Mental disorders are not character flaws. On the contrary, seeking treatment is a way of taking responsibility for oneself, of facing problems rather than hiding from them or denying them. Broadening the availability of mental health care would go a long way toward diluting the stigma. A bill now under consideration in Congress is similar to Indiana's law in that it would make parity in mental and physical health care the law of the land. It deserves support.
Mental disorders are common.
Much progress has been made this century in their treatment. Let's hope we don't have to wait another hundred years before mental illness is no more taboo than diabetes or high blood pressure. When that day comes, we will be a much healthier society. John Yossarian as the last lucid voice in the hysteria of war, a man who tried to get out of the Army Air Corps by feigning insanity. Through Yossarian, Heller causes us to question the meaning of insanity.