Should Government Healthcare Pay forCosmetic Surgery for those Genuinely Depressed About Their Body?

[BenTheDemon]

(Sorry for the missing space in the title. I reached the character limit.)

I had this thought recently where I've been extremely depressed, as I hate how I feel in my own skin, and it's bad enough that one could likely call it a mental condition. It depresses me to no end knowing that I don't meet my own standard of beauty. I feel trapped knowing that I simply cannot afford the cosmetic surgery to fix everything I hate about my body and thought that if the United States ever decides to catch up to the rest of the world and have Universal Health Care, I wonder if we should expand it to include cosmetic surgery for the clinically depressed.

Sorry for the short OP, but the question is rather self-explanatory and I think it would make good discussion.

 

[GotR]

I don't have a well formed opinion on this topic - I haven't done the research or looked into the effect this kind of thing would actually have on depression, so I'm open to being convinced by people with more knowledge about the topic than me.

Having said that, my immediate reaction is not to support this for the same reason that I don't support gastric bypass surgery for people with anorexia. If you have an issue with your body stemming from or related to a mental condition, I think that should be an indicator that the solution is in your head, rather than modifying your body to fit with your current wishes.

Further, from my own brief brushes with depression, I would not trust depressed me to make life changing decisions this big.

From both of those points, I conclude that it's not something you should be doing, and therefore certainly not something we should be funding. But again, haven't looked into it a whole lot, and I'm open to being convinced.

 

[Sam I Yam]

No. You being happy with how you look is your responsibility not the gorvernments

 

[Pilo]

I don't think cosmetic surgery should fall under government obligations, I don't think it to be essential for someone's mental health and isn't very good for their physical health either. If someone is truly depressed I believe their insurance covers therapy or some other form of counselling which is what someone suffering from depression actually needs.

 

[orch]

If that idea was implemented then all of the "depressed" teens are going to get boob and penis jobs at taxpayers' expense.

If you don't like how you look, then make the effort to change it yourself. Overweight? Eat less. Want sick pecs? Start working out. Want to make your dick longer? Save up money.

 

[Cresselia~~]

UK allows that and people hated it.
Lots of people fake their depression and get boob jobs done.
But then you have people who are seriously ill that need surgery but are denied funding.

 

[Blazade]

I'm not sure where the line is between treating clinical depression by having the government pay to fix the root cause of it (as opposed to through medication or even a form of accessible counseling), and asking the government and taxpayers to be financially responsible for my happiness, but I don't really think it's that clear.

In my opinion problems like that are best solved by trying to ensure people without the funds to make their own choices have better access to education and more lucrative job opportunities, or by taking steps to change culture for a more socially mobile environment. Depression is often tragically underestimated in its seriousness, but the need for a program like that isn't as immediate as the need to ensure people have accessible healthcare that best protects their right to life in unfortunate circumstances, a problem we're still working on.

 

[Ash Borer]

answers to questions like this are probably pragmatic

People that are depressed are usually pretty unproductive. If you spend money treating them, and then they become productive, there's a chance that they pay back more than what you spent on them in taxes, etc. Even if they don't, you can contribute to society by being a good friend, parent, spouse, or some other community member who has value..

depression isn't really the other side of the coin of happiness, it's characterized by utter apathy and nihilism

 

[Kanburi]

No, pay for that yourself.

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

Fuck. No.

I've noticed that a lot of responses here come from an anti-body modification predisposition. Not me. Anyone who's been here for longer than a day knows I have a lot of issues with my body, so you'd expect me to be sympathetic to this idea. No. I'm currently in the process of a long, patience-testing body modification. That doesn't mean the government should pay for it; it's not medically necessary and not a public health problem, so the government has no compelling reason to pay for it.

Right now, I have an easy go-to response to anyone who throws a hissy-fit about body modification: "Don't get 'em if you don't like 'em, but it's none of your fucking business what I do with my own body." However, if the government paid for it? I don't have that scripted response, because it becomes their fucking business. They'd be paying for my body modification (which runs on the cheap side compared to surgical body mods, but even still), which means they have a legitimate stake in what I'm doing and it's in their best interests to try to stop me. I stop being able to tell these people to piss off for the sole reason that it's become their problem.

