Hey there, I’m from Germany and have mental health issues such as depression and was wondering how prevalent this topic is in America.
Here in Germany this topic has become extremely normal and pretty much everyone seems to openly talk about it even with strangers sometimes. We have a lot of therapists but it’s often hard to get an appointment since medical care in Germany is free and they have overwhelming numbers of people and the therapists don’t have enough availability to accommodate everyone. The therapists I had so far were pretty good since they really seemed to care about me and often did overtime and such to talk.
I wonder if it’s similar in America that a lot of people go to therapy and openly talk about mental health. What is the situation in America like? Do you have many therapists (especially in rural areas) and how easy is it to get in/finance? Or would you say this topic is generally more frowned upon in America in comparison?
What is all that unnecessary attack for? Have you even ever been to Germany? My therapy got paid with normal insurance. Just gave the therapist the card to scan and that was it. I had 2 appointments every week for years. That was at least my experience as a now 21 year old German (I had therapy from when I was 16 until I was 20).
So you would say America is better in this regard?
Because it gives people a completely wrong impression. If you got your therapy covered by insurance and have availability that’s very good, but it’s a very rare fringe case.
I’d say maybe in general the German population is less affected by mental health issues (statistics also show that), but if you are in actual need of help the accessibility of counceling and care in Germany is abysmal.
The general consensus is that medical care in Germany is subpar, especially if you don’t have private insurance. There aren’t enough qualified doctors especially in rural areas. If there are, they are often overworked themselves. For most walk-in clinics doctors don’t even take their eyes of the computer screen, yet alone give you a proper diagnosis.
I’m not expecting Dr. House level of detective work, but for the most part, doctors have their mind already made up about your condition and balantly ignore any secondary symptoms until they become severe enough to be a problem of their own.
Since mental health can’t be reliably “tested” for, like you would with an MRI or X-Ray, usually, unless you bring a lot of money to the table it is just not even worth looking into by general practitioners to get a referal.
That is simply not true. It is a pretty annoying process and often takes time to get a therapy, but nobody I know, including myself had to pay for this. And I know that because most people here are pretty open about therapy nowadays. There are more than enough problems with the German health care system, but OPs description fits my experiences muuuch more than what you describe.
Same, same. I don’t think you can compare the two, unless you’ve experienced it yourself. I mean it’s gotten worse here. But still, it seems to be entirely different levels. I can still get appointments. People don’t just die from diabetes like they used to in the USA. We can just call an ambulance and someone will treat your broken arm. It’ll work just fine without private insurance. And you don’t even need a lawyer to challenge the hospital bill. You can bear a child without being in debt for the rest of your life… There are issues. And we’re not as good as some neighboring contries. But I don’t think the situation compares to what I read from across the ocean. But yeah, I’m missing actual experience from other countries.