Catharsis

I've blogged about some of my favorite words before, and this is another one that I would have to put on my list of favorite words: catharsis. Catharsis means purging, purification, or clarification, as relating to an individual's emotional state. Discovering catharsis has been a huge part of healing for me. (I just spelled 'discovering' as 'descovering.' Apparently my acquired dyslexia still is hanging around....) A cathartic conversation with a friend allows me to get emotions out. Sometimes it takes a while for the emotional state to resolve itself. Other times it comes very quickly. But I have discovered one thing: if I in any way try to short-circuit this emotional process of purging, I will inevitably inhibit healing. It has happened numerous times. Showing emotions is natural. There is nothing spiritual, attractive, or realistic about hiding them. When emotions remain suppressed they can lead to physical problems as well as greater and deeper emotional ones (stress, anger, anxiety, bitterness, depression).

This morning I was in need of a good bit of catharsis. I have been growing increasingly more frustrated with our insurance company and the manner in which they have been handling some of the bill submissions. For each provider, I am required to fill out a certain form, provide proof of payment, and make sure that certain information is present for each item. Today I worked on gathering and resubmitting some of this information for the third or fourth time. To make things more frustrating, some of the information that was alleged to be missing has indeed been on all the forms I have submitted. I am not submitting anything new this time around (except for a few new bills...) and yet I am being required to re-document and re-submit information which has already been provided. I'm also being asked to provide justification for my prescriptions, which has never been required before. The frustration boiled over in tears and a few outbursts of anger at the company itself, but now it's over. The forms are all in order, and I hope this time they will be accepted. If not, I might have a bit more catharsis to get out in a bit of a more robust manner, because sitting at a desk filling out forms isn't very cathartic. It was useful, but I think a half-hour session with a punching bag might have been more appropriate.

What I don't understand about these insurance companies and their nit-picky requirement is, don't they understand we are sick? Don't they understand how time-consuming these forms are? I have too often met with negligence, miscommunication, and a lack of clarity when working with these companies. Maybe I should cut them more slack than I do, because I genuinely don't understand how their systems work, but really? Not looking forward to health care becoming even worse when it becomes a socialized industry regulated by the government.....