I've been involved in the health care field for more than 20 years.
I'm alarmed to say that we appear to be caught in an "illness model" trap.
Imagine that your physician submitted a bill for wellness rather than a procedure code for illness.
As you know, insurance wouldn't pay.
An additional problem is that the individual doesn't want to pay for wellness (or sickness) either.
We have become conditioned to believe that someone else should pay or that investing in our own health is a luxury we can't afford.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Investing in our own health care is an essential life activity.
There have been health care systems in other parts of the world where the physician is only paid if people remain well.
That is a great incentive for preventative care.
Mental health care is in the same boat.
To submit a claim to insurance I have to use a "sickness" code.
Even if the person comes into the office wanting to make their already wonderful life even better, I have to give them a disorder code in order for insurance to pay.
Fortunately, the diagnostic categories are easy to apply but it does keep the field in the mode of illness thinking rather than wellness.
Is there a solution? Well, of course - but it won't be easy and the first step is yours.
The first step is deciding to make a change in the way you see yourself.
You must first see yourself as capable of maintaining wellness.
Have you ever said, "oh, it's just a cold?" that does not suggest a wellness mentality.
It is an acceptance that sickness is an expected and tolerable condition.
In a wellness mentality, even a cold would suggest that your health has somehow been compromised and that you should undertake rigorous self-care activities to restore health.
Then, you would be alerted to the need to change your lifestyle habits to further promote physical, mental, and spiritual health to prevent another occurrence.
If it were true that health was the most important thing to us, we would certainly pay more attention to our bodies and to our lifestyle.
Do you remember that old adage - actions speak louder than words? It definitely applies here.
What do your actions say is important to you? Do you spend more on cigarettes than you do on massage, tai chi, or other stress busters? Do you spend more on junk food than fruits and vegetables? Do you spend more time with toxic people than with loving friends? Do you invest as much of your energy in your spiritual growth as you do your financial growth? A possible second step in making the change from illness philosophy to wellness thinking is to talk to your physician about wellness.
Ask about methods to improve your health, not just alleviate your illness.
It will start them thinking in a new direction.
Next, you may wish to speak to your employer about programs to facilitate wellness.
This might include stress-prevention strategies in the workplace, choosing healthcare insurance that covers alternative healthcare and preventative medicine, and incentive programs for health.
Don't get me wrong, I am totally in favor of a well-developed treatment program for when illness does occur.
I just think that the majority of our time, money, and effort should be spent on optimizing health before something goes wrong.