Dr. Mark Viner Discusses Why Our Mental Health Care System Is Screwed Up, In Alaska It's Worse-Update


Update: It was brought to my attention I had placed two part one videos on this post. I replaced one of them with part two.

Dr. Mark Viner receiving an Exemplary Psychiatrist award from NAMI.
  

He is a compassionate psychiatrist who seeks to decrease the stigma of mental health issues. In his videos he often uses unusual tactics to keep the viewer's attention. He discusses the patient having input into their treatment and getting the patient to trust so they will voluntarily admit themselves for help rather than have to be committed. When the patient feels like they are a partner rather than being forced there is more success and treatment is designed more in alignment to that patient's personality. It is hard to have success without trust. In a diverse state like Alaska with many different tribes of Native people who have differing cultural needs this should be an essential part of treatment. Instead bullying, gossiping about clients, lack of education of practitioners and difficulty with access to care cause those who need mental health care to simply stop trying or even avoid treatment due to the trauma secondary to attempts to do so. We have a dangerously inadequate mental health system in Alaska, rather than decrease the budget for those services by $8.3 million, we should be increasing it. That should include mandatory education for mental health practitioners. I can only get a proper diagnosis from a psychiatrist in Alaska, several have agreed on PTSD, but I get all kinds of crazy, abusive, retaliatory misdiagnoses from non-physicians (even though my PTSD is extremely obvious). The difference is education requirements and of course those who are giving retaliatory diagnoses and gossiping are in need of treatment themselves if you get my drift.

We have had many stories in Alaska with tragic outcomes when it was clear someone needed treatment often for a long time. They may even ask for help and get turned down, even twice in one day before they become violent and are then arrested and funneled to the prison system. I have had the experience of trying to see a psychiatrist several times before I had a suicidal/dissociative meltdown that got me charged with felonies rather than sent for treatment secondary to PTSD from workplace bullying. I have also called the suicide hotline and gotten this response, "I don't know why they are sending those calls to us." There is just no excuse for this.