The Gary Null Blog

In 1995, it is estimated that our national sickness care system will account for more than 1.3 trillion dollars of our money. That's more than we spend on defense, housing, food, and education combined. The problem is that we are not seeing major breakthroughs, cures, or even successful prevention programs for any of the serious diseases. We hear a great deal about cancer, AIDS, heart disease, and arthritis. But the largest single disorder group in America is mental illness. It is estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health that more than 40 million Americans are affected by any one of a number of mental and emotional conditions that adversely affect the quality of their lives. These include depression,schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia, and autism, as well as other conditions, which,while they may not fall strictly under the rubric of "mental illness," have a mental component, e.g., fatigue, insomnia, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, eating disorders, PMS, alcoholism, and aggressive behavior. When you consider that probably an additional 50 million people suffer from intermittent bouts of any number of these conditions, then you can see that close to one third of the entire American population is personally grappling with mental health concerns.