution is. All those things you should be doing and are not -- are you just lazy? All those unhappy people -- they are just lazy? They only need more willpower? If so, willpower is a very hard thing to come by and therefore a poor solution.<p>* I take care of myself, so can they. &#x27;My kidneys work fine, therefore nobody else has a kidney problem&#x27;? Also, you may have a few problems yourself.

In Finland the social security services subsidize private psychotherapy for up to three years by roughly 40 euros per visit (typical therapist&#x27;s fees are 60 to 90 euros per visit.) It&#x27;s not an automatic benefit, and it&#x27;s reevaluated every year, but it&#x27;s pretty cool.

Because the human psyche can very happily transform itself into a bottomless money pit when so inclined, and has been known to do exactly that, on many occasions, with alarming frequency.<p>If a rational measure of objective sanity doesn&#x27;t satisfy a human being, will that person concur that their depression has been alleviated? Will they self-identify as mentally healthy? If an individual doesn&#x27;t declare themselves healthy, was the money for the treatment well spent? How does a disagreement between a healthcare professional and an unwilling patient truly resolve itself?

Dental, Pharma, and Mental Health are the obvious holes in Ontario&#x27;s (and Canada&#x27;s) &quot;Universal&quot; Health Care.<p>Do you want to deal with a person&#x27;s psych problems or pay for their psych care?

&quot;The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has purchased advertisements to accompany this series. While CAMH professionals are quoted in this story, the organization had no involvement in the creation or production of this, or any other, story in the series.&quot;<p>What I can surmise from this article is basically that most Canadian therapists want the high steady income like medical doctors.

Here&#x27;s some therapy: eat right, work hard, exercise, turn off the TV, join some sort of group, practice some sort of spirituality, perform public service, get a full night&#x27;s sleep, be generous, accept the ups and downs in life, go for it, live in balance.<p>That will be $150.