In 2019, There Is Still a Gap Between Health Care and Mental Health Care

Today is World Mental Health Day. 

We all have a head knowledge that mental health and overall physical health are somehow entwined. 

But I think we've only begun to plumb the depths of how much mental affects physical and vice versa. 

Personally, every time my body has experienced physical trauma, my mental health is affected. 

Let me tell you a story...

15 years ago I was 15 years old. I was born with congenital heart disease it was finally time for 2nd open heart surgery. 

My medical team was truly caring and communicated the risks as well as what recovery could look like for me. 

What no one told me? That open heart surgery comes with the very real possibility of depression (called post pump depression because it's linked to the heart lung machine) and even PTSD. 

This was at a time when mental health was more taboo than it is today and after surgery when my body was supposed to be healing, my mental well-being was in a very troubled space. My family didn't know and lacked the resources to get me help. 

Fast forward to a year later when I was 16 and needed emergency open heart surgery AGAIN because the previous repair had calcified and needed to be replaced ASAP. 

Still no mental health help or resources and this time, at 16 years old (and with all the angst that comes with the teenage years to begin with) I had no time to mentally or emotionally prepare for another painful, even traumatic operation. 

I remember it took at least a year after that surgery.

A year till I felt somewhat like the old Whitney.

A year till my parents stopped asking where their cheerful daughter was.

A year until the fear and the questions and the exhaustion weren't overpowering.

But it never went away entirely. Those years are gaping holes in my memory. A high school friend was reminiscing a few years back about something we all did...and that memory was completely gone. While other kids were learning how to drive and going to prom, I was in black cloud that consumed even the good times and left me with a few fragmented memories of the hospital and laying on the couch trying to focus on homework.

If you know me in real life, you know I'm a private person and don't love to share private details like this. However, if I fail to speak and share my story, someone out there may not know that there is hope - hope for healing and courage and resilience. And so I share.

More resources, still a gap

I also share because as far as we've come, there's still a long road to go.

Thankfully, today there are more resources than were available to me at that time. We have apps that help us with mindfulness and therapists on every corner.

And yet, if you are preparing for a major, life-changing even, operation, and you ask your doctor about mental health support, they may not be able to help you navigate to the right solution. Instead, you'll be left calling your insurance to find support covered by your plan and hopefully accessible during your free time or lunch break.

It's time to start bridging the gap. What do you think it will take to fix this?