Nobody else has a say in what I do with my body and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Flare]

The decision is personal, I don't think that the government should promote this kind of things just because people dont feel comfortable with their appearance. So it's up to the person, the government shouldn't be involved in any way.

 

[Mymble]

I think a lot of the responses in this thread have been needlessly crass. Cosmetic surgery goes far beyond breast enlargements and nose jobs and hair transplants. Skin grafts for disfigurements and breast reductions for back issues and psychological issues, are two things I've seen nobody in this thread mention. Depression and Body Dysmorphia are serious issues that are being haphazardly brushed aside. I don't think it is unreasonable that psychological issues should be treated with the same weight as physical ones. Surgery should be the last resort, not the first, but should be an option all the same. If it is genuinely going to improve the quality of life of that person why shouldn't it be treated? Why shouldn't society act to be happier overall? Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't see whats to gain from being cynical. Your money isn't specifically going to this persons tit job, it's going to an overall societal wellness. Which as Ash Borer points outs has broader economic and social benefits. I think psychiatry should be treated more seriously and should be better incorporated into the healthcare systems, and cosmetic surgery should be used to compliment that when it's appropriate. Psychiatry and a healthier lifestyle should be the primary treatment for obesity, but there is a fair bit of evidence that shows that various stomach surgeries change the psychology of the obese persons to act more in the way of a healthy person. Obesity is very much a public health problem. I'm not saying everybody should be able to alter their body however they want, but this absolutism is ridiculous in how careless it is. I don't think there is anything to be gained personally or socially from looking at this so coldly.

 

[JTD783]

It's not the role of the government to keep people happy; it is their role, however, to ensure that people have the opportunity to become happy. By the government choosing not to offer tax-funded cosmetic surgery, they don't prevent people from becoming unhappy. The choice just assigns the surgery, as well as subsequent happiness, to be a responsibility of the individual.

Said individual can find help through therapy or by paying for the surgery on his/her own. Don't have the money? That's unfortunate, but there are people who can donate to your cause (eg crowdfunding/charity) and finding a higher-paying job. Depression makes this more challenging but it's not the government's job to make it easier, and it certainly isn't the taxpayer's job to fund your procedure.

This comes down to how much one believes the government should be involved with healthcare, such as no involvement, established guidelines, subsidized health insurance, tax-funded government-operated clinics, mandatory government-operated clinics/insurance, no privatized healthcare options, and so on. This is a scale from no intervention to extreme intervention obviously.

Arguing that governments should provide therapy is one thing, but getting free cosmetic surgery out of the system is too easily abused to be viable.

*personally I think government intervention should be kept to a minimum but whatever floats your boat*

 

[Grey Knight]

In Japan its illegal to be fat, while also the government manages to cover up to 90% of the medical fees.

I am not stating this as an argument, its just to show how different the views on healthcare can be.

 

[Soul Fly]

In Japan its illegal to be fat

No it isn't.

 

[Grey Knight]

No it isn't.

Yeah, it doesn't put the people in prison of course, but as this page forgets to mention a company that has lots of obese employees risks losing health care and insurance benefits provided by the state.

 

[Cresselia~~]

Yeah, it doesn't put the people in prison of course, but as this page forgets to mention a company that has lots of obese employees risks losing health care and insurance benefits provided by the state.

A Japanese company would only need to pay higher insurance for an obese worker.
It's not called losing health care.

But a Japanese company would definitely choose a non-obese person if 2 people have the same qualifications.

 

[toshimelonhead]

For the United States, this is like complaining that you don't have enough frosting when you don't even have a cake.

 

[RoadsterUFO]

I agree with the statement of "My body, my choice", and I also agree with the statement of "My wallet, my money". My answer is no, I already feel bad enough along with many other people getting cut out of their paycheck to fund stuff like this. I'm also not a fan of single payer healthcare, but that's a story for another thread.

 

[macle]

I say no because that isn't actually gonna solve your problems. You need therapy to help you out, not surgery.

 

[macle]

also the amount of people itt that are implying that depression isn't a mental disorder and its just a state of emotion is kinda sick

 

[Rakan]

As if taxpayers aren't already paying enough