Vicious cycle needs to end
e’re perpetually entrenched in a vicious cycle. Democrats and Republicans see one another not as patriots with divergent perspectives but as adversaries with heretical points of view. Adversaries have become enemies. Opponents are not merely misguided — they’re evil, even un-American. Parties have become tribes. And American democracy has been rendered asunder.
No one denies that progressives and conservatives prescribe very different remedies for America’s big challenges. But our Constitution’s greatest virtue is that it gives conflicting points of view a peaceful path to resolution. Indeed, our foundational document, with its checks and balances, necessitates compromise. Or, at least, that’s what it’s supposed to do.
The shooting in Alexandria shouldn’t become fodder for political talking points. It’s a personal tragedy for Rep. Steve Scalise, the other victims and their families. Of course, Americans’ foremost liberty is the freedom of speech. Even the most ardently held views have a right to be expressed. But some level of civility and proportion is important. No one should shout “fire” in a crowded theater and be surprised by the ensuing chaos. No one should strike a match near dry tinder and be surprised at the ensuing flames.
We all need to redouble our efforts to find the common humanity beneath every political disagreement . ... Let’s hear more reconciliation in our political debate. Let’s rethink our propensity to make every disagreement apocalyptic. Let’s resist the temptation to infer the worst motives to our adversaries. In the end, the American values that unite us are much stronger than those tearing us apart. Let’s remember that. And even amid a horrible tragedy, let’s celebrate and defend the great blessings of American democracy. As Martin Luther King Jr. once observed: “We may have arrived on these shores in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” here is a mental health crisis in America. The statistics alone should compel each of us to ask “What can I do?”
Every 13 minutes, someone in the United States dies by their own hand, making suicide the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death and second among those aged 15 to 34. Among children 10 to 14, the suicide rate has caught up with the death rate from traffic accidents. Many times that number attempt suicide each year — more than 8 percent of high school students.
But it’s not just the young. Among middle-aged white Americans with no more than a high school education, the historic increase in life expectancy has gone into reverse. Death rates have risen dramatically. Suicides, drug overdoses and alcohol-related liver disease are the main drivers of these “deaths of despair.” Less likely to get or stay married and less likely to participate in the labor force, they increasingly turn to chemical crutches. Alcoholism worsens. Suicide climbs. Addiction takes root.
The opioid epidemic is raging across America — with nearly 100 people dying every day from overdoses. Addiction may start innocently enough, when a person undergoes surgery or experiences the discomfort of kidney stones and is prescribed a high-powered pain medication, usually opiate-based. For some, use of that prescription painkiller begins a downward spiral to addiction — leaving family members, friends and colleagues at a loss for a way to help.
More than ever, mental health is becoming a concern in the workplace —so much that this year’s World Health Organization World Health Day focused on the toll that anxiety and depression take on the global workplace. In the U.S. alone, depression annually costs in excess of $1 trillion in lost productivity. The human and emotional cost is immeasurable.
But the numbers are more than mere statistics. They reflect personal experiences. It’s likely that you know someone who is living with a mental illness, lost a loved one to suicide or is struggling to get an adolescent treatment for addiction — we all do. How can we help? We want to do the right thing, to say the right thing, yet we struggle to find the words. The time has come when our response to someone with a mental health problem or an addiction is no different than someone with cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Mental Health First Aid offers the tools that enable all of us to have the conversation, to be the difference in the life of someone struggling.
That is why we are launching the “Be the Difference” campaign. Because anyone, anywhere can be the one to make a difference — if you know what to say and what to do. The skills you need are the skills you learn in Mental Health First Aid.
Addiction, mental illness, suicide. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Learn how you can “Be the Difference.”
Mental Health First Aid is an eighthour, in-person training designed for anyone to learn about mental illness and addiction, including risk factors and warning signs. Participants learn a five-step action plan to help people who are living with a mental health challenge or experiencing a crisis. Find courses in your area at MentalHealthFirstAid.org.