The hidden danger for young and old alike.

There is much on the news regarding Mental Health. Mental Health is a real illness. We need to look at this illness as a crisis in our country. It has been put in the shadows for years. It has this just a phantom illness out in the Universe that no one wants to talk about and certainly not admit a member of our family might have it.

Mental Health is being brought to the public eye kicking and screaming. We need to acknowledge this illness in our community. Helping raise awareness to this illness will save billions of dollars, countless lives and the same amount of dollars in countless lives on the sidelines as collateral damage. If we continue to push this illness in a corner it will only continue to fester and grow. This philosophy (hiding the illness) is how we got to where we are today.

Mental Illness has reached into every crevice of life. Whether we are looking at the bank robber, the doctor who abuses his patients, the older couple who continue to withdrawal from society, kids shooting kids or human beings of any age abusing and/or mutilating animals. It is interesting that traffic accidents have risen substantially in the past 25 years, was this really because of isolated incidents or was there suicides. We are only now beginning to associate many automobile accidents as suicides. How can our children learn in a school providing policing of the space by uniform gun carrying police? Have we created an environment that is to stressful to live in?

It is amazing how many of our problems would be significantly reduced if our citizens had the ability to get mental health care in our country. Other nations around the globe have found ways to: 1) have educational programs in place for the training of medical professionals and 2) have medical needs addressed for anyone wanting the help. We in the United States have made some progress in the last few years making medical care available to everyone. This step was a significant one and when we see clinics and health care specialist setup to provided a care not covered (such as Dental) it is another significant step. We are getting there.

Our country must make Mental Health a priority for our citizens. It is a black eye on our country to have people walk away from Mental Health Hospitals due to the staff not having the resources or numbers to safeguard the patients or the public. This article is only scratching the surface of our Mental Health problem. Look at the shootings-taking place in schools, not only are the kids affected having been in harms way but the suggestion of this violence has taken a toll on twice as many who have witnessed or have the act played over and over in mass communication. They are also subjected to actions most have never seen before. And of those a significant number will never get over what they have seen. We can take a page out of our military populations to see this scenario.

We are all being subjected to the harm of Mental Health problems. For those who say, “We don’t have the money to provide this care” or “Why should I pay when I don’t see this in my family”; I say look around at your friends, neighbors, public leaders and education leaders. I believe you will find either we come up with the money now or we will pay significant amounts (both money and human life) in the future. We live to close to say it is someone else’s problem.

While being a national problem we can each protect ourselves and loved ones with forethought and some research. Find how Mental Health Issues are treated in your neighborhood. Look closely and our educational process, from teacher to student, from school board to community support and from student to student. Get involved in the help and stay out of the problem.