Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2007
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
A bad grade for Georgia
In the early part of the 19th century, Central
State Hospital in Milledgeville provided a rural
environment for
people of various
mental disabili
ties. It was then
the only men
tal institution in
Georgia and, as
the state popula
tion grew, Central
State became
overcrowded,
and eventually a
psychiatric night
mare.
There was a
move toward
decentralization
of services with
other hospitals
being built, and toward taking patients out of
the mental institutions and placing them in
group homes, nursing homes, and back to
community.
These were moves in the right direction, but
mental healthcare in Georgia is still racked with
serious problems.
Taking the mentally ill out of institutional care
is great for those well enough to adapt to it,
and when sufficient community services are
available. It fails when adequate community
care - treatment, housing, medicine, and so on
- are not available. Long-term hospitalization
will always be needed for some with mental
illness.
Failed community placements of seriously
mentally ill patients released from Georgia’s
state psychiatric hospitals when they are still
too sick to be in the community are common.
Shrinking hospital services plus shrinking com
munity services has resulted in too many men
tally ill people in jails and prisons.
For these and other reasons, The National
Alliance for the Mentally 111 has given Georgia a
grade of D in the areas of infrastructure, infor
mation access, services, and recovery sup
ports. The same report ranks Georgia as 44th
in per capita mental health spending.
Overall, Georgia’s public mental health ser
vices are reaching less than one-third of those
estimated to have a serious mental illness.
They don’t have enough staff or funding to do
the job.
These are issues of concern to all Georgians
not just during Mental Illness Awareness Week
this past week (Oct. 7-13) but in the weeks,
years and decades to come.
Letters to the editor
Something wrong about Oaky hearing
There is something wrong about the upcoming hear
ing for the approval/disapproval of a waste treatment
plant at Oaky Woods.
Have our local, Republican state representatives done
all they can to buy some of this land back from the devel
opers? What about our local city and county leaders? Are
they trying to reverse this shameful exploitation of what in
all fairness should become a state park for all of us? Is local
apathy going to allow the destruction of this great natural
wildlife area? Let’s ask our local leaders what they have
done to save something vital to Middle Georgia’s recre
ational interests and quality of life. This is our last chance.
Frank W. Gadbois, Warner Robins
HOW TO SUBMIT:
There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E
mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to Houston
Home Journal at 1210 Washington St., Perry, GA 31069,
or drop it off at the same location between 8 a.m. and 5
p.m. Monday through Friday. Letters should not exceed
350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and
telephone number (the last two not printed). The newspa
per reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of
grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity.
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
“Failed community
placements of
seriously mentally
ill patients released
from Georgia’s
state psychiatric
hospitals when they
are still too sick to
be in the
community are
common.”
editori/T
Too many candidates, debates
Let’s face it: There are just too many
boring presidential debates with boring
presidential candidates this go-round.
First off, could we please see at least
one debate in which the moderator
or questioners don’t try to dominate
the airtime? Seeing an endless sea of
middle-age to darn-near-dead white
men on a stage is bad enough, but
having to listen to the “journalists”
interact as if it were a talk show makes
these debates excruciatingly painful to
watch.
Second, isn’t it time everyone owns
up to the fact that - had he not been
labeled “a nut” by the establishment
early on - Ron Paul is by far the most
interesting candidate in the entire GOP
field? Don’t these other guys get it that
repeating the same old tired phrases
about “economic growth” and “free
markets” is just driving their most
conservative base into fits of rage?
I have never seen a bigger cast of
one-inch deep characters in my life
as we have in both parties this time.
Hillary is so far ahead that it makes no
sense for her to throw even a five-yard
pass, much less a Hail Mary. Barack
Obama seems so wrapped up in his
charisma that he’s lost the concept
of having any real substance. For my
money, Joe Biden has been the only
one on the Democratic side willing to
take a few risks or venture into any
degree of opposing viewpoints.
As for Fred Thompson, will some
one please give this guy a test and
see if he’s alive? Don’t get me wrong:
I like Thompson personally, but mut-
Corps Lake Water Release Plan
A good marriage is good medicine
By STEPHEN DANIELS,
Georgia Family Council
You’ve probably heard that joke
about the two men who were
talking when one asks, “Is it
true that married people live longer
than nonmarried people?” His friend
replies, “No, it just seems longer.”
Humor surrounding married life
often evokes laughter because those
of us who are married know that it
isn’t always easy. But the answer to
the inquirer’s question in reality is an
emphatic “yes.” Married people actually
do live longer, because when compared
to their nonmarried friends, they live
healthier lives.
I was reminded of this point the other
day when I read a newspaper article
with the headline “Married couples are
healthier and live longer - and so do
their children.” Ironically, that story
was followed the next day by the head
line “Study ties marital strife, heart
disease.”
Two days, two articles, two head
lines, both clearly converging to make
the same point - a healthy marriage
equates to a healthier life.
