Mental illnesses are often chalked up to insanity, taking a subordinate position to physical illness and impairments. Most people feel that if you can't see a physical sign of disability, it does not exist. Tell that to the 43.7 million adults that are affected by mental illness. What about the 1 in 25 American adults that experience a serious mental illness that will substantially interfere with their life? Or the 1 in 5 youths (ages 13-18) that will experience at least one severe mental disorder in their lifetime? Such large statistics yet people still brush mental illness under the rug. There is a stigma that mental illness is a cop-out or an excuse for disordered or irregular behavior. It's time for that to change. There are too many Americans suffering from these illnesses for us to keep pretending it is not a problem that needs to be solved.
In light of the Sandy Hook shooting, President Obama challenged congress to create a bill concerning the reformation of mental health care in the United States. It has yet to reach the Oval Office. The shooting occurred two years ago and since then there have been numerous cases of similar tragedies across America. In early September, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) organized the National Day of Action for Mental Health activities at Capitol Hill to call congress to action after having made no progress in the past two years.
"The way our mental health system works is that they wait until the crisis unfolds,” Ron Honberg, the director of policy and legal affairs for NAMI told ThinkProgress. “That’s not only the worst possible way, but also the most expensive way of responding to someone in need. There has been some talk about this issue since Sandy Hook but little progress has been made in addressing it." We cannot keep waiting for something terrible to happen. It's time for congress to take action. Mental health affects too many Americans for there not to be comprehensive healthcare.
These illnesses go beyond commonly known disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Mental illness is more than that. Many young Americans suffer from body dysmorphia (often linked with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders), depression, anxiety - the list goes on. These are all mental disorders that plague Americans from their adolescence through their adult life and it's time that the appropriate treatment become available to those who need it because there are so many people who do. Leaving these disorders untreated will only breed worse behavior, stronger symptoms and less of a chance of those affected ever recovering or living healthy lives with their disorder.
Demi Lovato, pop icon and infamous advocate for mental health awareness and reform, is using her status to push for a bill from Congress. Lovato, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2012, is the figurehead for Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health and has never been shy about sharing her backstory and position on the lack of mental health amenities available in America. Lovato stands up for mental healthcare reform because she knows what it feels like to be undiagnosed for so long, wondering what is wrong and why she was acting the way she was. With the appropriate facilities and treatments, young adults will not have to suffer through that pain, but will instead be treated correctly and carefully. Thus allowing them to coexist more peacefully with their illness.
Now, more than ever, we need the appropriate amenities for those that suffer from mental health disabilities. Just because there is no visible inability does not mean that the 43.7 million adults affected by mental illness in America are not suffering. It does not make them any less of a person nor does it render them any less worthy of the necessary treatment. If Congress was able to draw up a healthcare plan that covers physical impairments, why aren't we providing the same sort of compensation for mental illnesses that are plaguing a large majority of the citizens in the United States?
It's time for us to stand up and push for this reform. Almost 50 million Americans are suffering from mental disorders, which means each and every one of you probably knows at least one person that is or has been affected by one. Think about that person or those people. Think about how they suffer everyday just to cope with something they can't control. Something that has been part of them and always will be. Maybe they don't have a cast or crutches or a scar that proves that they've suffered, but they have. They probably still are. Living with a mental illness is an internal struggle everyday and without the proper treatment, some people may not be able to overcome that struggle. It's time to push America because we need this reform.
