Tag Archives: mental health

December 14, 2012

one candle flame

Not all that long ago, I wrote a post about the state of mental health care in this country.

Last week, a young man brutally took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators. I cannot imagine anyone doing such a thing while living in excellent mental health.

As far as I know, there is no confirmation on whether or not the shooter was officially mentally ill. Still, even if he didn’t have a diagnosis like schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder), there must have been something seriously wrong. Taking actions that so go against biological and social programming just has to be indicative of a problem.

I’m certainly not looking to condone what he did. I simply hope that there is an explanation, and one that points to a method of future prevention, naive as that may seem.

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Backward Health Care: Mental Health

paper cutout art head mental healthI don’t like to gripe, and I certainly don’t want to be perceived as a whiny, entitled hypochondriac.

However, I think there is a lot wrong with the health systems in this country, and people like myself are getting a bum deal.

Stop! Don’t go – this is not a political post. Promise.

Let me say at the outset that I am not a medical, psychiatric or economic expert. All I have is my experience and reason. It just so happens that, in this case, I feel they are enough to warrant a strong opinion.

I know times are tough, and that resources are limited. I also know that a car accident, heart attack or stroke are far more acute than a panic attack or mental meltdown in the context of medical emergency.

But, when someone is at the height of anxiety, or the lowest point of depression, he or she should not have to wait a month to get real treatment. At the moment, that kind of delay is a fact of our mental health care system. And it is a burden on the workforce and on families.

Case in point: In early 2011, I was dealing with a variety of life changes that involved everything from loss of a family member to nutritional deficiencies. The resulting anxiety and depression set me into a downward spiral of improper diet, stress, weight loss, digestive symptoms, hormonal imbalance, emotional instability and perceived infertility.

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