SlamGlam said:

I know, but still...

BlackBuddy said:

Huh? We were discussing you not me lady...

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

ok

BlackBuddy said:

i would imagine they are higher, because the US mental health system is much worse.

mrdespues said:

I think people are people and that there are doodieheads everywhere.

Some have better shrinks then others for sure...but still a doodie head is a doodie head.

mrdespues said:

How do you know this?

BlackBuddy said:

Short version: I lived in America and I have a condition myself. The system in the US is ABOMINABLE. I get medication here for $3 AUD a box which would have cost $100 US (approx $160+ AUD!!). You have to essentially be well-off already to get any kind of decent health care in America.

Sweeny79 said:

no. sorry if i sound bitter here, but i was all set to live in the US and the health system had a lot to do with me not getting to.

mrdespues said:

You have to have good insurance or lots of money to get any kind of decent healthcare here in america.

mrdespues said:

I have great healthcare because I am a goverment employee, but i know how horrible it is for everyone else.

Sweeny79 said:

exactly. anyone who disputes that is out of their tree, or George W. Bush, which is the same thing anyway.

mrdespues said:

I don't know anyone who says different, I'm sure others have their reasons for thinking different tho...

mrdespues said:

I work in the health care field and while there need to be huge improvements, I have to insert here that most likely the biggest part of why your attempt to get treatment in the US was so expensive was because you weren't a U.S. citizen and/or you weren't employed by an agency that offered health benefits. If you're low income and a citizen or permanent resident, one can get subsidized healthcare. But if you're here just to visit, or illegally, then yeah, the healthcare system is even more difficult to navigate.

Sweeny79 said:

it is terrible. i used to get so depressed seeing all the homeless people in Portland (highest rate of homelessness for a city per capita in the US). i always used to think, "if i had been born in this country, that could so easily have been me!". the american government is inhumane. no news there.

mrdespues said:

You said mental health. That, to me, is different than just health care in general. Healthcare here is just fine, however you need insurance. Most people, who work, who don't have insurance don't have it because they don't want it

AnotherLoverToo said:

it would have made no difference. i was to be a permanent RESIDENT through marriage, not a citizen. but even if you are a citizen, you need a good fucking job to get health care and how does one GET a good fucking job when one is already having trouble living day to day? it is a stupid system, typically inclined to preserve the status quo. as i see it, that is the way it always was, is and will be in america.

mrdespues said:

How would you have "easily" been homeless???

AnotherLoverToo said:

wow we are totally jacking the thread here but.... when I worked in a very low income area the subsidized health care was trips to the free clinic where nobody cared about the people they were there to help and there was a 5 hour wait before you can even think about seeing a doctor...

I have someone close to me who has mental health issues and they are currently on disability and there isn't anyone out there to really help that person out with their meds except there parents and a small amount of disability money...

My heart really goes out to folks ... ok rant over

BlackBuddy said:

why on earth do you think mental health is different to other health care? this is the problem i have with america. it is a physical disease of the brain. if you had cancer, you'd seek treatment just the same.

mrdespues said:

My sister is a waitress and chooses not to have health insurance because she feels it's too much out of her check. She has two children and doesn't have insurance for them. It's a choice. If I was in her shoes, I would do what I have to do t make sure my children were insured. Where I live, there are two counties that came together to start their own health insurance program and it's only $10.00 a month per child and she still doesn't have that because she's lazy

mrdespues said:

I agree that it's the same as healthcare... I don't know if you can say that it's a problem you should have with america...I'm sure people elsewhere see mental health differently then you and I do...

This thread is gonna end up in P &R ain't it?

mrdespues said:

I ain't buying into this one in the least.... I question your statistics... Having traveled both My own country and yours extensively I have found the people to be equal and have not seen so much mental illness as you say...
To be honest in my travels thus far I have found people are people where ever you go... some good some bad... all seeking the same basic things in life... the rest is just basic rhetoric and ignorance expressed against the human race based on cultural differences and furthered by self serving folk as hype....

mrdespues said:

Well, when and if that had happened (you becoming a permanent resident through marriage) then you most likely would've qualified for assistance and received medication at a highly discounted rate. I'm not defending the system so much as I'm saying that legal status plays a big part in welfare benefits. When I lived in other countries, I wasn't able to get medical benefits, either.

BlackBuddy said:

because people with my condition do not get treated fairly in your country. they are left to fend for themselves, unless they have a family with a lot of money. it is a carry-over attitude from the "old west". and those who walk the streets eventually get so crazy they get put in jail. that's the ultimate solution to everything in america.

Sweeny79 said:

Here, we have something called Medi-Cal that is much better. You go to the hospital, not a clinic. It's actually worse for the people who have good health care because there's a 2 month plus waiting list to see a specialist or general MD beacuse of all the patients on welfare medical get taken first..or take up all the space

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Like i said..doodie heads are everywhere, sick people everywhere too...we all the same..

Sweeny79 said:

[quote:78fa1f490a]

mrdespues said:

[quote:78fa1f490a]

why on earth do you think mental health is different to other health care? this is the problem i have with america. it is a physical disease of the brain. if you had cancer, you'd seek treatment just the same.

[/quote:78fa1f490a]


I agree that it's the same as healthcare... I don't know if you can say that it's a problem you should have with america...I'm sure people elsewhere see mental health differently then you and I do...

This thread is gonna end up in P &R ain't it? [/quote:78fa1f490a]

of course! stigma is rip everywhere. but in my country at least there is good help available if you look for it.

and yes, it is a problem i have with the american government, as usual. not america as a whole.

BlackBuddy said:

wow... there has to be a balance there somehwere...

mrdespues said:

Uh, the person you were going to marry didn't have medical insurance?

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

question them all you like.

the info is here if you can be bothered to read it.

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/d.../mii93.htm

statistics are often bunk, but they are not just made up by me.

and the comparison between medication prices is accurate and well-known by those who investigate these things.



and of course "people are people" everywhere you go, Muse, but there are still variations in culture, etc and other social factors to consider... my concern has a little less to do with regular people and more to do with the dickheads in power though.

.
[Edited 8/10/06 21:35pm]