A Summary of Joshua Beharry’s “Lost in the Gap”

“Lost in the Gap” is documented by Joshua Beharry, who confesses about his struggle in getting treatment for his severe depression. Beharry’s journey in seeking help for his mental issues began while he was still a student at UBC. Appointment sessions with Counselling Services were barely possible due to Beharry’s busy school schedule as well as tight appointment bookings the counseling services had. Beharry was forced to search for assistance beyond the student health services. However, a private psychologist was costly, and his student health plan could only cater for a few sessions, which was not enough for Beharry.

Apart from difficulties in booking appointments with the Counselling Services at UBC, Beharry faced other barriers before getting the help he needed. While seeking a private psychologist, Beharry found it difficult finding information about individual practitioners and their specialty. Besides, he was not sure if he should look for help from a psychiatrist or psychologist. Also, his student health plan was not enough to cover for the expensive private counseling sessions. After finally acquiring appointments with the psychiatric consult at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) through his family doctor, Beharry was still experiencing difficulties opening up about what was bothering him. Being the first time Beharry was sharing with a stranger about his depressive state, he was unfamiliar with the process and scared to talk about his issues.

Nonetheless, Beharry got some routine aid from the sessions, but later on, after a while, the weekly meetings with the consult were over. The resident referred Beharry to a few other options before the end of their sessions. One is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which ran weekly for close to ten weeks. Another is a drop-in rapid-access counseling group that Beharry could attend a joint counseling session with a mental health worker. Both options were not suitable as he needed individual help for his condition. The resident had also referred Beharry to SAFER (Suicide Attempt Follow-up Education and Research), where he would see a counselor in suicide prevention. Unfortunately, the counselor did not understand what Beharry was experiencing, which made Beharry less connected to him. Unlike the family doctor and resident, he did not value nor trust SAFER’s counselor and stopped attending his sessions.

In addition to his challenges of getting help in treating his mental issues, Beharry was experiencing challenges in getting help in managing his courses. The school’s Faculty of Science advising center did not offer him the advice he had hoped for. Resultantly, Beharry had to tussle negotiating with his lecturers to give him extensions.  Also, Beharry was not able to get an admission at VGH, s psychiatric ward despite having suicidal thoughts (Beharry, 2014). Beharry’s admission restrain arose from the hospital’s strict policy that only admitted psychiatric patients for suicidal thoughts only if they have a unique plan of ending their life.

Despite all these challenges, Beharry had a few people who assisted him in navigating the system. One is his family doctor. The doctor shared with Beharry regarding his sadness and stress, in turn, diagnosing him with depression. She was also able to book him sessions with a resident at VGH. She also repeatedly called the resident to have Beharry fixed on the standby list in case an opening came by.  The resident also helped Beharry by directing him to various centers he would get help. One of these is CBT therapy, which greatly helped Beharry understand how distorted his thinking was. All three, the family doctor, the resident, and the CBT assisted Beharry in learning more about depression and the phase he was experiencing. The family doctor was also able to find Beharry, a psychiatrist who would see him on a long-term basis after his suicide attempt.

Beharry’s article shows it is difficult navigating and seeking help on mental issues. Besides, Beharry also points out the stress and struggles that college students go through, leading to depression. For college students, a functioning counseling department is vital for their mental health and school performance. In addition, Beharry also shows that navigating the system to acquire private counseling sessions can be costly and tasking, which in turn leads to most individuals seeking personal consultants unsatisfied and suicidal. It is essential for the school community and the public, in general, to create systems addressing mental health concerns and that are easy and cheap for individuals to navigate. Beharry’s article is essential as it shows the extent that persons experiencing depression and other mental issues are willing to go while seeking treatment. It is an awakening on the prevalent mental health concerns widespread in society.

References

Beharry, J. (2014). Lost in the Gap. Visions BC’s Mental Health and Addictions Journal, 12-14.