Socialized Health Care in the USA

[kandrathe]

Before we get on the shrink-visits-are-fluff bandwagon, what about in the case of, say, diagnosing clinical depression? Believe it or not, but no amount of positive thinking will help you out of it - and left untreated, depression is a great way to cripple yourself - and be miserable-to-suicidal while you're at it.

While every other kid being diagnosed with ADHD may be bogus, mental illness is a very serious concern in adults. In the two years that I've known my girlfriend, she's been slowly recovering from depression, and it would break my heart to see her when she was out of pills, or missed taking one, or would, for no reason, have a relapse. And she was not as badly off as some other people.

I too know people who suffer from clinical depression. It's not fluff, but it is often a chronic problem that needs years of attention to correct, and perhaps after that life long maintenance. According to the CDC, about 5% of all prescriptions written in the US are for SSRI's. It is estimated that 1 in 5 men, and 1 in 3 women will suffer at least one extended bout of depression in their lives. At any given time, about 5% of the US population is suffering from depression. I don't look at it any different than I would diabetes, which affects about 10% of the US population. If you have diabetes who should pay for your medicine and care? You or someone else?