All the literature tell you to seek help...... All the public service announcements, and advertisements tell you..... you are not alone and to call a hotline or reach out.
Little do they know that if you do, you may be signing away your ability to purchase health insurance for at least 5 years and possibly more.
Curious? Join me on the flip for one MORE tale about the morally bankrupt health insurance industry....
I was depressed. I felt awful. I didn't want to go on anymore. It had been a long slow spiral towards that point that included more and more fights with my spouse, the realization that I could not support myself without his income, more frequent fights with my child and major ugly politics at my job.
The idea of just ending it and walking toward that white light seemed more and more attractive. After one particularly bad day, I just felt like I couldn't take it anymore. Thoughts of staging a lone car accident filled my imagination and seemed to take over my consciousness.
When I got home, I called a hotline and spoke to a worker there who urged me to go to an emergency room. I wasn't sure I could trust myself driving my car. She urged me to find a friend or neighbor to drive me. I contacted a neighbor who drove me. In the emergency room, I began to cry and couldn't stop. They asked me a LOT of questions, most of which I cannot remember.
Next thing I knew they were strapping me down and loading me in to an ambulance for a trip to what I had always referred to as the "nut house". Things got better fast with the help of some modern pharmaceuticals and counseling. I was out within 24 hours and home with my family.
I'm happy to say I am happy and healthy today, albeit still paying off that short, very expensive adventure. I was on medication for 6 months and went off it without a problem. Its now been 18 months and I am fine, my marriage is intact, and I have a different job (that doesn't come with health insurance)
Now comes the day when I need to shop for a health insurance plan for a number of reasons and come to find out NONE of them will accept someone who has been hospitalized. NONE.
I am screwed. For seeking help when I needed it. For doing what everyone told me I should do. For saving myself.
I realize this story is not nearly as bad as many people's health insurance horrors. I am healthy. I have a job. But I'm really pissed at how the system won't accept people who have had anything happen to them. Its disgusting. It's morally reprehensible. It's an outrage.
Thanks for listening.