Short Stories

Dead Broke

Throughout life, people will experience the death of loved ones, friends, and co-workers. There is a large issue within the United States of people dying young through a variety of methods. This often affects different members and communities as people need time to grieve. While there are many potential resources for people to avoid dying, they are often expensive and sometimes associated with judgment and problematic past. The United States has a very expensive healthcare system that is not easily affordable even with medical coverage. If the person needs long term prescriptions or care, that can easily add hundreds or even thousands of dollars in medical expenses on a tight budget. Mental healthcare is the same, doctor appointments and medication are often too expensive. Mental health also carries a terrible past of institutionalization, unnecessary experiments, and negative views from different cultural perspectives. In order to still be able to mourn the beloved, many people have turned to taking time off and seeking religious assistance. Currently, Human Resource systems do not give enough time to prepare for the various religious services, mourning those who have died, and giving time to heal before coming back to work. Religious leaders are also dramatically underprepared to handle simple to long term grief, mental health issues like suicidal tendencies, depression, and anxiety. According to recent studies, religious leaders are often told to pass along those who need more care to mental health professionals. Religious leaders in Judaic, Protestant, and Catholic faiths often receive only one or two courses in seminary regarding mental health. With the rise in deaths at younger ages, limited grieving time, and course work for religious leaders, this paper calls for advocacy at all levels. Advocacy to prevent younger deaths by encouraging more courses within the seminary, more time to grief from Human Resources, and medical coverage for mental health and prescriptions. In order to facilitate and assist their religious following, religious leaders need to play a more active role in advocating for changes in mental health stigmas, healthcare changes, human resource benefits, and legal documents that assist in final preparations. The world needs to change to impower patients, give power back to leaders, and understand the cultures within the American standard. Human Resources needs to take on the burden of understanding religious needs and give them the time and resources they need. We need to increase mental health courses along with general health courses to help students and families do better. Therapy and wills need to be discussed and provided for families to help them understand different life transitions. Human Resources needs to help their employees transition especially when handling grief.