Mental Health statistics aren't always true

Ever notice that one once something gets started, duplicates of it are often picked up elsewhere? This is especially true where health care is concerned. Health care reform, while surely needing to be, and most certainly not an ideal model, but something needed to be done, and something was done, and there's no argument there, but the overboard of criticism and is a good illustration of what I am trying to say. And that is, the mindless jumping on bandwagons before examining all the reasons behind the actions being taken.

Specifically regarding mental health, and what prompted this bit of venting, is the easy way assumptions are made. Recently: Bipolar is more prevalent in the U,S. than in any other country, blah, blah, blah. Well of course, it is probably due to the fact that better diagnosing is being done, this country is more populated than many others, and even in comparison with other countries with more people, that statistic means only one thing, this country cares more about its people than its headlines.

Any way, whether statistics are right or wrong, what does it matter who has the most of what, obesity, mental illness, heart disease, and so on, it's what's being done about it that matters. This is the age when it is not fashionable to hide things. Get it out and look at it and see what can be done about it.

The above sounds as if anger prompted this blog and that is not so. I've been pondering this all week since the last blog, and amidst my prayers for the living and dead souls in Japan, I have tried to think about what should be written here. Believe it or not, thought goes into priorities here and when I blunder, sound foolish, show my ignorance, I fully take responsibility for that too.

The idea that I have about mental illness, after living with it for seventy eight years, trying to hide it at times, denying it at others, studying about it, and finally getting enough courage to talk about and share what I've learned, the truth is, I believe, something most aren't willing to face: That everyone has times when they are not mentally healthy, but when they have more mental healthy time than mentally ill time, they can be said to be more mentally healthy than mentally ill.

When are so called normal people mentally ill? When they blame others for what clearly is their own fault, when they can't distinguish lies from truth, when they are greedy and when they hoard things they cannot use, and on, and on, and on. In fact this is a sick society we are living in. That's nothing new, otherwise would the biggest industry be in health care? One thing for sure,You really cannot separate the mind form the body or the body from the mind. Or from the soul, for that matter.

Until next time, let's look behind the headlines and see what is not said. And in the meantime I intend to do a little homework and see exactly how mental health deals with the the seven deadly sins. Remember, until that first sin was committed, the body and the mind was perfect, and no one was ill!

PS:
True to form I try to find some remnant of my past art work or scribblings to post here, and I ran across this image. It was done in the early 1990s, when I bought my first computer. I was delighted that with my old matrix printer I could print out my poems in various shapes. Words and people are my passion and they take precedence over poems, paints, and whatever. If the finished product is not perfect, at least the intent was.