I’ve spent years trying to find the right medication for my mental health.
Years of trial and error.
Years of hoping this one would help without making things worse.
And I wish someone had told me sooner:
There’s a genetic test — a simple saliva swab — that can actually show how your body metabolizes certain psychiatric medications. It’s called pharmacogenetic testing, and it can give your doctor a better idea of what meds are more likely to help you specifically… and which ones might do more harm than good.
I’m finally getting this test done.
It’s covered under my private insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield — but let’s be real: not everyone is that lucky. Some insurances don’t cover it at all, and without coverage it can cost up to $3,000 out-of-pocket. It blows my mind that something so potentially life-changing is still out of reach for so many.
Especially when you’ve already been through the wringer with mental health.
⸻
I live with Bipolar 2 Depression. And if you’ve followed any part of my story, you know this journey hasn’t been easy. I’ve had moments of progress, then setbacks. New meds, new side effects. New providers, then suddenly — no provider at all. Before I started traveling, I had a few solid psychiatrists… but after a few months, they’d leave the practice, and I’d be starting over. Again. And again.
Then I became a travel healthcare worker — and things got even harder.
You’d think mental health coverage would be mandatory in that world.
You’re miles away from home, maybe isolated from family, working stressful shifts, living alone… and spiraling.
But guess what?
Most travel healthcare insurance plans don’t cover any mental health services. Not therapy. Not psychiatry. Not even the consult.
It took me hitting a breaking point to get my own private insurance — which costs me a jaw-dropping $746 a month. I can only afford it because of travel pay. Most people don’t have that option.
⸻
So why am I writing this?
Because I’m tired of mental health care being treated like an afterthought.
Because this test could’ve saved me time, side effects, and suffering.
Because some of you are still being told it’s “just in your head” when you ask for help.
And because if no one talks about it, nothing changes.
⸻
If you’re struggling with your mental health…
If meds haven’t helped or made things worse…
If you’ve been passed from provider to provider like your pain is paperwork…
You deserve better.
You deserve access.
You deserve care that fits you.
Ask your doctor about pharmacogenetic testing. Advocate for your mental health like it’s life or death — because for some of us, it is.
And if you have the chance to make your voice heard?
Use it.
Loudly.
You’re not alone.
And you don’t have to stay stuck.
—
Jamie Tackett
Healing Into Purpose