I am deeply saddened, along with the rest of the country, reading of the recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder. The same old myopic arguments are circulating regarding gun control, but that is far from the only discussion we should be having as a society.
When you consider there is likely more government money spent annually to save endangered wildlife than is spent for desperately needed mental health services, I submit that it’s time to re-evaluate our priorities.
It’s shameful that a nation as compassionate and progressive as we consider ourselves to be does so little to mitigate and manage mental health issues. Only the wealthy get good care; the rest are not much more than an avenue for government and nonprofit agency employees to collect a paycheck but functionally accomplish very little, due in large part to the lack of funding. Speaking from experience, if you ever try to get help for someone, you’ll find that out in a big hurry.
Increasing funding for mental health services would most certainly save lives.
