The Cost of Not Caring
I want you to think for a moment about someone you love. Your best friend, your mother, anybody. Now imagine that this person that you love and care about is so sick, they require hospitalization. It is a federal law that requires anyone coming into the emergency room to be stabilized and treated. But picture this. The treatment your loved one needs is so underfunded, it is inaccessible. You see their condition worsen, and you are powerless to stop it. And eventually… They die.
In 2009, a young girl was celebrating her 8th birthday out at a toy shop with a group of friends, as well as her mother and older brother. When she finally arrived home, she retreated to her room to play with her new gifts. However, it wasn’t
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It is a murderer that takes our friends, our brothers, our sisters, even our parents. Many see these cases of suicide as a tragic story on the news or a cautionary tale of how to behave on the internet. But there are many underlying causes that lead directly to the dramatic increase in suicide over the years. And the problem starts with the funding that is put into mental health care in the first place. Or lack of, in this case. In this speech I will go over the suicide and mental health rates of this country and how dramatically they have increased in just a short decade. Then, I will show you the amount of funds that have been cut from the budget of those who need treatment. And finally, I will familiarize you with the Mental Health Services Act and introduce my plan to extend and strengthen this act from California to the entirety of the United …show more content…
The increase in the United States’ suicide rates are more significant and linear than we realize. The average suicide rate in 2014 was 24% higher than the rate recorded in 1999. In fact, suicide is among the leading causes of death for both adolescents and young adults, according to the Center for Disease Control. (“Mental Health Report” 1) More than 90% of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. These individuals are frequently experiencing undiagnosed, undertreated or untreated depression. (“Fact Sheets” 1) An estimated 2-15% of persons diagnosed with major depression die by suicide, followed by an estimated 3-20% for those diagnosed with bipolar