As someone who just recently was re-diagnosed for active major depression after a major back surgery this article hits very hard. I recently discussed inpatient treatments with my psychiatrist too. I can understand what the husband was feeling... that the nothing of death was greater than the feelings of life. It's difficult to work with healthcare in general - add a mental issue on top of that and it feels impossible. You have to constantly advocate for yourself since each doctor will only do what is required for their subspecialty and you also have to fight insurance on the other side.

Specifically regarding mental related items are treated as lesser than physical issues. I have Kaiser who has actively been punished by the US Department of Labor [1](2026) [2](2021) for delays in behavioral health care and pushing for out of network therapist. They tried to push these therapist on me twice, both through RULA and it was really a terrible experience. The therapist literally ended my meeting 10 minutes into our discussion when I told him I hadn't finished reading the book he recommended. I am now with an in-house kaiser therapist that is working well. I worry about the psychiatric side of the house as well, they set me up to only meet with my psychiatrist once every three months. That doesn't feel frequent enough to get my medication tuned right.

I don't see this getting better in the future with the current leadership in the US advocating for a "return control to the patients" by reducing SSRI prescriptions. [3]

My only advice for people out there is to take their mental health seriously, if you are having suicidal thoughts talk to your doctor. It may end up being a difficult journey but its better than being alone.

1. https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20260210

2. https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-cali...

3. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/announcing-new-initiative...

I recommend if you're looking into inpatient treatment and you're not an acute danger to yourself or others, look into partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs instead. I know Kaiser covers some at least in Virginia.

In my experience with family members, inpatient hospital stays at many hospitals in the US are one of the least therapeutic environments possible, and once you've gone through an ER or psych ER (which most of them make you do), you have no control over which hospital you end up at. In the end your stay is unlikely to be any more than 7 days.

PHP programs on the other hand tend to fill the role that work had previously taken in someone's life for a few to several weeks. They're typically 9-3, held in office parks, and are mostly quality group therapy with a daily or weekly psych visit.