Mental in America

it's hard times in America these days - no secret there. and just when people dared to dream there might be something better than life under George Bush, things didn't get better, they just got worse.

and then they got even worse than that. it turns out that in America, banks rob you. so there is no money to stop the rot that Reagan began, and here we all are...

is it ironic that even though there are more people per capita in prison in the land of the free than anywhere else on the planet, the gang that pulled off the biggest bank heist in history in broad daylight still walk among us?

i don't know how much more gets spent on prisons in the USA, but i bet it's a lot more than mental health.

in a country where ketchup can be declared a vegetable, the only surprise is that some bright-eyed MBA hasn't suggested that some significant portion of the prison budget be classified as spending more money on health care...
seeing how that's where so many people with mental issues end up. sooner or later.

or maybe someone did.

and somebody else pointed out that this would make all that money much more vulnerable to budget cuts... whereas we know there's always more money for cops.

there's always more money for cops.

...but when i look at this map, i do wonder if the game's not rigged - ie - there are probably more people diagnosing in the USA, and there are certainly more drug sales associates encouraging doctors along the diagnostic trail...

the darker the state, the more people there are mentally ill.

is this why people keep the lights on all the time? or is it people go crazier faster if it never gets dark out?

the darker the state, the more people over 18 have had at least one serious depressive episode in the past year.

the darker the state, the more people over 18 have had serious psychological distress in the past year.

the darker the state, the more people between 18 and 25 have had serious psychological distress in the past year.

the darker the state, the more prisons there are there.

the darker the state, the more people there live below the poverty line.

the darker the state, the fewer young people* who need mental health care will get it.


notice what states keep turning up on all these? kind of a map of unpleasant possibility potential...









* under 18

*