 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Mental disconnect
The mental-health industry doesn’t mince words when confronting the occasional heretic who doubts its holy quest. Its message: Of course insurance companies should be required to cover mental disorders to the same degree they cover physical illness. If you can’t see that, bub, you’re a raving bigot.
“All the discussion about the biological basis and cost is nothing but a ruse to cover discrimination,” declared Tony Robucci, president of the Colorado Psychiatric Society, in a recent letter objecting to a Rocky editorial on the topic.
Robucci is hardly the only industry spokesman to suggest opponents of total parity invent arguments to disguise prejudice against the mentally ill. But this rough-and-tumble tactic paid off: In its just concluded session, the legislature passed a law expanding the list of mental conditions for which insurance coverage must be “no less extensive than the coverage provided for a physical illness.” The new list even includes those elastic catchalls, “general anxiety disorder” and “social phobia.”
Opponents of parity do not, of course, doubt the existence of a range of mental disorders that can benefit from treatment. What they doubt is the willingness of the therapeutic profession to limit its grasp. Two years ago, for example, the National Institute of Mental Health proclaimed that more than half of Americans will be stricken with a mental illness in their lives — a "finding" with staggering implications for treatment costs.
If you wonder where it could all end, take a look at Sweden. “Swedes are among the healthiest people in the world according to the World Health Organization,” reported The Wall Street Journal last week. “And yet 13 percent of working-age Swedes live on some type of disability benefit — the highest proportion on the globe.”
Not surprisingly, “sick leave for psychological conditions such as depression, burnout or panic attacks has rocketed. Over 20 percent of the population complain of anxiety syndromes. ‘We are actually the safest country in the world,’ says David Eberhard, chief psychiatrist at St. Goran’s hospital in Stockholm. But ‘people are feeling psychologically worse and worse.’”
It is simply not credible to claim that mental disorders in all cases are afflictions indistinguishable from a broken leg. And it’s nice to see a psychiatrist acknowledge as much.
Real funny
Earlier this year, a student at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins approached Amy Oliver, the director of operations at the Independence Institute who hosts a radio talk show in northern Colorado. The student showed her a test question from a math class that read in part: “In 1988, there were 6.047 million people registered to vote in Florida. ... The number of Democrats was 0.908 million more than the number of liars — I mean Republicans.”
Oliver called the principal, Tom Lopez, wondering what was up. In a voice mail and later conversation on March 29, Lopez confirmed that the question did come from his school, but that it was meant as “humor” between a teacher and students with whom he had “established a rapport.”
Last week, The Coloradoan in Fort Collins did its own story on the math test. “Lopez said that question was one of two versions the teacher created for the class, with the other reversing the partisan roles and referring to Democrats as liars,” the paper reported. “The teacher gave the differing versions to students based on the teacher’s assessment of a student’s political leanings, Lopez said.”
The article raises several questions. Oliver says Lopez never mentioned the second test in his voice mail or conversation with her six weeks ago. If so, that’s a curious oversight. Why not?
For that matter, how would a math teacher know the political leanings of his students unless he talked about politics a lot?
Why is a math teacher talking about politics a lot?
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountain
News.com.
Yet another egregious example of our public school teachers pushing liberal views on students. The Colorado Education Association is corrupting our children. We must move to a voucher system now and starve the liberals out.
Posted by CC on May 16, 2007 12:03 PMYet another egregious example of our public school teachers pushing liberal views on students. The Colorado Education Association is corrupting our children. We must move to a voucher system now and starve the liberals out.
Posted by CC on May 16, 2007 12:03 PMYet another egregious example of our public school teachers pushing liberal views on students. The Colorado Education Association is corrupting our children. We must move to a voucher system now and starve the liberals out.
Posted by CC on May 16, 2007 12:03 PM