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Those statistics were quoted on Bloomberg.com and are the result of a study conducted by the RAND Corporation.

But I’m not going to get into my own personal feelings about war and politics. My problem with these statistics are about our failing mental healthcare system. These statistics about our service men and women are mild compared to the issues civilians have when it comes to treatment for mental illness.

Along my own path to recovery, I encountered several obstacles including access to therapy, funding for medications, child care while I sought treatment, financial assistance and, of course, lots of red tape.

How are you supposed to get treatment when you don’t have insurance? Sometimes the only option available is to find a therapist and a psychiatrist who will work on a sliding fee scale. But they are so overbooked and underfunded, they have to put limits on how many sliding fee patients they can take. Then there’s medication. If it weren’t for patient assistance programs like PPARx, I would have to pay over $200 every month for medications. Unfortunately, most people living with a mental illness can’t afford that, so they’re forced to go unmedicated. Not receiving access to therapy and medication can lead to things like excessive absences from work, domestic abuse, criminal offenses and hospitalization. Obviously that’s going to cost more in the long run than the medications would have.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t even begin to tell you the years of hell I went through - and my kids went through with me - because I couldn’t afford treatment. And this is why I’ve tried to advocate for those of us living with a mental illness by using my own blog to speak out about it. I don’t know if I can speak loud enough to make any changes but what does it hurt to try? Who knows, maybe people that read my blog or meet me through other forums like message boards or social networking sites will rethink their own stereotypes. Or maybe it’ll make them pause the next time they use the term ‘bipolar’ as an insult. Or maybe they’ll be inspired to do some research before they vote, see where the candidates - both national and local - stand on funding mental health treatment or the criminalization of the mentally ill.

If you’re one of those people, start here. Find out how your state ranks when it comes to treatment for mental illness. Or check here to learn more about the issues affecting the mentally ill.

I’m tellin’ ya….it ain’t easy staying sane in an INsane world.