Do you think mental health should be given the same level of treatment as physical illness?

There should be a level of treatment available to help recovery. I dont think it should be compared with physical illness. It is just as importaint and the very best treatment should be available for both.

Mental health is as much a medical situation as physical health. Here in USA, insurance now covers 80-100 percent. It used to be 50 percent.

If they paid more attention to mental health treatment,there would be much less time & money spent on physical treatments..A healthy mind,can bring about a healthy body.

I agree. The mind is a part of the body, a very important part as it can cause one to be physically ill. With a messed up brain, your body is pretty worthless.

Hi Plum Here's some facts. 1:4 people suffer from some sort of mental illness 56% of us know someone who suffers or has suffered from mental illness. When asked if they knew anyone who suffered from a specific diagnosis (they listed 7 different mental illnesses) a massive 77% said they knew someone who did. Given that, the stigma attached to someone with a mental illness is unforgiving and ruins peoples lives. So yes, I'd like to see money put into helping people with mental illness and educating those who don't.

Yes I think we should have exactly the same level of treatment and that we should be seen as capacitous in our views on which treatments we chooose. We should have the rights to refuse any drug treatment but mainly drugs with unwelcome side effects and ECT and other invasive procedures just as people with physcial difficulties are permitted to have a say in their health care. The present system increases dependency and disempowermnet which makes us more docile and easily controlled. How we are treated is really really bad and needs to be outed but society really doesn't want to hear, they just want us dealt with and out of sight.

I agree with you that mental health should have the same priority as physical health but disagree about the level of support there is. Lots of money and facilities are spent on mental health issues and there are lots of good organisations out there to offer support and more and more GPs are looking for signs of mental ill health that could have an impact on that persons physical health, so more and more counselling etc is being offered instead of prescription drugs.

There should be more understanding about all forms of mental illness,there still seems to be a stigma attached to people who have had or are still struggling with mental illness. Insurance companies won't always give you life cover if you have been ill, even if you have made a good recovery.It's like a mine field! Any form of mental illness can be just as damaging physically as well as mentally. People who have never suffered don't know how physically debillatating it can be.Especially those who say what is spent and where. When you have had a mental illness some ignornrant people still deem you as being 'mad' or a bit 'funny in the head'. this needs to change and i think that more funding should be given to help train staff, to help people who have been mentally ill and sectioned, then released and go on to hurt themselves or others. this is the physical effects of lack of funding and consideration given. Good question! you certainly got me jumping up and down on my soap box!

Agree. I also wish mental health didn't have the social stigma it does. I don't really talk about my husband's debilitating bipolar disorder to anyone but it affects us just as much as any kind of physical illness. If it were leukemia or diabetes I think people would be more understanding.