[pachyderm]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...15D_story.html

[Fresia]

Our MI services in our state have been cut drastically in the last 6 years. In talking to some of of our first responders: police, fire, and paramedics/EMTs, they are not feeling equipped to help people in the various situations that have increased during this time with the now lacking services available, as if there was enough to begin with even before the cuts. There are real problems between the lack of services and lack of training for responders. Frustrating as....

[madisgram]

another serious impact of our wonderful-sarcasm-economy problem. but thank goodness the police are trying to incorporate some training in this MI area. unfortunately tho some MI ill ppl will die from lack of training or applying the information. this end result almost happened to my schizophrenic ex. i was helped by the police in this regard tho. they warned me he could be shot by his abberant behavior in the community. they didn't want that to happen but his behavior could mimic breaking the law and his running when called.

[(JD)]

Police--and fire--officers have always been on the front line of safety, this is nothing new imo. Nothing has changed except perhaps the number of such calls? The good thing is that they now receive more training than they used to, to deal with the "suicide by cop" scenario and the like.

I don't understand, truly, why this is another area where they are saying the current national situation is causing yet another issue. With each new item/article it touts the (economic) problem. Where did the money go if not to all these issues??? Where is the $9+ TRILLION of your hard-earned dollars??? No one seems to have received any money to help anyone... Who did they give the money to?? Sorry if this is OT.

[Fresia]

I too would love to know where the money is going, where the heck is it?
Yes, they have always been first responders but in several communities, and in ours, there used to be on staff or available trained mental health professionals who were the responders for mental health crises and these departments or resources were cut, while not providing extensive training for those who are responding. One or two courses does not make someone qualified, not making them fully able to help in the process, not getting the person in crisis the help they need and further stressing an already strained personnel. It sometimes hurts everyone more than it helps. It is just one of many examples of not looking at the wide reaching repercussions of a cut.

[HalfSwede]

Originally Posted by (JD)

Where is the $9+ TRILLION of your hard-earned dollars??? No one seems to have received any money to help anyone... Who did they give the money to??

"As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth...."

Since our leaders, with the applause of the fiscal conservatives, have determined funds for facilities that treat the mentally ill are budget busters, the role of police officers has gotten more difficult and dangerous. The article addresses what has changed. To cavalierly discount the changing role of the police is not helpful.

Where has the money gone?

As many as one in five of the 2.1 million Americans in jail and prison are seriously mentally ill, far outnumbering the number of mentally ill who are in mental hospitals, according to a comprehensive study released Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/national/22MENT.html

Three decades of growth in America’s prison population has quietly nudged the nation across a sobering threshold: for the first time, more than one in every 100 adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. According to figures gathered and analyzed by the Pew Public Safety Performance Project, the number of people behind bars in the United States continued to climb in 2007, saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime.

http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/...1-1_FORWEB.pdf

The fiscally responsible mantra is: build more prisons to house and fewer centers to treat the mentally ill?

Of course sending our young overseas to kill in wars of choice is the sensible thing to do.

When U.S. troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration predicted that the war would be self-financing and that rebuilding the nation would cost less than $2 billion.

Coming up on the fifth anniversary of the invasion, a Nobel laureate now estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing America more than $3 trillion.

That estimate from Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz also serves as the title of his new book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War," which hits store shelves Friday.

The book, co-authored with Harvard University professor Linda Bilmes, builds on previous research that was published in January 2006. The two argued then and now that the cost to America of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is wildly underestimated.

When other factors are added — such as interest on debt, future borrowing for war expenses, the cost of a continued military presence in Iraq and lifetime health-care and counseling for veterans — they think that the wars' costs range from $5 trillion to $7 trillion.

http://cromalternativemoney.org/inde...n-dollars.html

[wanttoheal]

Psych Central is first and foremost a support site, not a site to debate politics. People have very strong feelings on such matters. For that reason this thread is being closed.

Thank you and take good care,
wanttoheal