I thought I was pretty clear about what I was saying: “just go to therapy” ignores all the reasons people don’t “just” go to therapy. Nobody is a heroin addict because it’s fun, and lack of access to appropriate mental healthcare is a huge factor in that.

You don't need therapists to "be in network" for you to go to them.

If therapy had cost me $150/session instead of $5/session I wouldn’t have gotten it, and those price points are set by my insurance company according to if they’re in network or not. If $150/session is nothing to you then I’m glad for you, but that price point is a huge factor for the majority of people.

Like, in some places in the US there are people who will do minor surgeries on themselves because it costs too much to see a doctor; the depths of poverty and lack of medical access in some areas (especially rural ones) is way beyond what you imagine if you haven’t seen it. And it’s probably not a coincidence that there is a huge epidemic of opioid addiction in rural areas.

If you’re at the point where you’re saying “oh but heroin costs so much more than therapy”, you are not in the kind of mindset of someone who is at the point of taking heroin to cope. They are not making good long term decisions because their mental health is in the gutter.

Again, I’m not saying heroin is a good decision. I’m saying if we want to deal with addiction as a society we have to understand both what causes people to become addicted in the first place as well as what keeps them from getting help. If telling people “go to therapy” is all it took there wouldn’t be a problem.