Money for basics over well-being?

You shouldn’t have to choose

Smiling young blonde woman with freckle. Hannah Pasquarella

By Hannah Pasquarella

Special to The Knightly News

hannah.pasquarella@mymail.centralpenn.edu

According to The Association of American Medical Colleges, from 2008 to 2019, the number of adults with any mental health illness increased from 39.8 million to 51.5 million.

Blister pack of pills on left and a loose pile of $20 on the right.
The price of health care is typically high in the United States, even for many people who have health insurance — whether an individual private plan or an employer group plan. Many people must choose between buying the basics for living, such as food, or health care, including medicine.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska for kaboomnpics.com. Used under open license,.

As years go on, those numbers will gradually start to increase.

Living in 2024, there is constant chatter of the struggles to maintain a basic lifestyle due to the soaring prices of people’s everyday needs.

People who suffer from mental illnesses need treatment and medication to live their lives to their full potential, and thousands of treatments are not feasible for most Americans.

The average cost to receive 11 days of outpatient care for schizophrenia is around $8.500. For bipolar disorder, treatment averages around $7.600 for nine days and eight days of treatment for depression costs about $7,000, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The cost of treatment creeping over $5,000 doesn’t take into account the cost of medications and outpatient therapy to help maintain recovery.

In 2018, I received care from an outpatient mental health facility for a little over two weeks. Throughout my time there, I went through different courses of medication to find the right one for my illness, multiple sessions of therapy a day (group and secluded) and put in school time.

Almost every morning, blood was drawn from my veins and vitals were read to see which medications affected my body and brain differently.

While most Americans have the privilege of having health insurance, in 2022, 7.9 percent did not have health insurance. While most medications for mental health illnesses are on the cheaper end, due to higher demand for more generic brands, the brand name for the drug sertraline, Zoloft, which is most common for treating depression, can be around $416 for a 30-day supply.

During my time at the mental-health facility, I had the privilege of having my parents pay for my treatment due to me being a minor. If I had been responsible for paying for my treatment, I would have had to say no, for the sake of financial responsibilities, which in the end ties into how good or bad my mental health is.

Today, I am a full-time commuter college student who works a part-time job. My commute to school is roughly 45 minutes and most of my paychecks go straight toward my credit card bill, which is used strictly for gas to commute to school and work. If I were still in active treatment for depression, I would have to start making difficult decisions like whether I should fill my gas tank or skip on a month’s prescription refill, or skip class to get more hours to pay for a therapy session.

Making decisions about your health when there is no worry about finances can be stressful and demanding, but adding the burden of financial struggle tends to set people back from full recovery from mental illness.

Choosing between health and a meal, or a prescription and a tank of gas to go to school or to work, should not be a struggle we face.

Two women at a coffeehouse table, with cardboard cups of coffee in their hands, with the woman on the right using a smartphone to take a selfie of the two of them together.
Everyone wants and deserves to be happy and in the best health — physical and mental — they can be. Meeting basic needs and paying for proper health care shouldn’t be dueling issues. Photo by Ketut Subiyanto for pexels.com. Used under free open license.

Editor’s note: If you feel the need for psychological support, contact your primary-care physician or local mental-health service.

In the case of a mental-health emergency, dial 911 or your local crisis center.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is also available at that short phone number: 988.

Central Penn College students and employees can contact the college’s counseling service at CPCcounselor@centralpenn.edu. They can also dial 1-800-543-5080 to make an appointment by phone or to speak to someone anytime or to schedule an appointment.


Pasquarella is a corporate-communications major at Central Penn.

Comment or story idea? Contact KnightlyEditors@CentralPenn.Edu. Edited by media-club co-adviser and blog editor Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.