(VitalNews.org) – Vivek Ramaswamy gave his views on the best approaches to dealing with mental illness in interview with Jesse Watters on Monday, October 2. While featuring on the television show, Jesse Watter’s Primetime, the Republican presidential candidate spoke candidly about what he called a “taboo” subject. When the Fox news presenter asked him whether he would bring back mental institutions, Ramaswamy was positive in his response.
Calling it the only “clear path” to countering rising violent crime, Ramaswamy bemoaned the lack of vocal support and discussion around the idea, attributing it to fear of the subject. When questioned as to why he believed there was such a hesitancy around the topic, Ramaswamy told him that it was because such institutions had resulted in cases of abuse, but that it was entirely possible to learn from this and the run them to the benefit of the patients and the country.
Despite having the presidential candidate and businessman having made much of his money through the pharmaceutical industry, he spoke negatively about its role in treating mental health issues. One way in which the treatment of mental illness had gone wrong, he posited, was the over-medication of patients, which he argued has mostly benefitted large for-profit pharmaceutical companies. He instead advocated for other ways of treating the mentally ill, offering faith-based healing practices as one possible example.
Ramaswamy also told Watters that as the use of mental institutions declined, so the number of violent crimes rose. He argued that prisons have become de facto mental institutions, albeit ones that release people into society in a worse mental state than when they entered.
The 38-year-old has been a recent entry into the world of high-level politics but has already been clear in many of his views around mental illness as well as many other pressing issues. During debates, he has expressed a desire to “revive” the nation’s mental health. Referring to the social media app TikTok as “digital fentanyl”, he has called for a ban on children using social media in order to protect their mental health and wellbeing, something he believes is a vitally important issue.
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