From Bloomberg News today:
"The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said. Community mental health centers, hobbled by financial limits, haven't provided enough scientifically sound care, especially in rural areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington."
This is utterly ridiculous. And yet, my own father was one of the unfortunates exposed to Agent Orange, you know, that substance that the government refused to acknowledge caused cancer.
I remember back in 1987, when I was pregnant with my oldest, visiting a friend at Oak Knoll Navy Hospital in Oakland. After five minutes of looking around, I decided to be cared for at The Presidio. Even then the hospitals were falling apart. Just a matter of time until the care did as well.
Posted by: Red | 07 May 2008 at 08:05 PM