by Candice Owley

Parity for mental illness--a change long overdue

Mental illness is a disease that affects one out of five Americans, which means everyone of us is likely to have a relative with some form of mental illness or to be afflicted ourselves. Yet in spite of the common nature of mental illness, it remains the one area of health care still cloaked in fear, shame and misunderstanding. A recent report issued by the Surgeon General on mental health offers an eye-opening look at the issues of mental illness and spells out a series of recommendations. According to the American Psychiatric Association the report could "do for mental illness what the Surgeon General's 1964 report did for smoking and health by bringing about a sea change in public attitudes and understanding and setting the stage for a major assault on the myths and stigma that continue to block access to care for millions."

The stigma attached to mental illness is so profound that as a society and often even as professionals we seem incapable of dealing with the problem.

Consider the following: You have a heart attack and are brought into an emergency room for care and hospitalization. Friends, family and work are notified. Cards and flowers pour in. You recover. Now you have a psychiatric crisis and are brought into the emergency room by the police and hospitalized for a few days. This hospitalization is kept a secret and you struggle alone with the fear that friends, family and work will find out. No flowers. No cards. This is just one example of the tragedy of stigma.

Beyond the fear and secrecy is the financial disparity. Mental illness is not treated the same as physical illness in most insurance policies. This lack of 'parity' often results in inadequate treatment and financial ruin for those with serious mental illness.

The Surgeon General is to be commended for taking the lead in this important issue. The fact that this call to action comes from the highest-ranking health professional in our country is cause for optimism. As professionals and political activists we must add our voices to his and call for legislation that will provide parity so that mental illness can be treated on the same basis as other medical illnesses. We must also call for an end to the stigma and misunderstanding attached to mental disease. As Surgeon General David Satcher said in the preface to his report, "common sense and respect for our fellow humans tells us that a focus on the positive aspects of mental health demands our immediate attention."