KEN STREMSKY DISCUSSES THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE I am very glad the Wall Street Journal decide to have on page one of the June 26, 2002 issue the article with the title "A CEO's Secret: His Long Battle With Depression: After Years of Hiding Illness, Atlanta Business Leader Inspired Others to Open Up" written by Carrick Mollenkamp. Sometimes, I get depressed. I have never seen a psychiatrist and/or psychologist for depression. I have never taken a medication for depression. I do not think there is anything wrong with seeing a psychiatrist and/or psychologist. I do not think there is anything wrong with taking medication for depression. I do not trust people who never get depressed. I wonder if a person who never gets depressed has a decent conscience. My conscience used to get me depressed a lot before I admitted to cheating on the Anatomy and Physiology test when I was in high school. I will always wonder if I could have done better at the University of New Hampshire if I had done full disclosure about cheating on the test when I was still in high school. I got depressed at the University of New Hampshire a lot. I usually do not get depressed much now because I usually do what my conscience tells me to do. My conscience makes me dislike myself if I do not discuss the issues facing our country. I probably would not be discussing as many issues as I am discussing on my website if my conscience was not as powerful as it is. I hope the Federal Government will increase funding for mental health clinics and prescription drugs dealing with mental health. I hope that a lot more people will be able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs dealing with mental illness. I think the Federal Government should contribute at least $500 million a year to mental health clinics so that they may provide free psychiatric counseling, free pyschological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health. The Federal Government should spend at least $20 million a year on research dealing with recovery from mental illness. I think many people who are homeless would not be homeless for long if they are able to get free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health. I think the number of people who use marijuana, heroin, and cocaine in this country would decrease significantly if more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health. I think our country would have fewer alcoholics if many more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs. I think fewer marriages would end in divorce and fewer children would be abused if more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health. I think health care costs in this country would be reduced by many billions of dollars a year if many more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health because people who like themselves are more likely to take care of their physical bodies and seek treatment when they need treatment. I think our economy would grow faster if many more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs for mental health. I think there are many homeless people in our country who would make significant contributions to our country if many more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs. I often wonder how many diseases have not been cured and how many products have not been invented because our government has not cared enough about the Mental Health of Americans. I wonder if fewer crimes would be committed in our country if many more people are able to obtain free psychiatric counseling, free psychological counseling, and free prescription drugs foor mental health. The Federal Government should provide at least $10 million a year to local police departments so that the departments may train officers how to deal with people who have mental illnesses. I support the reauthorization of IDEA and I believe the Federal Government should fully fund IDEA. I do not support the mandating of mental health insurance coverage for individual health insurance plans and group health insurance plans. I do not believe that governments should mandate that health insurers provide any type of coverage for non government employees. I believe health insurers should sell many types of plans and that consumers should be allowed to choose the coverage the consumers want. I believe that if health insurers are required to offer mental health insurance coverage to non government employees by governments that the cost of health insurance will increase significantly and the probability that many people will not be able to afford health insurance coverage will increase. I want Congress to create a National Health Insurance Maintenance Organization similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefits program which is discussed on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management at http://www.opm.gov. I want the National Health Maintenance Organization to have a health insurance component run by a Federal Government agency that will offer plans that include mental health coverage as well as plans that do not include mental health coverage.