After over a decade of struggling and aborted attempts, Congress passed a bill yesterday that provides for equal treatment of mental health, alcohol and substance abuse disorders, ending a decades-long practice of discrimination against these concerns by insurance companies and employers.

Although not quite done (funding still needs to be agreed-upon and it still needs the President’s signature), we’re very close to a historic change in the way employers and insurance companies view mental health problems. Forced to put these on equal footing with medical and surgical procedures (because they wouldn’t do it on their own), maybe people will finally get the message — mental disorders are just as real and debilitating as any physical injury, disease, or problem.

Over 110 million Americans will be positively affected by the new legislation, and will enjoy enhanced mental health benefits and access to mental health services.

Read the full article: Congress Passes Historic Mental Health Parity Bill

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 24 Sep 2008
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