I have recently been captivated by the discussion in the national media about the epidemic of the swine flu.  For those who have had it, and for those who have lost loved ones because of it, this has been a devastating illness.  Many have said this about recently other illnesses, job losses, and the reality and fate of the economy.  However, no one has said this about mental illness.  Ironic.  It seems no one ever says anything about what a devastating illness mental illness is.

I have been amazed and disappointed in the pathetic policy discussions that have permeated many of the halls of the General Assembly in the past few weeks.  North Carolina must get its financial house in order, but not do so on the backs of those with mental illness in our society.  Granted, few have openly said this.  However, many have implied that this particular group of people is expendable.  We have most notably seen this in the discussions about limiting access to mental health medications, especially under Medicaid.  Some supposed health care advocates have even advocated for restrictive policies that those in the mental health advocacy arena believe, in the end, will only harm individuals who receive services as opposed to help them.

At a time when services are so desperately needed and yet stigma still runs so high, this has become the perfect “poster child” for what is wrong with our discussion about mental illness.  Nobody talks openly about the devastating effects of depression, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, eating disorders or other mental illnesses.  Nobody talks about the fact that half of the financial costs to society are not in dollars out the door for treatment, but in lost productivity.  This devastating effect, in and of itself, should cause alarm even from the most hard-hearted who care nothing for people and only the financial bottom line.  Yet, we see an utter scare over the swine flu.  Again, I do not belittle the fact people have become ill from it and some have even died.  However, there are more people in my extended neighborhood who experience mental illness than people in the entire country that have experienced swine flu.  There are more that have lost their lives on my street from the effects of mental illness than have lost their lives in the U.S. due to the effects of swine flu. 

It is time – indeed it is past time – that we as a society step up and say mental illness is real; it is treatable; and there is hope.  We must get past the devastating stigma that, unfortunately, still exists because of the small-minded the twenty-four hour sensationalized news cycles, and the blame game.  Mental illness is real.  Treatment works.  Hope exists.  Let us trumpet that message because the ‘outbreak’ of mental illness is a pandemic and its effects are devastating.  Now is the time for all of our voices to be heard.  This is one advocate’s perspective.