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Getting control of your home environment is much easier when you can use certain handy devices to monitor conditions and make necessary adjustments. We now take intelligent thermostats and smoke detectors for granted but, with so many intelligent appliances available off the shelf, we have an embarrassment of riches. The ease with which we can make custom devices, that don’t fit within the category of popular demand, is also on the increase.

Joining the maker revolution has a low threshold. And once you get in, you may be surprised at just how inexpensive it is to build a simple appliance from scratch. The most popular microcontroller is the Arduino UNO. It is open source, which means there’s plenty of competition to keep prices low. It also excites the user base in ways that insure there is lots of support coming in from all directions. This includes hardware from different manufacturers together with lots of freely available software.

While learning to program electronics gives you the ability to do really cool things, you can get started by cutting and pasting code that has already been developed by others. The Arduino system consists of a small electronically populated board, commonly referred to as a microcontroller, and software called the IDE which stands for integrated development environment. The IDE makes it possible to develop the routines on your laptop or desktop computer and then upload the experimental or finished code to the microcontroller.

The IDE software allows you to write what are called sketches in the Arduino language. This language is common for different Arduino boards. There are a variety of tutorials and projects that are available pre-coded so you can learn how to build applications. Accordingly, beginners can get up and running quickly. Much of the functionality of a microcontroller, such as each of the Arduinos, is hard coded or physically pre-programmed into the circuitry. The Arduino UNO and the smaller Nano connect to your computer with a USB cable. Once the sketched out code is uploaded from your computer to the micro-controller, the controller can then be un-tethered and work in a stand-a-lone fashion.

You can use an Arduino Uno board for digital input devices such as sensors and Arduino shields that get physically mounted to the main board. The original Uno has 14 digital and 6 analog pins, which can be used for input and output and to interact with the software through the functions PinMode, DigitalWrite and DigitalRead. The digital pins allow the Arduino to read digital inputs such as buttons, effect things through digital outputs such as by turning on LEDs. Any of the 14 digital pins on the board can be used to read data from components such as sensors and also write data to other components such as actuators.

With the command PinMode, we can define functions for each of the 20 pins. In this way the pins can be used for many different applications. For digital input devices, such as sensors and Arduino shields, the signal at the pin is presented and read in the form of 0s and 1s. When used with analog devices, the pins can register a range of values that are also defined, interpreted, and acted upon by the uploaded code. As soon as the program is loaded onto the Arduino board, its LED circuit flashes. The TX indicator LEDs on the board also give us a nice visual indication that the Arduino is receiving and sending data when we load a new program.

There are several ground pins labeled GND that can be used to provide a common ground for your circuit. Many “pre-printed” circuits are available in the form of special purpose shields that mount onto the main board and provide convenient ways to use sensors and actuators in a plug-and-play fashion. The Arduino board, in combination with various shields, can read various inputs such as keystrokes, sensor lights, and even Twitter messages. Shields are available for WiFi and other forms of network connectivity.They also provide display capabilities and fulfill other functions.

Most Arduino enthusiasts use it to read analog sensors and, perhaps, log the data. It is however, capable of so much more. For example you could monitor the chemical balance of the water in your aquarium and use injectors to help maintain an optimal environment for your fish. Extend this function and you can build an aquaponics greenhouse where the aquarium water also serves as the nutrient reservoir for your plants while you also control the air envelope. The potential for creativity is unlimited. And, for anyone living on the canvas, the value of such specialized digital assistants quickly becomes clear.

Making things gives us great personal satisfaction. And, once you know what you can do with an Arduino style microcontroller, it is time to start the journey into the limitless world of complementary electronic components. Think of the Arduino Sketch as a reminder that humanity’s masterpiece continues to take form. Explore the capabilities of sensor shields and actuators and let your imagination run wild.

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In the late 1940s, William Shockley led a team at Bell Laboratories to develop a new kind of amplifier for the US telephone system. He, together with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain announced the invention of the bipolar “junction transistor” at a press conference on July 4, in 1951. Shockley once explained transistor-amplifiers to a student saying: “If you take a bale of hay and tie it to the tail of a mule and then strike a match and set the bale of hay on fire, and if you then compare the energy expended shortly thereafter by the mule with the energy expended by yourself in the striking of the match, you will understand the concept of amplification.”

