By Dina Sokal, MD
[Winter 2006; Vol. 33, No. 1; Pg 2]
I thought I had a great idea and an easy one
to accomplish—compose questions on mental health issues, give them to each
gubernatorial candidate to answer and then, print the answers in the Maryland
Psychiatrist. As
you can see after reading the last issue, only one candidate, Douglas Duncan,
sent answers back to me. And the
irony here, is that he withdrew from the race shortly afterwards due to his
depression. Certainly, his
depression was not interfering with his competency as a candidate as his answers
were sent to me in a timely manner and were well thought out.
I was planning to vote for him and am very disappointed that he decided
to withdraw from the race. In the
meantime, I hoped the two other candidates would have their answers ready in
time for this issue.
I talked to several people in the Martin
O’Malley campaign and they assured me they were working on the answers.
Well, I haven’t received the answers or an explanation as to why they
did not finish them.
When I initially contacted Ehrlich’s staff,
it turned out that he didn’t have a campaign staff and at first, after talking
to several different people, they said they wouldn’t answer the questions
until he announced his candidacy. This
seemed strange as everyone knows he’s the Republican candidate.
So, I tried again for this issue and was told the answers would be
completed by my deadline. Well, once
again, I’ve never received the answers. I
hope this isn’t an indication of Ehrlich’s and O’Malley’s propensity to
make false promises.
It’s very disappointing that the two
candidates left in the race aren’t able to get it together like Duncan did and
answer the questions. I can only
make assumptions as to why as neither one gave me an explanation.
So now, I can only express my disappointment and my apologies to all of
our readers that Governor Ehrlich and Mayor O’Malley did not come through.
Unlike Douglas Duncan, they did not show their interest in mental health
or help us better understand their viewpoints on mental health questions—an
area of priority for us, if not for them.