Beyond Blue: March 2008 Archives

According to yesterday's comprehensive article in the "New York Times" by Sarah Kershaw, this month the House has passed a bill that would require insurance companies to provide mental health insurance parity.

HALLELUIA! HALLELUIA! HALLELUIA!

Writes Kershaw:

It was the first time it has approved a proposal so substantial.

The bill would ban insurance companies from setting lower limits on treatment for mental health problems than on treatment for physical problems, including doctor visits and hospital stays. It would also disallow higher co-payments. The insurance industry is up in arms, as are others who envision sharply higher premiums and a free-for-all over claims for coverage of things like jet lag and caffeine addiction.

Parity raises all sorts of tricky questions. Is an ailment a legitimate disease if you can’t test for it? A culture tells the doctor the patient has strep throat. But if a patient says, ‘‘Doctor, I feel hopeless,’’ is that enough to justify a diagnosis of depression and health benefits to pay for treatment? How many therapy sessions are enough? If mental illness never ends, which is typically the case, how do you set a standard for coverage equal to that for physical ailments, many of which do end?

I suppose I might be a tad more excited about this than the average person because Eric and I spent $30,000 in mental-health fees during the fiscal year of 2006: two hospital stays that were supposed to be covered but weren't, thousands of dollars in therapy because after eight sessions I hadn't been cured, medication, and of course our $12,000 premiums for a year, since Eric works for a small firm, where he is one of the youngest architects and (surprise!) some of them aren't in perfect health.

Have you ever had an experience of personal freedom? Whether you overcame an addiction, tackled that growing pile of mail, ended a toxic relationship, or took up a hobby you've wanted to try—I'd love to hear how you did it and how it happened.

In honor of the Passover exodus story, in which the Jews received freedom from their enslavement in Egypt, click here and post your own story of how you overcame "enslavement" and found freedom in your body/mind/spirit. Or share your story as a comment to this post.

The submitted stories will be considered for possible featuring in a gallery as part of Beliefnet's Passover coverage. The deadline for your submissions is April 11.

Stephen Colbert was interviewed in a recent issue of "Parade" about his painful past and how he has used his sense of humor to heal. I loved hearing about his "exodus moment" because it resembled mine:

One wintry day in Chicago he was walking down the street and a Gideon handed him a Bible. He flipped it open and read the Sermon on the Mount, the passage about the futility in worrying and in anxiety. About the same time he was apprenticing with the comedy troupe Second City, when all of a sudden he burst into laughter while on-stage (and not on narcotics). He said this about that night, which is a wonderful, wonderful line: "Something burst that night, and I finally let go of the pretension of not wanting to be a fool."

I LOVE THAT.

I know you must be confused, because I was so consistent in publishing an interview each Friday up until a month or so ago.

So here's the deal: I will continue to do interviews on Friday, but probably not one every week. They take a fair amount of planning and homework, and as we move into the summer, I can't commit to anything I don't absolutely have to. However, please know that I am certainly not done with the "How Do You Move Beyond Blue?" series. I'm just going to mix up Fridays a little bit to surprise you and keep it a tad more spontaneous.

I apologize if you thrive (like my kids) on structure. I do not.

Thanks for understanding!

Most people envision mania as the woman who rings up $2000 on her master card, or the guy up all night composing music. But mania, and especially hypomania, need not be so obvious or extreme. If you suffer from a “soft” bipolar disorder (Bipolar Disorder II for one today) like I do, where the manic cycles are somewhat difficult to identify, you need friends and family by your side to help you recognize when you’re heading into the danger zone.