Mental Illness in America

One of this week’s headlines was, “Half of Americans Face Mental Health Woes.” Principle Director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ileana Arias said, “It isn’t clear why so many Americans suffer from mental illnesses.”

It isn’t clear??? Hello?? Is anybody out there??

Loss of jobs, homelessness, poor health care, overpopulation, pollution, the breakdown of families, family violence, alcoholism, legal and illegal drug abuse, poor parenting, isolation, insomnia, financial stress, horrible diets, the fast pace of American life, the propagation of fear, the excessive violence in our cities and towns, and all the unnecessary violence depicted in film, video games, and TV can all be considered contributors to the mental problems and mental instability of Americans.

America certainly has its woes. And the sad thing is, not a single person in government has a clue of what to do.  America needs to get working again, get its priorities in order, take care of its people, and stop being the world cop. We need to make things again instead of importing just about everything from China. We need to spend more money on education not less. We need to help small businesses thrive again because small businesses employ more people than anyone else. We need to work with the banks so that they loan money again for home loans instead of holding onto all the money they got from the stimulus programs. We need to help people stay in their homes instead of foreclosing.


No matter who you listen to, the Democrats, the Rebublicans, the Independents, the Tea Party, they each have something good to say but each also has lots of very questionable things to say. They argue and argue and resolve nothing. I don't hear wisdom anywhere and I certainly don't see leadership. America has many great minds and creative thinkers but they seem to be silent these days. Where will the leadership come from? Who will step up to the plate and take us in a new direction?

Rallying around the flag will not solve America's ills because if you look closely at that flag you will discover that it too, most likely, was manufactured in China.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Barnesandnoble.com