SnoCounty Executive John Lovick

SnoCounty Sheriff John Lovick became our county executive in June.  This morning, the Everett Herald reported that he is forming a panel to review Snohomish County, Washington’s number one health issue:  mental health.  Bravo!

I found myself doing a “yippee, Skippy!” dance while shedding tears of tremendous relief and gratitude.  Executive Lovick said in his August 1 press release:

I want recommendations that we can use to move forward.  This group has the chance to make a real change in how we provide mental-health services.

Amen.  Thank you, John Lovick.  Bless you.

I want to give a special shout-out to the good folks in our county’s Human Services department who are charged with selecting people to be on the panel.  I’ve already started lobbying people I think will make a meaningful contribution.  Domestic violence and abuse survivors frequently experience PTSD, and there is a dearth of services to help us recover.  I think it is time to change the paradigm so that we can productively move forward with our lives and become financially self-sufficient.

As I was about to publish this post, CBS reported:

40 percent of the 11.4 million adults with serious mental illness went untreated. The top two reasons were inability to afford mental care and the stigma of admitting psychiatric illness and seeking help.  [citing a 2010 government study]

. . .the unemployment rate for people with mental illness ranges from 70 to 90 percent.