Why is mental illness overlooked as a political issue?

[MiddleRoad]

Meaning, why isn’t the mental health crisis in this country given more attention / money at the federal level? I haven’t heard a President in at least the last decade or so make any serious mention of mental health, or take any real steps to better it.

[7,052,770]

Actually, one of the main planks of the Affordable Care Act was to mandate that all health insurance plans cover mental health. Republicans have been fighting hard to repeal the ACA, and have even tried to chip away at just the mental health coverage requirements.

So your perception that no one is taking it seriously is wrong. Both Obama and Biden have fought hard to make sure everyone has access to mental health care.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Because, do you know what mental illness is, it's a disease of short term memory, not long term just like when you age you need bifocals because of long sightedness not short sightedness, when you age you lose your short term memory and sight that's why you get insomnia, you lose your short term memory

But, vitamins and pills help you get it back

[MiddleRoad]

Actually, one of the main planks of the Affordable Care Act was to mandate that all health insurance plans cover mental health. Republicans have been fighting hard to repeal the ACA, and have even tried to chip away at just the mental health coverage requirements.

So your perception that no one is taking it seriously is wrong. Both Obama and Biden have fought hard to make sure everyone has access to mental health care.

Not good enough.

There should be mental health clinics like urgent care centers. And it should be easier to get on SSD for mental reasons, and be able to survive. And time taken off of the workforce for mental wellness shouldn’t stand against one if they attempt to reenter the workforce

[Bootes Void]

The country doesn’t spend a lot of health services anyway(at least in the right way) and where the spending usually does go goes to physician ailments and injuries which is what most people think of health care spending should be going to anyway

[7,052,770]

Actually, one of the main planks of the Affordable Care Act was to mandate that all health insurance plans cover mental health. Republicans have been fighting hard to repeal the ACA, and have even tried to chip away at just the mental health coverage requirements.

So your perception that no one is taking it seriously is wrong. Both Obama and Biden have fought hard to make sure everyone has access to mental health care.

Not good enough.

There should be mental health clinics like urgent care centers. And it should be easier to get on SSD for mental reasons, and be able to survive. And time taken off of the workforce for mental wellness shouldn’t stand against one if they attempt to reenter the workforce

The Democratic Party would be happy to support all of those, if only it could get enough members of Congress. Too bad you're planning to vote for the party that opposes all of that because "wokeness has gone too far"

[world.execute(me)]

Because most people in our society neither understand nor give a damn about us.

[Hermit For Peace]

These mass shooters could have benefitted from a stint in a mental hospital. It's not too late.

[ProgressiveModerate]

Prolly because it isn't something very sensational, sadly, and also a lot of people have very weird (and frankly toxic) views on mental health.

[Blue3]

Actually, one of the main planks of the Affordable Care Act was to mandate that all health insurance plans cover mental health. Republicans have been fighting hard to repeal the ACA, and have even tried to chip away at just the mental health coverage requirements.

So your perception that no one is taking it seriously is wrong. Both Obama and Biden have fought hard to make sure everyone has access to mental health care.

This.

It's part of healthcare.

Even systematically in current institutions, it's considered "healthcare" more than even dental or vision is.

[T'Chenka]

Meaning, why isn’t the mental health crisis in this country given more attention / money at the federal level? I haven’t heard a President in at least the last decade or so make any serious mention of mental health, or take any real steps to better it.

Republicans have NO interest in that. "If you need mental health services, pay for them yourselves. No socialism and no high taxes."

[Badger]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

[MiddleRoad]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

[Badger]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662

[MiddleRoad]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662

You might want to look up obsessive compulsive personality disorder, as well.

[Badger]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662

You might want to look up obsessive compulsive personality disorder, as well.

Acknowledging 8 patently obvious truth, as well as frustration as to why 45% of Americans continue to buy it Hook Line & Sinker, is hardly a obsessive.

I mean, I would argue that after everything Trump has pulled the fact that about 45% of Americans at least are ready to vote for him yet again is much more obsessive than acknowledging such Collective insanity.

[7,052,770]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

Except for Obama and Biden

[MiddleRoad]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

Except for Obama and Biden

Ive read what Biden suggested in his SOTU. It’s a lot of talk. No action. Obama did a small step that had been suggested since before he became President.

My daily life hasn’t changed because of either one. Nor Trump. Nor anyone in DC.

[7,052,770]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

Except for Obama and Biden

Ive read what Biden suggested in his SOTU. It’s a lot of talk. No action. Obama did a small step that had been suggested since before he became President.

My daily life hasn’t changed because of either one. Nor Trump. Nor anyone in DC.

Perhaps you already had mental health coverage. For millions of Americans, though, that is a change.

[MiddleRoad]

Because if we were seriously address it it would force Republicans to potentially acknowledge that their last president titular head of their party is Spotify crazy pants.

Why does every discussion return to Trump?
 There’s not been ANY president that has made mental health a serious issue

Except for Obama and Biden

Ive read what Biden suggested in his SOTU. It’s a lot of talk. No action. Obama did a small step that had been suggested since before he became President.

My daily life hasn’t changed because of either one. Nor Trump. Nor anyone in DC.

Perhaps you already had mental health coverage. For millions of Americans, though, that is a change.

I have Medicaid. Not exactly good tier coverage.

[jojoju1998]

Funding isn’t the issue.

It’s the way the care is provided that’s the problem.

The stigma over it means that people still get care through old fashioned mental health hospital…

[Joe Biden 2024]

Because American society's reaction to any mental health issue is to go "suck it up and get over it." Until the social perceptions of mental illnesses completely changes, it's not going to be much of a political issue.

[MiddleRoad]

Funding isn’t the issue.

It’s the way the care is provided that’s the problem.

The stigma over it means that people still get care through old fashioned mental health hospital…

I do.

I don’t have a psychiatrist, because that costs money. So every month when I need medication, I take a trip to the mental hospital.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

Because sadly nobody apart from those directly affected care about it.

[Fuzzy Bear]

No one who needs Mental Health services wants them.  That's one reason we have an Addiction problem; the self-medicating of people that don't want mental health services.

People who NEED counseling by and large don't want it; they want a pill.  People who get pills don't want to go to a psychiatrist; they often go to General Practitioners to say that they don't have a "shrink".  Or they go "on the card" and get medical marijuana.  Anything to avoid treatment that would involve admission of a problem, commitment to a solution, and a degree of accountability to stick with the plan.

Let's get real here.  No one wants the stigma of Mental Health problems.  THIS is the biggest barrier to people who need it getting Mental Health services, and it would be even if we funded it as generously as we ought to fund it.