Applying for Help

I find that with the downturn in the economy, my patients and I spend more time talking about financial worries related to health- and mental health care. Some people are unemployed, others are disabled. If you suspect that you have a mental-health related disability (learning disorder, attention deficit disorder, debilitating depression or anxiety, etc.), and are unable to adequately support yourself financially or get the care you need, consider applying for state disability support.

Your local site for the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation is a good place to start. They help with job training and education. They work with Disability Determination Services in deciding who qualifies for social security income. They may refer evaluations out to someone like me, or you can have the results of a recent evaluation sent to them.* Their counselors are--in my experience--kind, competent, and knowledgeable of resources to help their clients get back on their feet. They have local offices in American Fork, Provo, and Payson (check this link for contact info for each office).

Medicaid is one of the options available for those who need health and/or mental health care but are unable to get coverage on their own or through an employer. Other health care options are described at the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health web site.

A growing number of people are not disabled, but are simply unable to get health insurance. Coverage for kids is available through the CHIP program. For workers who don't have insurance coverage, the UPP program helps you pay your monthly health insurance premiums through your employer's health insurance plan.

There are options out there as we wait for comprehensive health care reform to happen.

*For Utah County residents, a very good, inexpensive place for a complete evaluation is the BYU Comprehensive Clinic.

Surviving Financial Stress

The January APA Monitor has an interesting article on dealing with economic bad times. The take-home info for family survival is:

Conger and colleagues observed that children in families whose parents put family first and continued to communicate despite the hardship fared much better in the short and long term than those who allowed the crisis to fracture them.

Youngsters "weren't terribly bothered by not having a lot of stuff," Conger says. "What bothered them was when their parents became angry and irritable and withdrawn."

Similarly, children whose parents maintained strong community ties did much better over time than those who were not as embedded in their communities, says Elder, Conger's research colleague.

"Kids whose parents were connected to church, school and civic organizations lived their lives the same way," he says. "Those involvements really predicted what they were going to do in their lives and how successful they would be."

Sometimes psychological research yields "well duh!" results. But it's nice that science matches up in this case with common sense. Go read the whole thing here.