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Qualtiy of Life

What is quality of life for the severely mentally ill person? Quality of life ,of course, includes the the minimum standards for survival such as food, clothing,a roof over your head and medical and dental care.Too often our present medical system stops at this point. The powers that be think that they have done enough for mental health consumers at this point. In my opinion they have not. If these standards indicate a sufficient quality of life then my dogs and cats meet the minimal requirement. In fact my pets have a better quality of care than this as they also get love, recreation and exercise as well. Something is wrong with this picture.
Although there are times in life when survival alone is one's major goal this should not be a permanent state of mind, To be human and a creation of God entitles us to a much more abundant life. Why are we not providing this for persons with severely debilitating psychiatric disorders?
The answer, unfortunately, comes down to money, priorities and budgets. This , regrettably, is priority number one for both government agencies and the non profits that they often help fund. As a former front line mental health worker I got to see first hand how these decisions impacted the lives of those with severe and persistent psychiatric disabilities. In upcoming blogs I will share my observations.

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