Manns Medium

One would think that since mental illness is not so much stigmatized as it once were and so many health care plans now cover treatment, we would be making great strides in our ability to help those “non-functional” individuals to become more “functional”.   I say that because this appears to be the only true difference between those who suffer and those who claim to not.   The non-functionality and functionality separate those who are strong enough to get the help that they deserve and those who continually deny that they need the help.   Those who may be functional at this moment often find themselves non-functional because they did not prepare with new coping skills and continue to rely upon the old ones to navigate through their days.   I say this because unless you are a robot, trauma occurs within the life of every human being.   The degree upon which it affects that individual is the difference between what may be very traumatic to you may not be...

You read that title right America, my school will reduce veteran suicides because the numbers do not lie and it is clear that what has been attempted in the past is not working.  We have assumed that throwing money at veterans would be the answer.  We have assumed that holding job fairs and offering businesses tax credits for hiring a veteran would do it.  We have assumed that placing them on disability and welfare would do it.  We have been convinced that donation and charity would answer the screams of veterans all over this nation demanding help and getting none.  We have assumed that saying “thank you” would quiet the voices within the heads of these veterans and within our own very souls.  We were and still are so very wrong.  We are wrong because we lack the understanding that the main underlying issue faced by veterans who contemplate suicide has nothing to really do about money.  It simply has something to do about dignity and respect. ...

My wife stumbled upon this article titled “Few vets getting care through $10 billion VA program” written by David Caruso for the Associated Press and shared it with me.  After reading it, I became abundantly aware of how misguided some programs can become especially when they appear to be administered by people who have no earthly idea to whom they are attempting to service.  They seem to lack the understanding of the particular kind of citizen to who they are contacting and quickly lose focus behind the initial reasoning for the program in the first place. As reported “a new program that was supposed to get patients off waiting lists at Veterans Affairs medical centers by letting them switch to private-sector doctors is proving to be an even bigger disappointment than initially thought.  The Veteran's Choice program launched on Nov. 5 with $10 billion in funding and the expectation that it would instantly relieve backlogs at VA hospitals and clinics. But after a hur...

I have said several times and many times when no one seems to wish to wish or even care enough to consider, that PTSD is a factor but it is not the main cause of why so many who are treated for this or other mental issues flip out. The best evidence can be found in an article titled “White House intruder an Iraq war vet with "plenty of firepower" written for CBS News.  Notwithstanding, the title strictly worded to get more people to read it and so very misleading that it ignores the real problem.  The story should not be concerned with how much firepower Gonzalez has or the lack of security around the White House, it should have focused more on the drugs which are being handed out like candy by the legal drug dealers which make mental symptoms worse.  The evidence is there but the main topic of the piece is nowhere near it. The article reports that “The former stepson of a man accused of sneaking into the White House said the Iraq war veteran owns "plenty of fir...