When a small input voltage results in a large output voltage, the effect is amplification. A transistor can serve as an amplifier by raising the strength of a weak signal. If a DC bias voltage is applied to what’s called the emitter base junction, the transistor transitions into a forward biased condition. Let’s unpack that statement.

A wide mouthed bass, a big funnel, and a large diameter telescope have one thing in common. They each allow easy entry. This can help the fish to scoop up food, the funnel can be used to rapidly fill a narrow jar, and a big lens on the front of the telescope has a lot of light gathering power. In all three examples, this can also be stated as low input resistance. In the case of a transistor, the low resistance input is called the collector. It is, by design, a way to gather as many electrons as possible from a relatively weak source.

Now once the collector has done its collecting, we can apply additional pressure to help push the gathered electrons out of the collector area and towards the output otherwise known as the emitter. Just how this pressure is applied is going to determine just how effective or powerful our push is going to be. We already know that like particles repel one another and such is the case with any gathering of electrons. Sooo, if we have a bunch of contentious electrons already pushing against one another at the collector, and if we inject more electrons at the base, those electrons are going to be motivated to find some means of escape. They’re going to be pushing towards the exit door and thrusting out of the emitter.

When the resistance at an input is low, and when additional pressure is applied from the base, we have a situation that can now be characterized as forward biasing. If you’re driving on the highway at rush hour, and there are a bunch of cars streaming in behind you from an entrance ramp, you are likely to feel the pressure to keep going. If you are tubing on a lazy river, as you pass a powerful tributary or stream, you will be forward biased as you feel the rush.

Within a transistor, the chemical layering, the electron conducting, and the forward biasing all contribute to the process of amplifying. There are many variables. How weak is the incoming signal, how strong is the desired output, and how much pressure can be brought to bear are first among the primary design considerations. Among the others is the ratio of signal to noise. Whenever we are working with conduction, we must also consider the possibility of undesirable induction. Otherwise, when we amplify the signal we want, we may also be amplifying the noise we don’t want.

If, for example, you have a collection of vinyl records, you already know about noise. The dust, the fingerprints, and the peanut butter all conspire to interfere with what might otherwise be an enjoyable listening experience. When the phonograph needle moves through the wavy grooves, it’s not only following the waves, the vinyl itself is porous. Early, in the evolution of audio, recording enthusiasts had to deal with rough records, the rumble of turntables, and the heartbreak of tape hiss.

If you are on a submarine, the levels for the signal of interest relative to the background noise in the ocean can determine whether or not a sonar system will detect an identifiable echo. When the team at Bell Labs was developing their amplifiers, they had to consider the fact that telephone lines share the same utility poles with electrically noisy power lines. Artifacts, within any given recording or transmission medium, each present a unique set of challenges to those engineering our amplification systems. Selective amplification and de-amplification provided a way to boost the signal, where interference or background noise could be anticipated, and then reduce it once the noise was no longer a factor. 

Although the right combination of substrate materials within the transistor may affect its response with respect to frequency, the circuitry that complements the amplifying transistor can usually be fine tuned to selectively filter or amplify a signal as needed. It should also be noted that amplifiers can also be used to increase raw power where signaling is not a factor.

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In railroading a switch diverts a train from one track to another. In plumbing, a valve can redirect the flow of water between pipes. In early electronics, directing electrons along a certain path was controlled by what North American scientists called a tube, while British scientists referred to it as a valve. That device controlled the current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which a difference in electrical potential had been applied.

The simplest vacuum tube was the diode. It acted much like a check valve that prevents water from flowing in the wrong direction. The electronic check valve featured a heated, electron-emitting cathode and an anode. Electrons could only flow in one direction, from the cathode to the anode. Electronic control grids within the bottle could exert more precise control by varying the voltage on the grid.

“Transistor” was a term coined by John Robinson Pierce of Bell Laboratories. He borrowed parts of two relevant words because it selectively transfers an electrical current across a resistor. Its function is still best understood in that transference and resistance context. Most, but not all, of the vacuum tube’s early functions are now performed by transistors. Audiophiles still prefer what they sometimes call “little tone bottles.”