The first story reported that a study
in the United Kingdom found that the
mortality rate for those who are mar
ried is much lower than those who
are single. In fact, the mortality rate
for single men between the ages of 30
and 59 was two-and-a-half times higher
than those who were married. Single,
divorced and widowed women also had
higher mortality rates. Widowed men
and single mothers were found to suf
fer from the highest number of chronic
conditions.
Matt
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
tering semi-Reaganesque terms such
as “indexing for inflation” is so out of
date that the bored audience is left in
the dark as to what he’s trying to say.
As for the Mitt and Rudy show, what
a battle over nothing.
Romney looks like the Ultra Brite
toothpaste pitchman, and Rudy looks
like a character out of the Harry Potter
series. They split hairs, as they all
propose basically the same policies and
dodge their pasts, either personal or
political.
And here’s the real kicker: Our sur
veys show that virtually no one is
watching these little gems. So all the
rooms filled with spinmeisters and all
the column inches wasted on these
non-debate debates are a relative waste
of time.
So here’s the bottom line, candidates
and pundits. We all started this presi
dential season way too early. Think
about it. John McCain has crashed,
burned and come back to life at least
twice before the first primary. This
isn’t a race for the nomination as much
as it’s a battle to see who will still be
alive by the time the caucuses and pri
maries are held!
But these findings are nothing new.
There are piles of studies that tell us
about the health benefits of marriage.
For example, the CDC reported a few
years ago from their study of more than
127,000 adults that “married persons
were healthier for nearly every measure
of health” compared to those who were
divorced, widowed, never-married or
cohabiting.
The skeptic may say that this data
simply reflects the fact that healthier
people tend to get married, or that
just having someone else in the house
to look out for you results in better
health. But studies have even shown
that people who are sick and then get
married live longer than those who
are sick and don’t. And other research,
including the CDC study, has found that
simply living with someone else does
not confer the same health benefits of
being married. People who five together
without tying the knot mirror their
single and divorced piers because they
don’t reduce the unhealthy behaviors
that married people do.
Marriage carries with it a motivation
and incentive to take better care of our
selves because our commitments extend
beyond our own needs to our spouse
and children. They depend on our well
being too. Speaking for my own gender,
marriage settles men down and pro
vides a caring partner who monitors
his health, watches what he eats and
makes sure he sees a doctor once in
awhile. This would explain why I have
abandoned my habit of eating a hotdog
every day for lunch, like I did in college.
That decision alone may add 10 years
to my life.
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
As for the issues - the boneheaded
Republicans (for the most part) won’t
admit that Iraq is a huge mess and
that even most Republicans want us to
accelerate the removal of troops. The
Democrats, on the other hand, have to
take a virtual blood oath of complete
withdrawal to gain the approval of
their base.
When it comes to the economy, it’s
clear none of the candidates has a clue.
The Democrats want to “tax the rich,”
but by their definition, Oprah Winfrey
and a regular working couple earning
a decent wage are treated one and the
same. And why are we even having
debates, primary or general, when we
all know that Hillary will likely out
perform any of these guys in a “fancy
speak” contest?
The Republicans clearly don’t realize
that many in their base, particularly
in “red” southern and southwestern
states, are suffering from the results of
their beloved free trade and a housing
market that continues to head south.
They spout off the right words, but it’s
clear that they are just the same old
“steady as she goes” GOB beholden to
huge corporations and their longtime
“establishment” ways.
Get it clear, you guys: People don’t
like your president or your party. They
think you sold us out to globalism and
cronyism.
Repeating the same junk we have
heard the last six years won’t cut it.
So here’s a challenge to all “debat
ers” in these snore-a-thons.
See TOWERY,page 6A
The second stud}' I read about adds
a ne'tfr layer to this whole discussion,
because it points out an important qual
ifier to the mountain of evidence that
marriage equals better health.
The study of more than 9,000 British
civil servants, most of whom were mar
ried, found that those with bad close
relationships were 34 percent more
likely to suffer heart trouble, including
a heart attack. Apparently an unhappy
marriage can affect the heart in more
than one way.
So what does all of this tell us? Clearly
our marriage, for better or for worse,
can have a profound effect on the qual
ity of our physical health. It also punc
tuates an important point.
We’ve all heard for years about the
importance of exercising our bodies so
that we can be healthy and stay fit.
Quite frankly, I’ve been a little lax in
the area of disciplined exercise. For now,
with three small children, things like
wrestling with my kids, pulling them in
the wagon or chasing them across the
yard will have to do.
We exercise so that our bodies do not
weaken or waste away. The same is
true for marriage. Without deliberate
acts of love and respect, a marriage can
weaken too. The creeping separateness
that can come from years of unhealed
hurts or unspoken words will take its
toll over time.
But unlike when our bodies deterio
rate from lack of exercise, a marriage
that breaks down can leave a house
hold full of broken hearts - and years
of unhealthy emotional heartache and
pain.
See DANIELS, page 6A