Published: November 10, 2009 07:47 am      

Letters to the Editor: November 10, 2009

Upstate residents deserve protection

In a New York Times article on Oct. 28, a clear distinction is made between how they protect the water and thereby the people's health for downstate residents compared to upstate residents.

The Chesapeake Energy company will not drill in the watershed that supplies down state residences including those in New York City. This watershed covers about one million acres. According to the article, concerns about drilling include the use of chemicals, the disposal of wastewater, and the danger of leaks and spills in the groundwater and deep aquifers. There also has been a string of explosions from Wyoming to Pennsylvania.

No such protection from drilling is provided upstate. If downstate needs a million-acre buffer, how much of a buffer is needed in Otsego and Delaware counties? At the present time we get none _ whether it's my land or someone else's land. Why? Is our situation different, or is it that we don't have enough political power, or political will, to protect our most precious life-sustaining resource?

Daniel Twomey

Madison, N.J.

Twomey owns property in the towns of Worcester and Maryland.

Many need services for mental health

The Daily Star on Oct. 27 reported that County Rep. Betty Ann Schwerd stated in a debate that certain services provided by the county are not essential. She singled out mental-health services, stating that "crazy people are going to be crazy, no matter what you do."

I wonder to whom Ms. Schwerd is referring as "crazy" whose treatment is unnecessary?

Is she speaking of those people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to rape, domestic violence, childhood physical and sexual abuse, accidents and war, who are treated successfully with medicine and talk therapy?

Is she speaking of sufferers immobilized by major depression, unable to take care of their families and be productive members of society, who are successfully treated at our county clinic?

Is she speaking of those who suffer the agonies of schizophrenia, whose illness can be put in remission by medication, family therapy and support groups?

Is she speaking of people we call bipolar, whose mood swings disrupt their lives and often lead to suicide, who can be stabilized for life with proper drugs and talk therapy?

Is she speaking of all those who are in jail or on the streets because the government closed down the state hospitals and then reneged on its promise to put the money saved into community services?

If Ms. Schwerd cares to learn about the need for mental-health services, she can go to the websites of NAMI, www.nami.org, or the National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov. She will learn that the most effective mental health treatment is provided in full-service mental health clinics using a team approach. This is what can be provided by our local mental-health clinic, if it is given adequate support.

Charles W. Lamb

Cooperstown

Lamb is a clinical psychologist with an office in Cooperstown.