The cost of human trauma is immeasurable and its economic impact is widespread. The $23.2 billion financial burden is a prosecution about how we make millions of individuals fail in society and within our healthcare system. After spending more than a decade of dedication to introducing therapeutic innovations to mental health issues, it remains frustrating that our ongoing failure to focus on meeting patients’ needs rather than established treatments targeting specific mental health conditions. Mental health crises require a more aggressive approach: we need to adopt a mindset that having patients engage in any form of treatment is a priority.
We can correctly celebrate our progress in demeaning mental health conversations. There is no doubt that treatments and medications are important tools. But when we talk about Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the disease is fundamentally derived from overwhelming experiences that leave a long mark on the body, our mainstream approach often gets stuck. Further efforts have made up to 35% of PTSD patients not seek treatment. We must urgently find alternative care options for these people.
For too many, disproportionate women who bear the burden of PTSD, the trauma is not out of reach. This is a constant state of internal organs, constantly living on the edge, and it is easy to be startled. But how often do these original, PTSD’s original physical reality be directly and effectively as the core part of treatment early? The answer is: the shocking frequency is not high. Often, these body signals are minimized, or patients primarily provide medications that can cause a huge burden without giving tools to address potential physiological storms.
As a health care system, the concept and need for adjuvant therapy early in the diagnosis of a patient is very slow, which can give an individual a better understanding of the complexity of their disease, a very real body response, and a way to regulate these symptoms. Given that the average diagnosis time for PTSD is usually over five years, this highlights the need for a more robust treatment plan. In addition, treatment plans need to include new treatments available to meet the needs of the patient, such as home or digital therapeutic agents that can enhance the patient’s experience.
Almost half of Americans live in areas with record shortage of mental health providers. Even in urban areas where resources are said to be good, I personally have seen friends who have difficulty finding timely care for their children or other family members, and sometimes wait for an appointment of more than six months. This is especially troublesome for trauma survivors, where there are very few specialists and access to care is a big reason for this difference. Patients are seeking options, especially non-pharmacological interventions (especially for children) that they can enter without prolonging their lives. As parents, I believe that whenever clinically sounds, our young people first explore effective non-pharmacological interventions. This personal belief is a pragmatic response to the system and obviously cannot meet the needs.
Apart from my beliefs, what’s really exciting is that mental health innovations exceed expectations. Currently, there are effective FDA cleanup techniques that allow individuals to accept a treatment that can resolve their trauma symptoms and fundamentally change the pathways of mental health treatment. Imagine, for example, being able to see your own (unconscious) breathing patterns on the screen and how these patterns affect critical breathing measures in real time. Imagine how these patterns can be linked to key physiological markers, such as exhaled carbon dioxide levels. It’s not a science fiction or a futuristic wish. By learning the person who normalizes these breathing patterns, individuals can gain empowered skills to help control the body’s over-activity alert system with lasting effects. For many, this is a transformative solution that significantly enhances their overall treatment process and restores their quality of life. When patients can clearly track their progress and feel changes in their bodies, it promotes an unparalleled sense of agency and engagement, which is essential for continuous recovery.
For a large portion of the $232 billion PTSD crisis, the most direct way to more effective solutions and better economic outcomes lies not only in iterating existing psychological or pharmacological approaches, but also in broad integration of interventions that directly address the body’s response to trauma.
Our healthcare systems must become more agile, responsive, and less resistant to evaluating and adopting FDA clearance innovations. This requires payers to go beyond outdated reimbursement models and see far-reaching potential for long-term savings and improving membership well-being. It requires clinicians and patients to easily access more accessible, evidence-based, non-pharmaceutical aids in the arsenal.
As we summarize PTSD Awareness Month, let us commit to awareness. Let’s commit to the fundamental transformation: beyond the fork of mental health, incomplete views. Let us embrace a system that treats the entire person – the mind and the body – and ensure that proven, accessible innovations ultimately attract millions of people who are still waiting and suffering. Our current cost of inertia, the $232 billion scream, is a cost we simply cannot and have to continue to bear.
Photo: Oleg Breslavtsev, Getty Images
Joseph Perekupka is the CEO of Freespira, the only company that offers digital treatments for drug-free drug removal that reduces or eliminates symptoms of panic disorder, panic attacks and PTSD within 28 days. Joe is a proven healthcare leader with over 25 years of business experience in multiple leadership and functional medical devices and digital health roles. He plays an active role in organizations such as the Digital Therapy Alliance and DTX Society, where he maintains the role of co-chair, who are committed to driving the growth of the DTX industry and are passionate about providing equitable care for mental health patients nationwide.
This article passed Mixed Influencer Programs. Anyone can post opinions on MedCity News’ healthcare business and innovation through MedCity Remacence. Click here to learn how.
