Should mental health care be overhauled? ‘Being on a waiting list also costs money’ | Healthy

“The system is bankrupt,” says Patrick Callahan, founder of Psyned, a treatment organization that includes 300 basic psychologists. Callahan rings the bell because he thinks that Psyned can make a dent in the long waiting lists at the mental health care system. “We provide mental care to consumers, employers and occupational health and safety services, and do so quickly and easily.”

Callahan indicates that he wants to point out to people that there are other paths than a mental health institution. “A general practitioner will always refer someone with mental complaints, if he thinks that further care is necessary, to a mental health institution, because this care is reimbursed through the health insurance.”

How does treatment at Psyned differ from treatment at mental health care? “In addition to regular mental health care, we also offer grief counseling, relationship therapy and help with burnout,” says Callahan. You can also choose your own practitioner. “The relationship between the patient and his psychologist is important. If you feel comfortable with someone, you are generally more likely to bring your problems to the table.”

In addition, you are dependent on treatment methods approved by the health insurer with the GGZ. According to Callahan, that won’t bother you at Psyned. “Within mental health care there is a fixed number of sessions for a specific complaint, after which you should be ‘cured’. We can focus on the client and not the complaint, which is a big difference. And being on a waiting list also costs money.”

These treatments come with a price, but according to Callahan, employers are happy to bear these costs. “It helps them more than having their employees put on a waiting list for months.” Occupational psychologist Tosca Gort agrees. “It is true that employers tend to do this. Because the longer the absenteeism, the less likely the chance of a return to the workplace. Then you lose your employee and that means making a loss,” says Gort.

A spokesperson for GGZ said when asked that he did not see a stable long-term solution. ,,It sounds like a sympathetic proposal, especially to take away the first edition, but basic psychologists only have basic knowledge. They will therefore only be able to treat people with complex psychological problems after following a training course.” In addition, many basic psychologists are already working in healthcare, but they are not able to provide the mental health care that you may expect according to the quality charter.

Gort maps the problem of ‘overlabel‘ as one of the causes of the increasing waiting lists. Not only in society is more attention being paid to mental health, this is also clearly noticeable in the workplace. “This means that someone who is overworked is more likely to be labeled burnout.”

While we all suffer from stress or overwrought from time to time, but that does not immediately mean that someone is depressed. Practice shows that there are many people with minor complaints. If these people were referred to a coach instead of a psychologist, this could shorten the waiting time for people who do need help.

“A general practitioner should be better trained in this. He or she does not always have the right tools to assess what a person with mental complaints needs. For example, if someone has vague stress-related complaints, why not first refer someone to a stress coach? Immediately forwarding to the basic psychologist or mental health psychologist is not always the solution.”

In addition, a psychologist is there to treat disorders, while a coach can offer support in matters that we all encounter from time to time. “And don’t forget that labeling too fast really does something to people. It may make you feel even worse.”