In the United States, 41.7 million adults have recently received counseling from a therapist. With the need for therapy at its highest in a country where countless Americans cannot get access to medical insurance, therapists have leaned on multiple loopholes in order to get people help. Among these techniques is the commonly used diagnosis of an “Adjustment Disorder.”
There is a need for medical insurance that is not currently being met, with statistics saying that 7.9% of the population did not have health insurance in 2022, and 41.7 million adults are looking for counseling. Counseling remains an imperative part of many people’s lives, as it allows people to actively try to work on their mental health. It does so while providing a foundation for a society in which more people are able to work on coping and other skills which are necessary in order to create a well-supported and strong community in the United States. There has been an incredible increase in people seeking counseling in recent years due to more awareness on social media platforms and an overall need for talking therapy, somewhat attributed to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Though often regarded as less important than physical health, mental health remains something that is necessary to focus on for numerous people living in the United States.
According to Ms. Demoraes, the school guidance counselor for the Sea and Fire learning communities, a lack of medical insurance can often do so much as bar people from having access to therapy or counseling. Ms. Demoraes stated, “A lot of therapists and counselors outside of school, they usually start off by having their clients pay out of pocket.” She also stated that many therapy services do not take specific insurance forms, such as MassHealth or Medicaid, which is not considering that uninsured people have an even decreased number of options. Ms. Demoraes also believes that families that cannot afford medical insurance are also the ones that typically need therapy due to discrimination, classism, and other societal pressures.
Misdiagnoses are not a loophole used for therapists themselves but rather for their clients. There is pressure for therapists to add the Adjustment Disorder diagnosis, or others, for all clients who do not already have a specific reason for therapy. In a field so dependent on its members doing the best for their clients, it is extremely frequent for therapists to try to make the lives of their clients, specifically people with lower income who need proper insurance, easier. There are a minimal amount of options possible to give people in need or counseling counseling in the current United States mental health industry.
With there being a demand for therapy that is not currently being met, misdiagnoses and other loopholes are becoming increasingly common in the field of psychology, only due to the society and laws surrounding talking therapy. In order to create a society in which diagnoses are accurate and not misleading, the system around therapy itself needs to undergo a dramatic change. There are no ways to fix this unfair aspect without changing the system that is unlikely to be altered.