If You Ask Me / By Martha Knight

Every so often governmental bodies wax eloquent concerning noble causes, and issue proclamations. They proclaim that a certain day, week or month will be [Whatever] Day/Week/Month, and list platitudinous reasons to observe the day/week/month as such.

Did I say these governmental bodies wax eloquent? They Simonize it, they coat it with carnauba, they apply high gloss polyurethane.

Sometimes these outpourings of official enthusiasm take the form of resolutions, in which case they must be written in subjunctive mode, which seems to be quite difficult for the writers to maintain. Some have trouble finding their Whereas with both hands.

In many cases these little gems of idealism are written by people far from the seats of government where the proclamations are to be proclaimed. I fancy I know a little about the process, because years ago I was part of it every time the New York State Association for Retarded Children held its spring board meeting or its annual convention. I was on its Resolution Committee. Apparently they needed a token goy, an up-state resident and a non- lawyer, and I was all of those.

We were also known as the all-night committee. Fortified with coffee, we worked our way through a list of the things various members had proposed that the NYSARC call upon the legislature, or the governor, or the Congress, or the President, to do, or to embody in some proclamation.

It would never do to just write, “We, the NYSARC, want you to do [whatever]. It is obvious, simple justice and human decency require it, so get on with it!” That was what we meant, but we had to clothe it in fancy language. There was lots of discussion in the committee about what all should be included, and various phrases were tossed around, and then they would say “Okay, go ahead and write it, Martini.

Surrounded by top-tier lawyers and a judge or two, I would do the drafting because I could “stay in the subjunctive without coming up for air longer than anyone else,” as one wag said.

So I picture some committee, the ladies with their shoes kicked off long since, clicking away on some of these outpourings of right thinking, concern for the underserved, patriotism and exhortations to do good. Along about 3 a.m. such a committee may be expected to come up with language so high-flown, the lack of oxygen and the surplus of caffeine are evident.

If you want to see some mind-bending linguistic contortions, observe the proclamation made by our county commissioners just last week:

“WHEREAS, mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being; and

“WHEREAS, all Americans experience times of difficulty and stress in their lives; and

“WHEREAS, promotion and prevention are effective ways to reduce the burden of mental health conditions; and

“WHEREAS, there is a strong body of research that support user-friendly tools that all Americans can access to better handle challenges, and protect their health and well-being; and

“WHEREAS mental health conditions are real and prevalent in our nation; and

“WHEREAS, with effective treatment, those individuals with mental health conditions can recover and lead full, productive lives; and

“WHEREAS, each business, school, government agency, faith-based organization, health-care provider, and citizen has a responsibility to promote mental wellness and support prevention efforts.

“THEREFORE, The McKean County Board of Commissioners, do hereby proclaim May 2014 as Mental Health Awareness Month in McKean County, Pennsylvania. We also call upon citizens, organizations, businesses and schools in McKean County to recommit our community to increasing awareness and understanding of mental health, the steps our residents can take to protect their mental health, and the need for appropriate and accessible services for people with mental health conditions.”

OMG! Where to begin? Mental health is essential to our health and well-being? Who knew!

Americans experience times of difficulty and stress? And having stress and difficulty makes us, um, what? People with MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS? Aren't those the conditions we want? Isn't mental health a good thing? Like “mental wellness”?

If there can be mental health and mental wellness, does it not follow that that there can be mental illness? It’s amazing there is no mention of “mental health ISSUES.” There is hope that we can recover from our mental health conditions. Might we be able to do so even without these silly frames of reference? With sufficient instruction in language arts (and even English usage and grammar) might proclamation writers come to realize that “body” is a singular noun?

I remember when May was always Bell Ringer Campaign month, because that is when we of the Mental Health Association went forth with our Bell banks and collected funds for the support of mental health services.

Some of those years I also published The Bellringer, a newsletter cranked out by the thousands on a manual mimeograph on 14-inch paper, distributed countywide. We were crusading for implementation of the Community Mental Health Act, by establishing local mental health clinics, where county residents could receive outpatient mental health care.

Back then people received mental health care by being hospitalized, either in state institutions or private ones. Mental health treatment required leaving family, friends, job, club, church, community, responsibilities.

Citizen activists brought about change, in a civil rights movement many have forgotten, to end the exile and institutionalization of community members when they had “mental health conditions” now routinely treated in the community.

Peace.