Where does the average person go to receive support for their mental health issues? There is still social stigma around mental health, making people ashamed to speak about their issues and raise concerns to professionals, or even loved ones. It is hard enough to ask for help, without the added financial worry. You cannot be unwell emotionally, mentally, psychologically. You can only be unwell physically. Even then, there are certain diseases and medical conditions we socially frown upon. We also don’t take into account all of the societal negligence and ignorance regarding the needs of many minorities, including physically disabled people. Our medical and scientific breakthroughs and discoveries are not reflective of our empathy but rather our capitalism.
The recent pandemic during the height of capitalist culture proved without any doubt that human life is not valued equally. It is unfortunate. Many would say, “Well, what can I do about it?” We feel powerless facing our industrial gods. We just have to swap some of the Greek gods with newer names such as Bayer, Sanofi, Lilly, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, among others. BioNTech became a household fixture over the course of the pandemic. Who does state-of-the-art medicine serve though? Half of the world’s 8 billion people hold a negligible 1 percent of global net private wealth. People with under US$100,000 net worth hold under 10 percent of this wealth. The wealthiest 1 percent holds about half of the world’s total private wealth and likely all the other categories of wealth too, because who else will have the money to own our large corporations and governments?! The remaining 40 percent of global private wealth is held by people with net worths between US$100,000 and 1 million; this group consists of around 640 million people. The two wealthiest groups combined make up 700 million people. The rest of the “poor” world is over 10 times this population at 7.3 billion people. This global net private wealth is estimated at US$500 trillion. Imagine a world of equitable distribution of wealth. No, actually, don’t imagine this because you will be labeled an idealist, a dreamer, or worse yet, a communist or fascist.
Medicines, cures, healing processes, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, dentists, therapists, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and programs, surgeries, and treatments cost money. As inhumane as it sounds, you could die for lack of money to access remedies to treatable diseases – and people do every day. Around 2 million children, mostly in poorer countries, die of diarrhea annually. This measure must be held against the 2 billion diarrhea cases treated annually around the globe, mostly in richer countries. Diarrhea is not killing the children, lack of money is. We should not report this statistic as children dying of diarrhea because the condition is treatable with very easy steps. Lack of access is killing 2 million children. By this measure, lack of access is killing every person who cannot afford Mayo Clinic treatments.
This level of medicine is reserved. Quality healthcare is for the rich. It is for capitalist gods, the wealthiest 10 percent club. To make matters worse, much of the access to the most advanced medical technology is regionally limited. Being that this club’s majority members are in the USA and few select countries around the world, you will find exquisite specialty and niche clinics that cater to every healthcare need of this group, mostly in the USA and Europe. Names such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Lausanne University Hospital, and Klinik Im Park are testament to the quality of care the world’s best medical centers offer the richest.
From a capitalist perspective, placing our feet into bloody shoes, we can understand why the best healthcare is for the rich. Let us assume Bill is tremendously wealthy. Not only can Bill pay for the best healthcare money can buy, but Bill is worth saving! Bill’s survival and healing means that Bill can continue to produce and accumulate more wealth. This growth is necessary to any and all capitalist economies. On the other hand, why would places such as Mayo Clinic offer the same access and quality to a financially broke person? They would not be able to profit the clinic, which does not have many other means of covering operational costs. This poor person is also detrimental to the growing economy, a financial burden and stress to capitalist efficiency presented by this socioeconomic order. Thus, through no fault of their own, children who are unfortunate enough to be born to poor parents, must accept death because that is what poor people do: they die or pull through financially barred from accessing the best medical support systems, which by much misfortune, just as with Mayo Clinic’s headquarters, are a few blocks from the poorest communities. Just as 2 million children with diarrhea die unnecessarily of poverty each year, so too do many poor people with other physical illnesses. Many of these people live within walking distances of these medical facilities.
On its website, the Mayo Clinic describes itself as “the largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world.” However, don’t let the not-for-profit badge fool you. It does not equate to universal healthcare or free anything. Gianrico Farrugia, Mayo Clinic’s CEO, rakes in US$3.5 million annually in wages or compensation. It is the business of medicine after all – not the service of healthcare.
There is an even darker side to our capitalism. Mental health is a rich person’s privilege. At this time in our medical advancement, mental health is far behind physical health, which naturally, was historically considered more important in terms of protecting life. Diagnosing mental health is part of a newer era of medical study. Psychiatry deals with the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental, behavioral, and emotional issues. Psychiatrists are trained in medicine and mental health whereas psychologists focus only on mental health. Both are supposed to help people suffering from all forms of mental health issues. With an average rate of US$100 to $200 per hour, this service is not for all. In fact, it is not a feasible option for the majority of the 330 million people living in the USA.
The American government estimates that a fifth of people in the USA are living with a mental illness. This is equivalent to the population of the UK or France! According to the American Census Bureau, less than 18 percent of individuals make above US$100,000 per year, an income required to afford the luxury of quality therapy. Without getting into the details of mental health inequalities and how economic inequality fuels mental health crises, we must appreciate one fact: mental health is directly correlated to income inequality. We observe more mental health issues in societies with greater income inequality.
The USA holds the highest income inequality of almost all developed nations. The greatest majority of its residents cannot afford any of the expensive mental health services. Again, in a country leading the capitalist culture, the majority don’t count for much in this regard. Poorer people in the USA must rely on family and communal support to get through anxiety and other mental health issues. This is not much different globally. Therapy, just like other areas of quality healthcare, is for the richest.
