It makes me so angry that the perpetrators of this 5+ year economic depression and subsequent "jobless recovery"--primarily the Federal Reserve, who inflated the mid 2000s housing bubble, and certain government officials, who forced lenders and the secondary mortgage markets to assume "subprime" loans--haven't had to answer to the enormous economic disaster and countless human tragedies they created. Five years after the fall of Lehman, few heads have rolled, Ben Bernanke remains Fed chairman, and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are living the high life after having retired from Congress. (In fact, the latter is currently making money hand-over-fist as CEO of the Motion Picture Association.)But while those who caused this mess continue to prosper without fear of reprisal, a great many of those they harmed continue to languish. Facingrampant employment discrimination and a perennially awful job market, the overwhelming majority of the millions of Americans who fell into the trap of long-term unemployment and underemployment during this depression remain there today. And, tragically, a great many of those who remain in the long-term unemployment/underemployment trap have developed mental health problems. Indeed, according to the CDC, the percentage of Americans who are clinically depressed has barely budged since reaching an all-time high in 2010.
One of the insidious aspects of this economic depression is that it's created a surge in the demand for mental health care while 1) those who need the care the most are less capable of affording it, and 2) mental health care facilities' budgets have been slashed. As a consequence, psychiatric facilities are operating under tremendous pressure, many reaching "crisis levels". This crisis was recently chronicled by the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC):
Hospitals have seen a spike in people suffering “episodic” mental health disorders such as major depression and suicide risks following job losses, long-term unemployment and other traumatic events. Meanwhile, funding cuts have filtered down to local mental health centers.“More people are competing for already very limited resources that are shrinking,” said Eileen McLaughlin, senior social worker at MUSC’s Institute of Psychiatry.The S.C. Hospital Association has declared it a “hidden crisis.”
Several other media organizations, including NBC News, McClatchy newspapers, and CNN, have also recently noted the mental heath care crisis.
As a fiscally-conservative libertarian, I believe that federal, state, and local governments should be as small and frugal as possible. However, I'm also a strong advocate of public assistance and mental health care for those who have been seriously harmed by the economy. I therefore strongly believe that budgets for the mental health care system should be increased despite the recent lull in government revenues, even if that means decreasing spending in other areas. I also believe that those who have developed mental health issues as a result of this economic depression would feel somewhat better if those responsible for the financial ruin of millions of Americans were finally held accountable.