Mental Health Notes - News, Education and Advocacy

Mental Health Consumers: Make Your Voices Heard

by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes on October 30th, 2008

It’s almost time to vote for America’s next leader, and if you’re anything like me…well, you’d be quite pessimistic, jaded, and apathetic. (Well, let me take that back. I’m not really that apathetic. I care quite a bit. I just have a bad feeling about both directions, and rather than stress myself out even more…I’m just going to wait and see what happens.)

However, even if you are feeling like me, you should still vote. Given how important the issue of health care is in all elections, and given a national mental health parity finally passed this year, it’s actually crucial for mental health consumers to make - and continue making - their voices heard.

We can’t expect change if we don’t advocate for change, after all.

Despite all the commercials, debates, articles, blogs, radio advertisements, billboards, and yard signs we’ve seen and heard this election year, some folks are still undecided about their picks for the next President of the United States. Fortunately for us, three major mental health advocacy organizations have created online election centers to help us.

Read on!

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides Bringing Mental Healthcare to the Ballot, which information about making our voices heard (might be a bit too late for some of those suggestions at this point, but there are still some good questions we can ask ourselves), information about the democratic and republican platforms, materials that shed light on the importance of mental health issues, and a list of nonpartisan websites for further information.

Mental Health America offers Vote for America’s Mental Health in 2008, which gives a ton of election resources, including the candidates’ reform proposals, the party platforms, and information about voter registration.

And, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) launched their Election Center: MI Vote Counts, which is a handy group of interactive tools that help explain the role of the government and why it’s important to vote, helps folks register to vote and explains how to vote, and includes information about mental health legislation and advocacy.

If you’re still undecided this election season, don’t be like the millions of Americans who are either going to forgo voting, or vote for whomever their family members or friends tell them (yes, I just made that statistic up - but it sounds pretty reasonable). Spend some time perusing these resources before election day, and make your voice heard November 4.

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POSTED IN: Government & Politics, Resources