Many mechanical switches have been replaced by transistorized electronic switches. Transistors are made from silicon. This chemical element is not a good conductor of electricity. It is rather a semiconductor. This means it’s not really a conductor or an insulator. When it is treated with impurities, a process known as doping, we can alter its natural behavior. Doping silicon with the arsenic, phosphorus, or antimony, causes it to gain some extra “free” electrons that can carry an electric current. Electrons have a negative charge so treating silicon in this way puts it in the category of negative or n-type semiconductors.

If we dope silicon with different impurities such as boron, gallium, and aluminum, it will have less than its fair share of free electrons. This causes it to attract electrons from nearby materials. This positive type of silicon is referred to as p-type. Both the n-type and p-type materials are electrically neutral in that the silicon actually has no charge in itself. It is true that n-type silicon has extra “free” electrons that increase its conductivity in one way, and that p-type silicon has fewer of those free electrons thus helping it to increase its conductivity in the opposite way.

The enhanced directional conductivity results from adding neutral atoms of so called impurities. The silicon was also neutral prior to the doping and remains uncharged thereafter. The essential concept is that the presence or absence of extra electrons refers to those free electrons that can move about and help to carry an electric current.

With two different types of silicon, we can make sandwiches by putting them together in layers. Such combinations of p-type and n-type material make all kinds of electronic components possible and such a variety of components can work in many different ways. If we join a piece of n-type silicon to a piece of p-type silicon, and put electrical contacts on either side, things start to happen at the junction between the two materials. If we apply current, we can make electrons flow through the junction from the n-type side to the p-type side and out through the circuit to perform useful work.

Because the p-type side of the junction has fewer electrons, it pulls electrons over from the n-type side. If we reverse the current, the electrons won’t flow at all. We have thereby fulfilled the role of the earlier vacuum tube or valve diode with a more durable solid state component. The diode is also sometimes referred to as a rectifier. Either name refers to an electronic component that lets current flow through it in only one direction. It is especially useful if you want to convert two-way alternating electric current into one-way direct current.

If we join two individual diodes back-to-back, we will have two PN-junctions connected together in series which would share a common Positive, (P) or Negative, (N) terminal. The fusion of two diodes thus produces a three layer, two junction, three terminal device forming the basis of a Bipolar Junction Transistor, or BJT. These three terminal active devices made from different semiconductor materials can then act as either an insulator or a conductor by the application of a small voltage.

In this configuration transistors can act as simple switches. The terminals are defined as a collector on the input or supply side of the circuit and an emitter on the output or demand side of the circuit. There is also a terminal known as the base which acts as a gatekeeper. The absence or presence of a voltage at the base determines whether the gate or valve is open or closed. A transistor conducts current across the collector-emitter path only when a voltage is applied to the base. When no base voltage is present, the switch is off. When base voltage is present, the switch is on.

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An ion is any atom that bears a positive or negative electrical charge. Positively charged ions are called cations; negatively charged ions, anions. The imbalance between quantities of electrons and protons gives rise to electron movement both within and between atoms. Electronics is, therefore, about the flowing motion produced by an electric charge.

A duct is pretty much any channel such as a tube, canal, pipe, or conduit by which a fluid such as water or gas, or a particle may be conveyed. The act of conveying or channeling by means of a duct or ducts gives rise to certain essential terms that we use to understand and make use of electricity. In this treatment we will consider the process by which an electrical charge is inducted andconducted.

The most basic definition of induction highlights the act of inducing, bringing about, or causing someone or something to be influenced in some way. Much of what we know, and most of our suppositions about electricity and how it behaves, is a product of inductive reasoning. Such reasoning aims at developing a theory while deductive reasoning aims at testing an existing theory. To deduce means to trace the course of something, so deduction is also an essential skill used in understanding circuitry.

Our objective, with respect to understanding electrical induction and conduction, is to trace the course of electrons as they enter into and flow through a circuit. Induction occurs when a changing magnetic field results in a potential difference, commonly known as voltage, in a conductor. This is known as electromagnetic induction. The current or voltage is called either an induced current or an induced voltage. The potential, termed voltage, is often understood by analogy to the pressure at the head end of a pipe connected to a water tower.

