An Inexpensive Cure

While not particularly in the mood to write anything today (yet being obliged because of my participation in NaBloPoMo) and hoping to scoot by with a topic that I can quickly zip through, I searched through the Daily Post’s Daily Prompts and found the subject, “Placebo Effect – If you could create a painless, inexpensive cure for a single ailment, what would you cure and why?”

Photo Copyright: Unknown

Although there are many more “popular” diseases which are deadly to the afflicted person him/herself, mental illness in one sickly individual can claim countless victims through innocent proximity alone.  Our health care system, in the good ol’ U.S. of A., is shameful in its treatment of and for the mentally ill, I know this firsthand as I served in the capacity of Office Manager for two psychologists a few years back. 

Photo Courtesy: Mike Lake

The secrecy of these patients was highly guarded, as professional and non-professional people crossed the threshold of the office daily.  I often wondered how these people afforded their treatment since most health insurance plans had no coverage for any type of mental health regimen.  The more frightening curiosity was – how many violently-capable people are in society who do not have insurance coverage for any type of therapy and cannot afford the expensive office visits?  How many are frightened to seek help due to the stigma placed upon the mentally afflicted (as if they carried leprosy) which keeps many ostracized to their pain?

In my make-believe world of this posting, my “cure” for mental illness in all forms would begin with treatment available to all who suffer, whether they have insurance coverage or not, followed up with one singular pill that would fix any remaining fragments of  a broken, damaged, lost mind.  And for those who are too insane to seek medical assistance, that magic pill would be available to everyone without prescription so that loved ones could secretly dispense the one-time magic pill into an unsuspicious-appearing  glass of water, cup of coffee, etc…

Photo Copyright: Unknown

The magic pill would have no effect on those who do not have a mental illness, there would be no “high”, therefore no reason for abusing the drug.  There would be no side-effects, ever, no interaction with any other drug or herbal supplements.  The pill would be administered once and it would provide its benefit for the lifetime of the patient.

Maybe the pill could also be made available as a one-time inject-able, like a vaccine which could even be administered safely at birth, or to the pregnant mother wherein its magic would be shared by both entities…

Photo Copyright:AP PHOTO/ALASTAIR GRANT

I am certain, however,  that there would be resistance to any magic pill, at least in the world we live in today, but in my world, the world of this little post, the magic pill would be met with open arms by a public who are in agony and exhausted from losing so many innocent loved-ones as victims to someone else’s demons.  I only hope that someday, in reality, attention and treatment can be supplied to all who carry the very real disease of mental illness.