Visit to Madison and Mental Health Crisis of U.S.

I am donning the hat of a visitor once again. I already gave a brief on places visited in U.S. sometime back. The list just keeps getting bigger as I am visiting new places every now and then. U.S. is a country of innumerable places to visit which can sometime come across as a tourist's paradise. I am engaging in this activity to make myself engaged in learning something. Visiting museums and other places of interest will at least serve as an iota of addition to the knowledge repository while providing an alternate course of action to the work. Through things panning out favorably, I was visiting quite a number of places in this U.S. stint. In this turn, let me put across the place visited in my last month trip to Madison in Wisconsin state. 

 To begin with, Madison is the capital of Wisconsin. To quip a bit, whenever I get to hear about Madison in news, I feel if they are trying to convey something about madness. But rather they are trying to convey about happenings in a small city in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin. In line with any capital, the government of the state runs from this city. The important and the largest city in Wisconsin is Milwaukee which I visited multiple times already. The population of Milwaukee is 5.7 lakh, Madison is 2.7 lakh and the entire state of Wisconsin is 59 lakh. To put in perspective, the population of Illinois is 1.2 crore. I went to this city of Madison with 2.7 lakh to make my trip of 2 days. 

 

Even in this small city, I was mesmerized by what I saw. The development which has been envisioned and realized in this tiny, scarcely populated, laid-back city is nothing short of a wonder. I visited four or five places in those two days and was highly impressed with a place which is the state capitol building. That visitors are allowed to enter such an important building and also have a look from the top of the structure is hardly seen elsewhere. The conception, design and implementation of this huge structure took shape in a grand manner which has high visual aesthetics and a strong look to it. I will detail about it in this post which should also be a case study for India in building structures for tomorrow with lot of care and commitment. When there is passion and purpose, results will come out as such, even when there is hardly a handful of folks that depend on it.

 

The Capitol was completed in 1917 and is the fifth building to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the state's founding in 1848. The building's architectural style is often described as "Beaux-Arts," characterized by its grandeur and ornate detailing. The state capitol is often regarded as one of the most beautiful state capitol buildings in the United States due to its Beaux-Arts architecture, grand dome, and ornate interior detailing. The interior of the Capitol is equally impressive, featuring exquisite marble work, murals, and decorative elements. One of the most notable features is the Rotunda, a large circular space directly beneath the dome. The Rotunda showcases beautiful murals depicting historical and allegorical scenes.

 

The exterior of the Capitol is primarily constructed using a variety of materials, including white granite, sandstone, white marble. These materials contribute to the building's impressive appearance and durability.

 

The interior of the Capitol features extensive use of marble from various locations. Rotunda, for example, is adorned with marble from around the world, including Tennessee, Vermont, Italy, and Belgium. The murals and decorative elements within the Capitol are also created using various materials, contributing to its aesthetic richness. In total, the capitol was built with 43 types of stone from six countries and eight states. 

 

The most iconic feature of the Capitol is its dome. The dome is made of a steel frame and covered with copper. The exterior of the dome is coated with gold leaf, giving it a distinctive golden appearance. The dome stands at approximately 284 feet (86.6 meters) from the ground level to the top of the statue that crowns it. 

 

I had visited some other places as well but this structure, which is more than a century old, stood out. We the Indians need to exhibit same type of resolve to construct anything which need to stand the test of time and show attention to detail. 

 

After I talked about Madison, let us also quickly delve into its namesake – the mental health crisis in U.S. There is nothing in co-relation but purely going by sound of one word reflecting the state of other. If we pull the data, it is a very pathetic state of affairs as far as general mental health in U.S. is considered. One is four adults over the age 18 is diagnosed with a mental disorder each year. About one-quarter of U.S. adults report having a mental health diagnosis such as anxiety or depression or experiencing emotional distress in a given year. This is the highest rate among 11 high-income countries. While U.S. adults are among the most willing to seek professional help for emotional distress, they are among the most likely to report access or affordability issues. Emotional distress is associated with social and economic needs in all countries. Nearly half of U.S. adults who experience emotional distress report such worries, a higher share than seen in other countries. The United States has some of the worst mental health–related outcomes, including the highest suicide rate and second-highest drug-related death rate among the developed world. The worst outcomes are also attributed to the trigger-happy section of population who get involved in gun violence at every given opportunity. It is paramount for the scourge of mass shootings to erase, it is imperative that the country is in good standing with its mental health. It is simple - an ordinary person will not shoot at random strangers. If it happens occasional it can be restricted to sidelines but if mass shootings happen on a regular basis at one place or other, then the mental health of the people at large becomes a mainstream issue. The system has brooded people to live with these mental health problems and vent out with a gun.

It can be fine if there is a bit of craziness in doing wonders which the country is doing (as in Madison capitol), but it should not spill out of bounds leading to worst outcomes (as with mad people). The country needs to know this fine thread hanging in between and improve the mental health, state of the citizens per se. That is all about the visit to Madison and the mad people’s haven of the world – U.S.A.