Skip to main content

When Will They Wake Up?


When Will They Wake Up?

As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs I was over at my son’s house watching a video about SNFU and their lead singer. Ken Chinn. This video managed to rile me up again as it showed how our mental heath system it is not doing its job. Actually I can’t blame this video for getting me angry. Even though I have been out of the mental health field for several months now I still think about the mentally ill and their plight every day. What really gets to me is that I know there are answers and solutions out there. They just need to be acted upon. I’m not saying that we can create a perfect life for the seriously mentally ill. What I am saying is that we can give the seriously mentally ill a lot better quality of life than they have now. Why are we not doing that? We are not doing that because of the politics and money that is involved. The seriously mentally ill do not have a high enough priority in our society. Our governments must be prepared and willing to spend more money or at the very least find ways to use the money more wisely. What we need is talented creative people in this field and we need to pay them what they are worth. We can no longer say we can’t afford it. If the government really wants to do something they can always find the money. The lot in life of the mentally ill could be significantly improved by increasing the staffing in residential rehabilitation facilities. I have been told that this would cost too much. This is nonsense. Adequately staffing residential rehabilitation facilities will not break the bank. If it does the budgets for the mentally ill are set are too low.
There is also the philosophy out there that residential treatment centers are not the best practice for people with serious and persistent psychiatric disorders. This too is nonsense. Yes, in a perfect world, all of the seriously mentally ill could be living independently. Reality tells us that this is simply not the case. There will always be vulnerable individuals who can benefit and can have their quality of life improved by living in residential rehabilitation treatment centers that are adequately staffed and have creative programming. Is this too much to ask?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Depression and Recovery

Recovery From Depression In my experience I have found that depression is a condition that cannot be cured but can be managed. I will now list some of the things that I have found help full in maintaining my recovery. 1 getting enough sleep. 2 eating a healthy diet 3 getting regular exercise 4 trying to moderate stress levels 5 trying to find work situations that are not excessively stressful 6 having a counselor to discuss your issues with 7 having a relaxed attitude towards life 8 getting in lots of leisure time 9 trying not to put a lot of pressure on yourself 10 trying to get along with others as best I can 11 having plenty of time to do the things I like to do 12 trying not to rush when working on a project 13 having faith in a Higher Power that is looking after me at all times 14 having pets 15 recognizing my limitations
Post a Comment
Read more

Recovery and Mental Illness

Recovery And Mental Illness Recovery has become a popular term in the field of mental health. The question is what is meant by recovery. The concept of recovery can have many different connotations depending upon the specific context For example if a person falls off their bike their recovery is likely going to be determined by the severity of their injuries. If the person falling from his bike gets up and discovers that he or she only has a few minor scrapes and bruises, prognosis for recovery is likely to be very positive. In other words the individual will be expected to make a complete recovery within a short period of time. It is predicted that they will quickly return to one hundred per cent of their previous functionality. In this best case scenario recovery means a complete return to your former state of health. When we are talking about recovery from mental illness a return to optimum health and return to previous level of functioning is the exception rather than the rule. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Treatment of Depression

Is Recovery From Depression Possible? Is recovery from depression possible? It depends upon how one defines recovery. If one is talking about remaining free of the symptoms of depression for the rest of their life I would say that this is possible for some but not others. Some people are fortunate in experiencing only one episode of major depression in their lives. For others the prognosis is not as good. These individuals will likely experience recurrent episodic bouts of clinical depression. Persons in this second group may need to take medication for the rest of their lives. If the side effects are not too bothersome one will become used to taking meds. It will become part of their daily routine similar to taking nutritional supplements on a daily basis, There is another type of depression known as dysthymia. Dysthymia is a mood disorder in which an individual may still be able to function at their job and can meet most of life’s demands. The problem is that they are in a chronic ...
Post a Comment
Read more