A stationary magnetic field will have no effect on a wire or current-loop. A moving or changing magnetic field, in proximity to the conductor, will generate an electric current. An electrical conductor is usually a substance in which electrical charge carriers, usually electrons, move easily from atom to atom with the application of voltage. Conductivity, in general, is the capacity to convey something, such as electricity or heat. In metallic conductors, such as copper or aluminum, the movable charged particles are electrons, though in other cases they can be ions or some other positively charged species.

Just as a human conductor or leader of a musical group communicates, by motions of hands or a baton, we can think of conducting as a way of controlling as well as facilitating something akin to an orchestral score. As it is with musicians, engineers can conduct or instruct electrons to move in accordance with their own preferences. They can apply such skills for controlling intensity, frequency, and changes in tempo. There’s more than one way to design even the simplest of circuits. For example, a switch could be located between the positive terminal of the battery and a lamp, or between the negative terminal of the battery and the lamp. The choice may be influenced by the physical layout, the type of switch used, the location of other components within the circuit, or simply a coin toss.

While there sometimes are occasions where such choices don’t really matter, there are also precision applications where, as with a switch, such choices can make or break the ultimate success of your project. For example, in a high speed computer, the physical location of a component within a circuit can affect timing in ways that may or may not keep things in sync. It can subject a sensitive component to magnetic fields resulting in unintended induction of emissions from elsewhere that interfere with optimal performance. It can also cause components to overheat in ways that shorten their service life.

Michael Faraday conducted a series of tests on a wire coil in 1831. He is believed to be the first scientist and mathematician to document the relevant findings. Electromagnetic Induction is the governing principle that is used to explain how electrical generators, alternators, microphones, electric guitars, speakers, and transformers operate. The generator was an innovative industrial concept. By changing mechanical energy into electrical energy, the generator relied upon the basic principle of electromagnetic induction, that of passing an electrical conductor through a magnetic field. The motor changes electrical energy into mechanical energy. The voice coil in a microphone consists of a wire coil that moves over a permanent magnet. It is a good example of a generator, while using the same component within a speaker causes it to behave like a motor.

Understanding circuits, how they work, and the optimal use of components is at the heart of electronics. Once the reciprocal relationship between electricity and magnetism was thoroughly understood, the practical applications were virtually limitless.

The radio was another one of the early inventions that applied the science of electromagnetic waves. More contemporary developments include induction heating and induction brazing, a process used in metal fabrication where different metals are soldered or welded together to form one workable material.

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The number of individual atoms contained in just one drop of water is estimated to be over one billion trillion. Some scientists hold that such a drop has the energy potential of continuously producing more than one hundred horsepower sustained over a period of two years. Now, whether or not you believe that, most researchers working within the disciplines would agree that we’ve barely tapped into the atom’s full potential. One thing is certain, energy at the the electronic stage is the basis for all materialization within the observable universe.

The hydrogen atom has one electron and one proton. The proton’s weight is about eighteen hundred times that of the electron. If the mass of this seemingly insignificant electron were somehow magnified to the point where it weighed one tenth of an ounce, and if its volume were also proportionately magnified, the volume would be just about equal to the that of the earth.

Electrons are always on the move. Ram too many of them through a skinny wire and you will cause it to glow while also producing heat. Array them in opposition to one another and you can levitate a freight train. A general or specialized understanding of electronics can be leveraged to do kinetic forms of work. And, their absence or presence can even be used to convey meaning.

Electrons move in circuits. When they are thus en-circuited, they behave in predictable ways. Once we understand how they behave, we can direct and even stop the flow. We can insure they only move in one direction or in more than one. We can store them and release them in accordance with our preferences. Such a release can occur slowly or all at once under conditions that can be pre-determined.

The first thing we need to know about electrons and protons is that they are attracted to one another. Every part of matter has an electric charge. The value of this charge can be positive, negative, or neutral. Electrons possess what we term a negative charge whereas protons have a positive charge. Their arrangement within Hydrogen gives its atom a neutral charge. Within the atom the negatively charged electron remains in orbit around the positively charged proton contained in the nucleus due to a law of attraction that insures such particles will usefully complement one another.

