Hillary Mental Illness Claims

By: Joey Miller

During the One of her speeches during the March of Washington, Hillary made two claims about mental health or illness, “fifth of all adults of a mental are coping with a mental disorder” and “an estimated 17 million children in the united states experience mental health issues and so do 1 in 5 college students”. She plans to stop separating mental and physical and try to focus on putting them together as one big issue and try to help those that are in need. This is her full quote on mental health.

“By integrating our healthcare systems and finally putting the treatment of mental health on par with that of physical health. Nearly a fifth of all adults in the United States, more than 40 million people, are coping with a mental health problem. Close to 14 million people live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Moreover, many of these individuals have additional complicating life circumstances, such as drug or alcohol addiction, homelessness, or involvement with the criminal justice system. Veterans are in acute need of mental health care, with close to 20% of those returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars experiencing post-traumatic stress or depression. And the problem is not limited to adults: an estimated 17 million children in the United States experience mental health problems, as do one in four college students.”

So is Hillary saying true? Is Mental health a huge problem like she said? Is it as big has she says it is? Should we worry about kids getting a mental illness?

Mental Health is a serious issue to talk about and should be taken seriously and what Hillary is saying about it is absolutely true and mental health should be treated like physical health. What Hillary said about one in 5 adults experience some sort of mental illness is not 100% true it’s one in every four adults experience it, but that’s still a huge problem and needs to be fixed. Some Mental illness can lead into some people to commit suicide and couldn’t find help that they needed. About 90% of youth deaths from ages 10-24 is suicide and some of that is caused by them having some sort of mental illness that people either didn’t get the help that they needed or just couldn’t find the help. What Hillary said was true that 17 million children in the U.S experience some mental health problems. Teens can also develop these mental health issues and parents can help them just by talking to them and be there in their life. But some of these warning some parents need to be worried about is Decrease in enjoyment and time spent with friends and family, significant decrease in school performance, strong resistance to attending school or absenteeism problems with memory, attention or concentration, big changes in energy levels, eating or sleeping patterns, physical symptoms (stomach aches, headaches, backaches) Feelings of hopelessness, sadness, anxiety, crying often Frequent aggression, disobedience or lashing out verbally excessive neglect of personal appearance or hygiene, substance abuse dangerous or illegal thrill-seeking behavior Is overly suspicious of others sees or hears things that others do not (Link). Some Veterans claim to not get treated for their mental problems in the VA, after they come back from the war. The problem is that they don’t hire enough people in the VA and more people keeping coming back since the war is starting to die down. “A review of 100 patient cases by the Government Accountability Office found that while 86 patients seeking an initial mental health evaluation generally were seen within an average four days of scheduling an appointment, they actually waited an average of 26 days from their first request for mental health treatment to get that appointment — and some waited up to 279 days (Link)”. Veterans go through tough times and should get the help that they deserve and try to live a normal life. Some adults are also having a tough time going through times and are not getting the help that they need. “Nearly 40% of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder don’t get the help that they deserve and that just a sad thing to think about and among 60% of adults weren’t treated in 2012” according to National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

In conclusion what Hillary is saying about mental health or illness is true and really should be treated like the same thing as someone with a physical problem. Mental Health can drive people mad and they can commit suicide, which is the worst thing in this world.  Children can get a mental illness and can lead to a trouble childhood and could get hurt or end up hurting someone else. Teenagers can develop a mental illness and if the parents are not there for them then can have a troubled life and a parent doesn’t want that to happen. Adults need to get treated because more and more people are not getting the help they deserve. Veterans probably get it the worst when it comes to mental illness, a lot of them are supposed to get help, but it takes a long time before they can get help. There should be more available help when it comes to mental health or illness and someone should step up and make a plan to help the people who are really need of help.