Reply #29: That's my sense of it

[chookie]

VERY weird that His Chimperial Majesty should raise mandatory screening for "mental health" issues at this point.

What is the point of "diagnosing" people?

If he is so fucking "compassionate" about the mentally ill -- why not start with leading on insurance parity for mental illness? Jeepers -- that is a really big problem!

What about starting with all the poor folks who got dropped from publically funded mental health care during Gipper's presidency, some of which became homeless and untreated for sometimes very serious disorders?

If diagnosed by His Chimperial Majesty's program, then what? I agree that it sounds like Big Pharmaa, in the guise of pitifully undertrained med techs, will dispense expensive "one-size-fits-all" meds, and His CHimperial Majesty will crow proudly about what a great success the program is, when in fact there is growing evidence that these drugs, while life-saving when given to the right people, can cause harmful effects in others who were not properly evaluated. Then there's the issue of long-term usage....

The Communist totalitarian history of government lead mental health programs leaps to mind. In USSR and CHina, ideologically driven doctors routinely diagnosed dissidents, who were unable to see that COmmunism was a perfect system of government, were obivously mentally ill, and were sent to re-education camps. While I think that may be kinda a hard sell in the US of today, it's not all that far-fetched. However, in an age where prospective employees are subjected to many humiliations when applying for jobs -- like peeing into cups, having your credit history checked, and your privacy scrutinized -- it sounds as though that the kind of climate His Chimperial Majesty says he will create that will be "favorable to business" (what used to be known as "serfdom" or "indentured slavery"), your boss would LOVE to know if you have any signs of psychiatric disorders. It's yet another form of power over you.

Imagine having a disagreement with your boss, and he or she being able to say, "Well, you *have* been disgnosed with histrionic personality disorder (or whatever), and you need to understand that you are deluded by your illness. It's not your fault, and I have great compassion for you, but fuck you."

Fuck Bush! There ALREADY isn't enough care for people ALREADY diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. There is ALREADY abuse and bullying of people with psychiatric disorders in society, even within the mental health field.

I see enormous red flags flying all over the place on this initiative. There is some hidden agenda. Beware.