Obamacare

I would like to dedicate this post to our current situation, the government shutdown.

This is for two reasons:

1) I really haven't had any problems with my bipolar lately. I haven't had any symptoms, and I truly believe it is because I am on the right medicine for me. I started seeing a psychologist-in-training. It's this great program through ASU, and I get to see a student earning their graduate or doctorate in psychology, once a week for an hour, for $20 a semester. The session is recorded on a camera in the room and they are graded by our sessions at the end of the semester. When I had my first appointment this past Monday, he asked me why I had signed up for counseling. I told him I was bipolar, that I had done a lot of research and know psychiatry plus talk therapy usually leads to the best results. I told him that I had felt good lately though, and that there were no pressing issues. He applauded me for coming in, and I told him I was sure issues would arise. I can't believe things are so... normal :)

2) The whole reason that I have been restrained to using only mental health resources through ASU, is because my father's insurance doesn't cover mental health, and over the past year I've found a lot of loopholes enabling me to find the least expensive services. I didn't have health care for a while after I had turned 18. My dad had taken me off his and it was at a time I had really needed it. I was in an abusive, toxic relationship. I wound up pregnant, 18, broke, and being evicted from my apartment. I applied for access, Arizona's health insurance. They didn't cover abortion. I had done ecstasy twice before I had found out I was pregnant. The day I had taken the test, my friend Kasey drove me to his house. He started screaming and told her to leave. I can't remember exactly what happened after, just one of the typical physical fights we'd always have. He wouldn't let me abort it, he wanted me to have it. I frantically looked for another option... I found funding through a few different companies. I was eligible for the funding, I made the appointment. I didn't tell my dad, but instead my best friend's mom. She begged me to let her drive me, she begged me to stay away from him. For whatever reason, I agreed to let him drive me. Of course we got in a huge fight, and he dropped me off and left me there alone. I went through the appointment and had to convince the nurses through snot and tears that I wanted to do this, that someone wasn't forcing me. I was given the pills (I was still only a few weeks pregnant so I was able to just take the pills) and my best friend sat by my side as I sobbed through the bloodcurdling pains, for six hours, until the cramps finally stopped.

The nurse told me that the fetus was about the size of a grain of rice. This may be bold (or horrible) of me to say, but having my abortion was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Who knows what could have happened to that child-- I was an alcoholic, druggie, self-medicating untreated bipolar teenager. Once I had the abortion, I realized that I needed to get away from my asshole boyfriend. I enrolled in a local community college, changed up my group of friends, and look where I am today. Four years later and worlds apart from that girl I once was. I have a future now, a bright one. I had a best friend who found out she was pregnant at the same time, Hannah. She hasn't had custody of her daughter for over a year, is currently addicted to crystal meth, and is homeless. I know that's a bold comparison too, but we were going down the same path for a very long time, and I'm so glad I strayed from that path.

Personally, I think that this entire government shutdown is absolutely fucking ridiculous. I don't want to get too political (this is a very controversial post...) so I'll let Jon Steward and Jimmy Kimmel say it for me....

http://democracyforamerica.com/blog/765-jon-stewart-says-exactly-what-we-are-all-thinking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mo-VlRAKns

Maybe part of the reason I feel so passionate about this is because I am a young, mentally ill, previously-uninsured, currently-underinsured, hardworking, poor, student. Maybe it's because I grew up in a family that still very much believes in racism, as well as currently believes that Obama is a Muslim, trying to destroy America with Obamacare. I don't think any of them even know exactly what Obamacare is.

Obamacare is something that will help insure that all of our futures are bright. It gives us options, it gives us the ability to be our healthiest selves, and it gives people like me, that are uninsured, options. My mental health is just as important as my physical health, if not more important. As are the decisions I make as a woman. Although I was able to find help through both situations (my mental health and abortion) I am sure that a lot of people out there aren't as lucky. There are so many mentally ill people that can't afford the ridiculously priced services of psychiatrists and psychologists. There are so many mentally ill people, self medicating with street drugs, and having children throughout it all as well. Homelessness and prison tie in so often with mental illness that it's absurd something hasn't been done yet. Not to mention the countless other medical conditions that require insurance.

All I am saying is that if people were to actually learn about Obamacare maybe they would have a different opinion. Maybe if they were to think of someone they loved... that was sick in some way and couldn't afford (or receive because of a pre-existing condition) insurance. And maybe if they were to learn something about our government, they would understand that The Affordable Care Act is THE LAW. And that a SMALL portion of the house, the tea party conservatives, are literally holding our government hostage because they aren't getting their way. And in the end, is it really because they think it's bad for our country? Or is it because they've been holding out for so long on this issue, and even though nearly every news network has called this "suicidal", and the ratings back it up, they are too fucking stubborn to let down now. They'd embarrass themselves, they can't back down. 

Maybe I'm just venting because I come from a group of conservative, uneducated, raciest, obama-hating people.

Maybe the illuminati will take over in the end and none of this will matter.

But in the meantime, let the people have options.