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Published: June 24, 2009 04:06 pm
READERS' FORUM 6-26 | In end, mental health cuts would
be costly
Next in line for Gov. Ed Rendell’s budget cuts: County fairs,
computers for schools and treating the mentally ill? (The Tribune-Democrat
“In Brief” – June 18).
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) soon will celebrate
its 30th anniversary of advocating, educating and changing public
awareness about the stigma surrounding mental illness.
While there are many milestones to celebrate, the message above
is shocking and disheartening testimony that we’ve made little
progress in the effort to eradicate stigma when vulnerable human
lives are at stake, and merely noted next in line on the governor’s
budget-cut list along with county fairs and school computers.
Aside from the harsh reality that there are few champions for people
with mental illness among our state leadership, further budget cuts
to mental health services would only prove to be penny-wise and
pound-foolish. Untreated mental illness is, in fact, very costly
– when community services are not available those who are
ill are far more likely to utilize emergency rooms, become hospitalized,
end up homeless, criminalized, incarcerated or dead.
These difficult times demand increased need for mental health care
among those unemployed, returning from war, and those currently
relying on an already-overburdened system of care to stay well.
These citizens have worked hard, fought hard and will become the
statistics of an illness that already affects one in four families.
We’ll be trying to recover from the fallout of not caring
for these citizens long after our kids resort to sharing computers
and the cows go home.
Wendy Stewart
Johnstown
Executive director, NAMI Cambria County
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