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When someone very close to us is diagnosed with a serious illness, such as cancer, chances are we learn all we can about their diagnosis. We do this so that we can educate ourselves and learn how to best support them. The same should be true of a brain illness.
There are things you can do to convince doctors to talk with you when your loved one has a mental health crisis. That’s because there are times when doctors are allowed to talk with caregivers without consent. But, they have to believe doing so would be best for your loved one.
It’s a pretty common scenario. A family member contacts a treatment provider about a loved one with mental illness, only to be told, “I can’t speak with you – HIPAA prohibits it.” In reality, though, there are many ways HIPAA permits doctors to talk with caregivers.
Years ago, when my loved one’s psychiatrist told me that one of the symptoms of schizophrenia is that people don’t know they are ill – “anosognosia” – it blew my mind. Since then, I have learned quite a lot about anosognosia.