Reply #112: Actually...

[HuckleB]

I am against mandatory testing.

However, I do not see any evidence that the motive is control. It's a desire on the part of those on this commission to increase access to mental health services to the whole of the population, and to promote healthy development to the whole of the population. It is a public health proposal. It may have it's faults, as I have my own criticisms of it. But it is not the sinister deed that so many on these boards purport to make it in order to avoid serious conversation about it.

We can all use past history all we want. We should also acknowledge that health care professionals (the overwhelming majority, anyway) also know this history and are bound by ethics, professional organizations, colleagues, etc... not to repeat it. That doesn't mean it's not something that should be brought up repeatedly in order to ensure that we don't repeat it. However, I can't see how the history of Frances Farmer can be used as justification for dismissing this proposal. I think the mandatory part is wrong, in and of itself regarding basic freedoms. And that's the strongest, purest argument against the mandatory part of this proposal, IMHO.

Further, I am well aware of the issues regarding care at the VA. I have done a great deal of advocacy on this end myself. However, it's difficult to discuss these two matters in conjunction, as they both have many loose ends, some of which may provide clues to what's going on with the other but many that do not.