Mental Illness is just a character flaw. Get over it. Man-up!

As our nation continues to debate Mental Health Services few are speaking in public about the perception that Mental illness is a character flaw.  Mental Illness' are serious chronic medical conditions, like diabetes and heart disease.  Is a diabetic a weak person that can't control their pancreas and its production of insulin? If you're born to a family that has a genetic disposition to create cholesterol resulting in heart disease are you too weak of mind to control your endocrine system?  To follow that logic a person who suffers from Mental Illness is too weak to control the chemicals and neurotransmitters in thier brain; the most unexplored organ in the body.  Why is there no parity of coverage and care?  What is parity of care when discussing Mental Health?

Mental illnesses are serious medical illnesses. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence. Mental illness falls along a continuum of severity. Even though mental illness is widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion-about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 Americans-who live with a serious mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that One in four adults-approximately 57.7 million Americans-experience a mental health disorder in a given year.

http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness

When you know better do better.