Im not posting anything about Robin Williams tragic demise. Its a very sad thing to be sure, but you dont have to scroll very far down your news feed to find tributes of all kinds. I would rather call attention to the fact that depression, whether officially diagnosed by a mental health professional, or undiagnosed, untreated, and often unknown to friends and family, is a serious medical problem in this country. Its only a matter of time before its confirmed that depression was a huge contributing factor in Mr. Williams death. And, at a time when more and more people are suffering from this and other mental health conditions, our elected leaders have chosen to slash funding in health and human services programs across the board. Obviously its a higher priority to ensure that the largest multinational corporations pay an effective income tax rate of virtually zero. This, in an era when corporate profits are generally at an all time high. That same mantra holds true for other trivialities such as early childhood education, massive needed infrastructure repairs, and a host of others. Funny how we always seem to find a way to keep feeding the war machine in the Middle East, though. But I digress. My point is that suicide happens every day, in communities rich and poor, and it is profoundly sad that it takes the untimely loss of a maniacally inspired, talented celebrity with the world seemingly at his beckon, to shine a spotlight on it.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 03:44:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015