NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) recently sent out questionnaires to the US Presidential candidates on mental health related issues. They just published those responses, they can be seen here.
That's right, this is a US political post. I can hear the groans from my friends as far away as Australia. I promise not to write too much about US politics, but the issues go to my core.
Let me pause right here and talk about my personal politics. I was a far-right republican for many years. Hard-line on social issues, fiscal responsibility, foreign relations, and so forth. I know, in this community that’s enough to be shunned for life. But this was prior to life handing me several eye-openers. These events were:
I was thrilled to see that NAMI had put together a questionnaire to help us decide who was the best candidate on mental health issues. The first thing I did was look at the list of candidates. Hillary Clinton had a long response, Barack Obama had a concise expression of his views. John Edwards responded, however not in the questionnaire format. I looked down the Republican list: Giuliani, Huckabee, Romney – none returned their responses. McCain refused to return the questionnaire but instead sent a short canned response on his mental health platform (note short).
I clucked and shook my head looking at the empty Republican list. So I opened up Obama’s and Clinton’s responses side by side and sat down to compare. Both looked good, Clinton more verbose and grandiose, but Obama pleasantly concise. I skimmed ahead looking at the actual question responses: Strongly Support, Strongly Support, Strongly Support… Something didn’t look right. I looked at the questions:
1. Support mental health and substance abuse coverage in all plans to provide affordable health care?
Good questions, we need mental health and substance abuse coverage.
2. Support federal parity legislation to provide equivalent coverage of mental health and substance abuse conditions?
Another good question.
3. Ensure that active duty military, veterans and reservists receive the mental health care and disability payments they need to live successfully with mental illness?
That's right, this is a US political post. I can hear the groans from my friends as far away as Australia. I promise not to write too much about US politics, but the issues go to my core.
Let me pause right here and talk about my personal politics. I was a far-right republican for many years. Hard-line on social issues, fiscal responsibility, foreign relations, and so forth. I know, in this community that’s enough to be shunned for life. But this was prior to life handing me several eye-openers. These events were:
- Completely unaffordable health insurance when I was self-employed that led to thousands of dollars of medical debt and personal financial difficulties that persist a decade later.
- The necessity of using WIC, free lunch, and other social programs around the time we were having financial issues related to a business failure.
- My brother came out of the closet.
- My son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
- I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
I was thrilled to see that NAMI had put together a questionnaire to help us decide who was the best candidate on mental health issues. The first thing I did was look at the list of candidates. Hillary Clinton had a long response, Barack Obama had a concise expression of his views. John Edwards responded, however not in the questionnaire format. I looked down the Republican list: Giuliani, Huckabee, Romney – none returned their responses. McCain refused to return the questionnaire but instead sent a short canned response on his mental health platform (note short).
I clucked and shook my head looking at the empty Republican list. So I opened up Obama’s and Clinton’s responses side by side and sat down to compare. Both looked good, Clinton more verbose and grandiose, but Obama pleasantly concise. I skimmed ahead looking at the actual question responses: Strongly Support, Strongly Support, Strongly Support… Something didn’t look right. I looked at the questions:
1. Support mental health and substance abuse coverage in all plans to provide affordable health care?
Good questions, we need mental health and substance abuse coverage.
2. Support federal parity legislation to provide equivalent coverage of mental health and substance abuse conditions?
Another good question.
3. Ensure that active duty military, veterans and reservists receive the mental health care and disability payments they need to live successfully with mental illness?
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