Recession Depression: Nanny State or Mental Health Threat?

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Mar 31 2009, 11:05 am by Chris Good

Recession Depression: Nanny State or Mental Health Threat?

The U.S. government's Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration launched a website today designed to help citizens deal with mental health issues associated with the economic crisis, earning this headline from the Drudge Report last night: "NANNY STATE: GOVERNMENT WEBSITE TO WARN OF SADNESS/CRYING OVER ECONOMY." And it's true, the site does warn that "Persistent Sadness/Crying" is a warning sign "that financial problems may be adversely affecting your emotional or mental well being --or that of someone you care about."

But the recession's mental health threat is real, according to this story published yesterday by the Fresno Bee, detailing the problems of unemployment-stricken Mendota, Californa: "With a 41 percent jobless rate, the town's social fabric is tearing at the seams. Alcoholism and crime are on the rise. To save money, some mothers wash and re-use disposable diapers. Unemployed men with nothing to do wander the streets and sit on benches," the Bee's Chris Collins writes.

Sadness/crying, indeed.

Comments (2)

Darius March 31, 2009 12:54 PM

Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with the government informing the public about the mental health effects of a recession and trying to help people deal with them. You'd have to be pretty out of touch with what ordinary Americans are going through to see this as a "nanny state" problem.

24AheadDotCom March 31, 2009 6:31 PM

Would it be too much to ask The Atlantic to actually read and spend a few minutes thinking about the articles it links to? The second article dances around a partial solution to that town's problem: simply enforcing our laws. Chris Good is invited to read it through several times, taking notes and asking smart friends as necessary.