Mental Health Day - some get lucky, some don't.

[frigidweirdo]

Here's a video of a guy who got lucky, a few times.

The guy has paranoid, mania, hallucinations and bipolar disorder. He got lucky because he was adopted by a family who brought him up well, but he still tired to kill himself at 17.



Now, many people don't get this support. They don't go and get a foster family. Often they're with a single mother who may share some of the same symptoms, have the same problems, and they're alone trying to bring up a kid who is also struggling and they don't understand how to deal with these problems.

The kid goes off the rails. Commits crime and ends up in prison.

An estimated 25% of people have some sort of mental problems.

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibt...ed/public/2015/05/27/mental-illness-jails.png

About 50% of inmates in US prisons have mental problems. This is double the number of people who have mental problems.

Depressive Disorders seem to land a lot of people in prisons, along with Bipolar, Mania as the guy in the video had. That's 33% of prisoners in prisons have Depression.

http://www.sor.govoffice3.com/verti...F05648C7}/uploads/Foster_Care_PDF_12-8-11.pdf

How many kids who have been in foster care end up in prison?

About 75% according to this article, with the most likely to go to prison those who spent 1-5 years in foster care.

The US prefers to spend money on locking such people up rather than dealing with their problems.

In the US everyone can make it. The reality is no, not everyone can make it. If they had the right care, the right support system, the right education growing up, then yes, they might be able to make it. But kids with such issues, growing up in inner city areas, or growing up without support, are far more likely to commit crime and end up in prison where no one gives a shit about them any more.

Nothing will change because the people in charge, the people you elected, they don't care. Prison looks good. It's spending money on dealing with a problem that people can actually see. They can't see mental problems, they can see murders, they can see theft, burglary, rape, assault, this all makes sense to them, but mental problems they don't understand. The voters might even have mental problems themselves but are trying to avoid acknowledging their own problems.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Just wondering why someone thinks that mental health doesn't belong in politics. Seems to be reinforcing the very things that I'm talking about.

That this deals with prison populations, lazy and useless politicians, inactivity of politicians to deal with this problem, how is this not politics?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I deal with mental problems every day I have delusional paranoia and recurring major depression. That is no excuse for committing crimes. The problem in the US is that no one wants to know about mental problems. It is ignored and marginalized by the vast majority of the population not just politicians.

Until we change the attitude about mental health nothing good will get done.

 

[Disir]

There is no money in treating mentally ill people unless that individual has awesome insurance.

There is this misconception that if people could just change the way they view mental illness then the rest would come. That isn't how it works. This isn't about how people view mental illness. The psych wards have been shutting beds down for the past 10-15 years. The politicians are too busy lining their pockets. There is no money in it.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

There is no money in treating mentally ill people unless that individual has awesome insurance.

There is this misconception that if people could just change the way they view mental illness then the rest would come. That isn't how it works. This isn't about how people view mental illness. The psych wards have been shutting beds down for the past 10-15 years. The politicians are too busy lining their pockets. There is no money in it.

Wrong, as usual, the US public ignores mental health issues and makes ignorant comments when forced to face it. Things like ohh you are depressed, just shake it off. Men do not feel they can admit to their problems and so most do not seek help at all. You are viewed as weird if you admit to a mental health issue, you are supposed to just shake it off and ignore it.

 

[frigidweirdo]

There is no money in treating mentally ill people unless that individual has awesome insurance.

There is this misconception that if people could just change the way they view mental illness then the rest would come. That isn't how it works. This isn't about how people view mental illness. The psych wards have been shutting beds down for the past 10-15 years. The politicians are too busy lining their pockets. There is no money in it.

This is why health insurance is ridiculous. If you're born with mental health problems you can't get help and you can't work to get the money to pay for the massive health insurance you'd have to pay. Fuck mentally ill people and lock them up.

 

[MarathonMike]

There is such a wide range of mental issues and most seem to be "treated" with drugs. For all the advances in fighting diseases, there is woefully little to show for treatment of mental illnesses other than "dope them up or lock them up".

 

[frigidweirdo]

There is such a wide range of mental issues and most seem to be "treated" with drugs. For all the advances in fighting diseases, there is woefully little to show for treatment of mental illnesses other than "dope them up or lock them up".

Well, I'm not sure I agree. There are drugs and then can help people, but it's more than just drugs. I know, I have family members who suffer from debilitating mental illnesses, and it's not nice to watch. But you see that there are times where drugs don't work and dealing with the issues, understanding the illness and having OTHERS understand the illness makes things a lot better.

 

[Disir]

There is no money in treating mentally ill people unless that individual has awesome insurance.

There is this misconception that if people could just change the way they view mental illness then the rest would come. That isn't how it works. This isn't about how people view mental illness. The psych wards have been shutting beds down for the past 10-15 years. The politicians are too busy lining their pockets. There is no money in it.

Wrong, as usual, the US public ignores mental health issues and makes ignorant comments when forced to face it. Things like ohh you are depressed, just shake it off. Men do not feel they can admit to their problems and so most do not seek help at all. You are viewed as weird if you admit to a mental health issue, you are supposed to just shake it off and ignore it.

BS. Many of the people that I encounter have a mental illness. Most of them have a dual diagnosis. Or they are related to someone that is.
This is not the '50s, '60s. It's not even the '80s. We aren't locking people up in the basement. In fact, we have an over diagnosis of ADHD and bipolar disorder when children are 5 and 6 simply to keep them focused due to the changes in education. It has become the norm. Frankly, that is where the money is as well. When you turn 18 there is no money and precious few (if any) resources.

That said, you are old school. There are two professions that I can think of off the top of my head where any sign of weakness is prohibited and it comes with the territory. One is the military and the other is law enforcement. You were in the military.