VOA标准英语2013--Lack Of US Support For Mental Health Care Criticized

 

Lack Of US Support For Mental Health Care Criticized

Eric Parks and his mother Ginger¹ Smith have shared a long battle with mental illness. Parks has bi-polar disorder². His first psychotic episode happened when he was 19. 

"I don’t remember much of it. It was just a bad situation. I didn’t feel very good, that’s for sure," Parks said.

"And that was the beginning, the continuation of years of miserable³ times for Eric and difficult times for the family," Smith said.

Mental illness can prevent people from thinking rationally. Unless they have professional help, people with severe mental illness cannot stick to a schedule, and they stop taking the medications that can keep them grounded.

Parks' mother tried but failed to have her son hospitalized.

Many hospitals in the U.S. do not treat psychiatric patients. Those that do, often release patients after brief stays without the support of a mental health professional to ensure a stable transition. Discharged patients sometimes lack the money to buy their medicines or to pay for follow-up psychiatric services.

Parks ended up homeless, starving and without medication.

"I wasn’t willing to receive treatment. I wasn’t at a point where I was willing to admit that I had a mental illness or I had to take any medications or anything like that," Parks said. 

Improvements in the nation's mental health care system are sorely needed, according to Wayne Lindstrom. He heads Mental Health America, an advocacy group.

"We have a mental health system, and we also have a physical medicine system. And they have not been integrated, typically. And they need to be, desperately⁴, because so many of the problems that children and adults present with cross broad spectrums (of illnesses, and) aren’t separated from the neck up or down," Lindstrom said.

Parks now lives in a private home where the staff manages his medications and helps him structure his day. But such care is costly⁵, and there are no public or private programs to help pay for it. Most families exhaust their savings⁶. Smith sold her home so she could afford to keep her son there. Parks is now well enough that he has begun looking for a job.

"I’d like to eventually get back out on my own and maybe have an apartment and live independently," Parks said.

Parks will need the services of a group home for several more years. Still, Smith points to her son’s accomplishments⁷ and bristles⁸ at the way people with mental illness are portrayed⁹ by public officials and the media.

"If we can shift the perspective to greater understanding and knowledge, and the resources to back it up, we will be taking a great step forward to some of the things that our families live with and many others know very well," Smith said.

Instead, funding for these programs has been cut sharply in recent years. 

1 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。

9 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》