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A loss of 450 psychologists in the last decade of cuts and a shortage estimated by the Department of Health of 883 psychologists within five years, which is simply catastrophic. And to top it all off, there is a specific measure planned for shrinks, namely to increase their work week to 40 hours.
It makes you wonder if the measure is not intentionally bad. We would like to scare away shrinks, we could not do it better. In any case, it is to show the highest ignorance as to the emotional impact of the work of psychologists in the public network. This is to ignore the major impact on the mental health of these workers who live daily alongside psychological distress at its highest level, whether we are talking about suicidal impulses or all self-destructive behaviors, not to mention all the difficulties specific to this relational work with weakened and vulnerable people grappling with complex problems.
Beyond the obvious human aspects, let’s talk about finances. Because several unfavorable prejudices run in connection with the presence of psychologists.
The shrinks are a commodity that we could easily do without, as we hear in the mouths of some elected officials or managers. It is not necessary to consult a shrink, many other professionals can be employed. This statement is completely false for a large part of the clientele. To express such an affirmation is to demonstrate the utmost ignorance of the seriousness of the mental health problems encountered in the public network. It is to put all the requests for mental health care at the same level, a level which could be satisfied with self-care: “Go see on the internet, you will find the appropriate advice!” Or, we put you on a waiting list for a psychological education group. Yes ! If it were that simple, we wouldn’t have the proportions of psychological distress the statistics tell us about, even more so in times of a pandemic. And what was highly predictable has already started: people drop out, they don’t follow up on an inappropriate service offer.
And yet, a shrink is not a luxury! On the contrary, it is a very profitable investment. It is at least 10% savings in health costs that psychologists achieve, once their salary has been paid.
Numerous studies show that for each dollar, a return of 2 to 17 $ results from the interventions of psychologists according to the complexity of the profiles!
You can imagine the colossal sums saved! Due to a lack of accessibility to psychological care, all these people clog doctors’ offices, emergency rooms and even incur hospital costs, not to mention the galloping increase in the costs of medication that patients often neglect to take. While the results of psychological interventions last over time and help bring people back to a functional level.
While the interventions of psychologists have proven their worth, we do not understand why the government is ignoring this important economy. We do not understand why we continue to waste public funds when less expensive solutions are available. We do not understand why we trashed an effective psychological intervention model that was used a few decades ago in the public network. We do not understand why our unions do not defend the right to remuneration proportional to the level of education.
Please let our elected officials react! If you don’t take the human factor into account, at least take the numbers into account and save taxpayers money.
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