Dissimilar particles are thus seen as complimentary exhibiting mutual attraction whereas like particles are repulsed, in effect pushing against one another. This attraction or repulsion gives rise to the constant movement of the electron . Within humanly designed electronic circuitry are various components that exert some influence with respect to this movement. However, the first circuit we must consider is not man-made. It is the electron’s orbit around the nucleus of the atom.

When we visualize the atom, we see two main features; the atomic nuclei with its component parts and the electron system. The electron system, because it is characterized by the movement of electrons, is our primary area of interest in the study of electronics. Electrons move, not only along the orbital paths around the nucleus, but they can also move between orbits. When electrons change orbits, moving closer to or away from the atomic nucleus, they emit or absorb tiny but measurable amounts of energy. Such units of energy are quantified in precise amounts that are designated quanta.

Quantum exhibit a vibratory or wavelike behavior that, together with the phenomena of orbital shifting, gives rise to a field of study known as Quantum Mechanics. Although the laws of physics are unchanging, definitions within the sciences are continually evolving. The study of electronics therefore may or may not include these quantum mechanics. Traditionally, it has focused on the movement of electrons between individual atoms.

When atoms have a full complement of electrons orbiting the nucleus, they are considered neutral. When the more complex atoms become either positively or negatively charged, due to missing electrons or by having too many electrons, this encourages and explains another type of movement. Thus far we have considered the movement of electrons along the orbital path together with their movement between orbits. Now we will consider their “spin” together with the way they jump between individual atoms.

We have already noted that like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract. Since this is the all important gist of the matter we will reinforce the concept by stating it another way. Two negative charges repel one another, while a positive charge attracts a negative charge. At the heart of electronics is the movement caused by this attraction / repulsion phenomena.

It should also be noted that some materials facilitate such movement. They are called conductors. Other materials resist or block such movement; they are called resistors and insulators. Whether a given material has conducting or insulating properties is a matter of atomic structure. A simple atom, like Hydrogen, is not likely to ever give up its electron without a fight because, after all, it only has one. Copper is a far more complex element that has twenty nine electrons. Because some of these are moving along an orbit relatively far from the nucleus, the outer electrons are loosely held and can be thrown off. New research has also shown that electrons leave these outer orbits tangentially much like the way a ball, thrown by a child, would leave a merry-go-round.

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Computers are mathematical processors. And, because information in almost all forms can be reduced to a binary form, computers can handle far more than math. Through the Internet of Things, we’ve come to rely on a variety of small devices to exercise control over our environment. These devices are generally referred to as microcontrollers and microprocessors.

While definitions within an evolving language are in constant flux, there is also the evolution of the devices themselves that insures we are always trying to somehow focus on a moving target. Those of us that have been working within the industry since the advent of desktop computers would, on occasion, lament “Took a short nap; woke up a dinosaur.”

Despite the fuzzy line between the definitions, the functionality, and the utility of microcontrollers and microprocessors, the basic difference is nuanced. The microprocessor typically refers to a Central Processing Unit or CPU that is an essential component within any computer system. The CPU has the computational capabilities built in. Microprocessors typically require support hardware and a specialized layer of software, an intermediary known as an operating system. Your iPhone uses one called iOS whereas your Android phone uses, well, Android.

Everything a computer does is in accordance with a set of instructions called computer programs. Microprocessors carry out many millions or billions and soon, perhaps, trillions of instructions per second. When integrated with an almost limitless variety of high end sub-systems such as memory, displays, and other peripherals they can evolve into really big enterprise class computers. Such complexity and performance may, or may not, be desirable depending upon your intended use. A microcontroller typically refers to a somewhat de-featured computer system on a single chip. It contains an integrated processor, a small amount of memory, and programmable input/output ports. Tese are used to interact with things, like sensors and actuators. Many of the instructions are embedded into the chip while the chip itself may be embedded into larger control systems.

If you were running a greenhouse operation that required inventory management and cost analysis, you would likely opt for something expandable that could run a spreadsheet or display complex graphics, you might want to consider a full fledged laptop or desktop computer. If you still need such capabilities, without dedicating your trusty go-to workstation for specialized tasks, you might want to dedicate a modestly priced microprocessor system like the Raspberry Pi.

