The Mental Health Crisis in America

There are approximately 26 million americans who are diagnosed with a mental illness. the American Psychiatric Association estimates that there are another 40-50 million more people who are undiagnosed and untreated. About 80% of our prison population suffers from some kind of mental illness. And the World Health Organization recently announced that it believes mental illness is the worlds number one public health problem.

The problem is bad and shows no signs of improving. There are appropriate facilities for treatment of about one tenth of our mentally ill population. Most of those resources are located in larger metropolitan areas. People in smaller towns and rural areas have virtually no resources. What resources we have as a country are already overloaded. Even if you have money or private insurance, it can take two weeks or more to see a mental health professional. If you are in the public system, it can take six months! Mental illness hurts. It hurts like cancer, diabetes, AIDS and all the other well promoted conditions. It hurts like a broken leg, and it is terribley hard to deal with that pain for an extended period of time!

Unfortunately, many mentally ill people are unable to care for themselves. When they apply for social assistance, they are actually given a hard time getting it, and sometimes treated like criminals abusing the system.

Obviously, good mental health begins with good basic health care, including good nutrition and a clean, safe place to live. These are goals that do not require advanced trainning in mental health care.

It is a big problem. The mental health care system in the country has suffered from neglect for a long time. Too long! It is going to take money. Alot of money! Try to remember that the mentally ill are people. Unlike corporate individuals, they feel real and actual pain. When they fail, they do not just go out of business or reorganize, they die. You cannot say there is not enough money, or it is too expensive. If we can come up $750 billion to bail out corporations, there are no more excuses for not taking care of the mental health crisis in this country!