Clinton Rolls Out Policy Plan To Address Mental Health Treatment

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Hillary Clinton is rolling out a comprehensive plan to address millions of Americans coping with mental illness, pointing to the need to fully integrate mental health services into the nation's health care system.

Clinton's campaign released a multi-pronged approach to mental health care on Monday, aimed at ensuring that Americans would no longer separate mental health from physical health in terms of access, care and quality of treatment.

The Democratic presidential nominee's agenda would focus on early diagnosis and intervention and create a national initiative for suicide prevention. If elected, Clinton would hold a White House conference on mental health within her first year in office. Clinton's proposal would also aim to enforce mental health parity laws and provide training to law enforcement officers to deal with people grappling with mental health problems while prioritizing treatment over jail for low-level offenders.

"Building on her longstanding commitment to health care for all, Hillary believes everyone should be able to access quality mental health care — without shame, stigma or barriers," said Maya Harris, a senior policy adviser to Clinton's campaign, in a statement.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/hillary-clinton-mental-health-policy-plan

[unblock]

1. great! will the donald be held on an in-patient basis?

[BlueCollar]

2. and finance it with a tax on ammunition?

[AllyCat]

3. Yes! More like this! Positive news for our country and the election!

[kacekwl]

4. Good , I hope she

and her team are also working on a single payer plan.

[cstanleytech]

5. I hope she actually is able to address the issue without the Republicans in Congress trying to

actively sabotage her like they did Obama over nearly everything.

[Lucky Luciano]

6. Without republicans sabotaging things?! You kill me!!!

[cstanleytech]

8. True, Republicans not trying to sabotage a President that isnt a fellow Republican is probably about

as likely as winning both the Powerball and the Megamillions lottery back to back but its still theoretically possible.

[Cryptoad]

7. Are those FEMA camps big enough to,,,,,?

to hold all those AltRighter's

[arithia]

9. As someone with bipolar

I couldn't be more pleased to hear responsible, reasonable dialog about mental health coming out of a major party nominee. Too often, we are only used as a soundbite for politicians and the language they use reflects their lack of understanding. I do not see that here.

Many with these diseases need to be on lifelong medication and therapy. Those drugs aren't cheap. They are also hit or miss due to the complexities of neurochemistry and the limitations of modern medicine, requiring many people to try multiple expensive "cocktails" before they find one that works for them. Many drugs require blood testing to make sure patients aren't having adverse reactions. Most of these drugs take weeks to reach a theraputic blood level- weeks during which the patient is often fully symptomatic.

Imagine not having insurance and trying to keep yourself in meds. Imagine holding down a job to have insurance while you are hearing voices, manic to the point of psychosis or having an anxiety attack with no discernible cause. Imagine trying to get treatment and the only doctor you can afford to see tells you that your disorder is the result of "personal weakness" and "counterculture beliefs" instead of a genetic inflammatory disease that's affecting the very structure and function of your brain.

It is of no surprise that so many mentally ill Americans are poor, homeless or in jail. It is of no surprise that poorly trained police officers shoot first and ask questions later with regard to the mentally ill. As a nation, we are profoundly ignorant about mental health issues. That *really* needs to change.

[wysi]

11. This is huge

And no one appears to be paying attention (except us, of course).

[lindysalsagal]

13. So many social welfare programs have been slowly erroded. Let's hope she can pull it off

because when someone's wiring isn't right, it's just the same as a bad leg or a hernia: You just can't see it on the outside. There are more and more effective medications on the market, and it's inhumane that only the rich have access to them.

The article claims 1 in 5 college students having mental health issues. I think that's way too high. If anything, they've got way more self esteem than maybe they should.

[locks]

14. Let's be thankful

and keep on supporting Clinton with the hope that there will finally be a mental health policy that will Congress will pass and pay for.

[undergroundpanther]

15. I hope she thinks of non combat PTSD

And that it is just as bad as any other cause.Hopefully she will allow for more intense care, expand options and allow hospitalization as needed .by people who are trauma educated.