The state of Mississippi is currently facing a severe budget crisis, and sadly, the first area that the state's government has chosen to cut is mental health. As a result, several mental health facilities are closing or downsizing. Politicians hope that community-based care will successfully replace the closed or downsized facilities. But, will it? Marshall Ramsey is an editorial cartoonist for The Clarion-Ledger, which is Mississippi's largest newspaper. He created an excellent cartoon that represents the tightrope walk that mental health patients will experience as they transition to community-based care. I believe that mental health practitioners could be placed on that tightrope as well. Below is a copy of the aforementioned cartoon. I am eager to watch mental health practice evolve due to these budget cuts in a state for which I care deeply. Residents of Mississippi deserve excellent mental health care, but will they receive it? We shall wait and see. To read more about the mental health crisis in Mississippi, click on the following links. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100725/NEWS/7250341 http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100725/NEWS/7250347 http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100725/NEWS/7250339/Family++Patient+s+too-soon+release+led+to+his+suicide
Courtnay Veazey is a graduate student at Mississippi State University pursuing a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling and working as a graduate assistant at MSU's Career Center