I've just glanced at a fascinating piece that reveals that NASA is trying to ignore the mental health issues of its astronauts; this an even bigger, broader problem than the "drunks in space" issue currenly in the spotlight, which already has officials scampering around denying that many of the astros blast off before takeofff. What I appreciate is that the article peels back the misuse of alcohol and discovers mental health issues, which I hope, as an informed culture, we can start doing more and more automatically, since most of the time these things are linked. Any way, here's the piece:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_sc/astronauts_drinking
NASA is pretty much an arm of the military, so that they are military like in their denial of problems seems totally consistent.
But I love the power logic at work, which underlies so many dysfunctional institutions, never mind colleges, and families, which is this: if you make a culture that discourages people from seeking help, then you won't have a problem. We're really going to have to make an economic argument that says encouraging people to disclose is much more cost effective, because the moral underpinnings don't tend to inspire as effectively.
Thoughts?
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