Insurance ought to cover psychotherapy

The 33-year-old Vanessa Rogers from Canada was left paralysed from the neck down unable to scratch her own nose.[Photo/IC]

A 36-year-old paraplegic patient in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, Central China, spent all his savings to hire someone to kill him. But after being stabbed a dozen times by the "murderer" he had hired, he was still alive and called for help. As a result of the attack he has lost the movement and feeling he had in his upper body. The Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

A paraplegic's life can easily become dehumanizing, because there is also no privacy for the patient in terms of bodily functions and their inability to participate in many social activities. They may have no close friends, and few have the opportunity to enjoy hobbies. Most of them even suffer some kind of discrimination.

Although people have been caring for him, the man still found his life unbearable.

Psychological help is even more important than treatment and basic life care for people severely disabled in an accident.

In the United States and other developed countries, such patients are usually offered psychological help and counseling to help them to face life and find the courage to carry on.

In China, the cost of psychiatric treatment is too expensive. Almost every year, there are calls for psychotherapy to be included in the basic medical insurance, but that is yet to happen.

Supporting measures related to mental health should be put on the agenda of local hospitals as soon as possible.