Ten years after having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I found myself in a severe depressive episode. Having no insurance, I had little options to get help. These were the days before Obamacare. A concerned friend took me to Chicago’s Cook County Hospital—a public institution. The nurses and doctors were busy—hurried. They had no time for me, and told me that to my face. Their attention needed to go toward the gun shots and sicker people.

I eventually got better on my own after another friend found me a free clinic where I got therapy and medication. But this story got me thinking what if society prioritized mental health. Would incidents of violence go down because people were treated for their anger management? Would the need for illegal drugs lessen if more people had other tools to deal with stress? What about all of those people with severe mental illness like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia? Would there be less homelessness and vagrancy?

I don’t believe in psychiatric hospitals. They are for the sickest of people only. What America needs more of is respite places, largely outpatient where people can drop in for a day or a night or as long as they need to heal and get therapy and medication if needed. The model is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous clubhouses except there are trained staff in crisis management.

The whole insurance system messed up mental heath care. People with cutthroat insurance get the best of care while people struggling in the middle and lower classes have trouble getting access to care. Obama changed this somewhat with the Affordable Care Act, which was supposed to level the healthcare playing field. However, there is still a lot of work to be done.

One can get mental health through the traditional route of seeking therapy and/or psychiatry or one can use mindfulness apps, self-improvement books, podcasts, drop-in centers, yoga classes, meditation groups, and faith-based healing. There are so many options out there. There needs to be equal access to all of the options. We need to give the single mother strung out on bills and three jobs access to the internet for searching out these resources and thought leaders. We need to also give her access to good therapy and traditional treatment if she needs it.

Alexis Zinkerman is a freelance writer based in Connecticut. She writes the popular mental health blog A Mile a Minute Fresh Takes on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction http://amileaminute.blog. She writes about the intersections between spirituality and mental health, yoga, meditation, fitness. Through use of the journalistic interview, she artfully captures her subjects zeitgeist views on the issues facing us today.