If your tasking is more focused upon simple operations, such as monitoring the amount of sunlight coming through the greenhouse windows, then you could use a simple microcontroller like the Arduino Nano or Uno as a data logger. Microcontrollers can also be used for simple decision making. Suppose the sunlight coming through the windows is insufficient for your seedlings. This condition could trigger some action by the microcontroller such as running your artificial lighting just enough to compensate for the shortfall.

If you really wanted to get fancy, you could also monitor the color of the light coming through the windows and run the compensatory lighting at the precise color and amount of time your plants need for rooting, stemming, branching, and flowering. You could also use the microcontroller to monitor and mix nutrient solutions. You could control the gas envelope while also regulating atmospheric pressure. Microcontrollers can do a lot more than function as smart thermostats.

Whether or not you can get away with using a controller type device as opposed to an enhanced processing device, depends upon the extent to which you can break down your tasks. For example; If you wanted to separately monitor the light coming from the East, West, North, South, and overhead windows, you could use separate sensors and microcontrollers at those locations to log the data. Then you could poll those microcontrollers with a more capable system while bringing historical data into your decision package. 

So, the questions that arise concerning controller versus processor based systems, and about which of those systems is best, has one easy answer; both. They are each ideally adapted to different sets of tasks. Microcontrollers don’t require operating system software for simple decisions. And yet they are able to execute specific instructions when certain conditions are met. The instructions used to program such devices are, in the case of the Arduino, called sketches, a term used to convey the simplicity of programming them.

Microprocessor systems are especially useful when much of the problem solving is unanticipated or more complex. The operating system would likely prove to be more flexible while things are still being worked out. Of course, evolution marches on and development platforms are available for microcontrollers. The controllers are still usually programmed by full fledged handheld, laptop, or desktop systems. But once those instructions are effectively downloaded to the microcontroller or embedded device, you can be off and running with an inexpensive, standalone system to make your world more enjoyable and manageable.

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In this segment, we continue our discussion with Ramona Johnson. This time focusing on whether equal justice under law can become real.

Among the points raised within this segment are the racial profiling and poverty factors as they result in an unequal application of justice. These contentious issues are making some citizens to distrust the people occupying positions of honor and trust. And there are politicians whose statements have raised doubts as to whether “equal justice under law” is even an aspirational statement within the legislature, the judiciary, or the executive branch of government.

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Continuing our discussion with Ramona Johnson we focus on some practical considerations with respect to police reform.

Our takeaways from this segment underscore the fact that more creativity, research, and real world experience must be brought to bear before we will know precisely how best to dovetail the mental health practitioner’s response with the police response as they are required within any given public health and safety situation.

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Continuing our discussion about mental health and public policy with Ramona Johnson. Here we examine how resources for health care are allocated.

Let’s review: Mental illnesses are neuro-chemical, biological diseases, just like many other physical diseases. And yet, the resources allocated to address these conditions are inadequate, especially as compared to other ailments. The stigma around mental illness still exists. And, when those suffering from such brain disorders don’t seek treatment, they can’t be productive. For example, it’s extremely difficult to be a successful person when one is battling something as debilitating as depression.

There are effective treatments and medications for such disorders. Although the path forward must include de-stigmatizing mental illness, and allowing, even encouraging people to access the services that they need. Making sure such services are available and accessible must happen so that the person in need of treatment can get better and can return to work. Most people want to work.

And it’s clearly in the nation’s interest. Our country loses billions of dollars every year. When people don’t show up for work, overall productivity is diminished because when a person cannot face the day, they’re not there to pull their share of the load.

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In this segment, we continue our discussion with Ramona Johnson. This time focusing on mental health in light of public policy .

Among the points raised in this segment are the dynamics that play in the policy arena. There are economic considerations. For example, the person who is so depressed they become a no call no show at work, adversely affects our country’s overall competitiveness. Even so, the self-interest priorities held by certain politicians who view those with mental health challenges as non-voters, are not likely to change until the electorate makes it clear they must change.

And then there are the statistics: 25% of the American population at some point in their lifetime, will experience emotional, mental, or behavioral health problems while only 10% of the people who have mental health problems actually get the help they need in order to recover and go back to working, living, learning, socializing, doing all the things that we take for granted as part of our lives.