The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.
If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.
As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts."
This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!
Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.
There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.
Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.
According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.
Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.
For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.
Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.
As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for Gabrielle Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Jared Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.
There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:
"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."
Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.
Mark Goulston, M.D.: Jared Loughner: Understanding the Arizona Shooter from the Inside Out
Priscilla Warner: How to Sit Still When Tragedy Strikes
And we STILL want to keep the current health care system? How many more shootings do we need to suffer through before we finally acknowledge the fact that our mentally ill aren't getting the care they need!?
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559-2,00.html#ixzz1AlBi3nz6
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559,00.html#ixzz1AlAo3TS3
The sad fact is that we live in a sick society, which alienates more and more individuals who are not adept at complying to consumer culture's endlessly dehumanizing demands. To disconnect so-called mental illness from the ills of a sick society exacerbates the problems.
As a society we are failing our most vulnerable citizens. Since 1975, I have devoted my worklife to assisting with the creation of nonprofit therapeutic communities for these individuals. This life has given me the opportunity to witness the wonderful recovery stories of hundreds of individuals who otherwise might have been on the streets or worse. Compassionate, professional care utilizing the right mix of psychotherapy, nutrition, exercise, life skills training and medical support offered within an atmosphere of kindness facilitates recovery and it's cheaper than the alternatives of prison, revolving hospitalization or permanent over-medication which produces chronicity not recovery.
The horrible events in Arizona may produce a rallying cry for help for individuals with mental health challenges. As we repond I urge us to reach out with compassionate care and not chains, chemical or otherwise. The vast majority of these individuals are not at all like Mr. Loughner.
Virgil Stucker
CooperRiis
avenue for change (mentalhealth services) are more broken than the government that funds them.
I worked in this arena for 30 years (MSW) and left when it was finally clear that my health was
in jeopardy. It is quite a sad day when one's coworkers and bosses are crazier than the patients.
I could tell stories that would fill a book, but the reality is that mentalhealth servies would have failed
this young man and his family. Because of the profit motive, mental health companies prefer the paths of least resistance. It is not OK to take parents to task for a refusal to set limits and to try to suggest methods to pull kids back from the brink. Parents on a regular basis take teenagers to
mental health services and expect professionals to fix them. Professionals are expected to go along with this insanity and collect the service monies and to do nothing to anger the parents by suggesting that they have a responsibility in the process. It is ridiculous to believe that you can treat one part of a dysfunctional system and expect there to be real change.
But I's observations are valid. As someone with many years in the mental (un)health field, I fully agree with them.
Mental health parity - I thought the health care bill was giving us that - I guess I misunderstood something somewhere along the way.
It's criminal not to have it.
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Yet after each such incident, we grieve and wring our hands and exchange concerned opinions, only to return to the toxic status quo when the story wanes from the headlines. And nothing changes.
I fully support your call for making mental health services more widely available, but the truth is that this call is not going to be taken seriously or make any difference if we do not reassess and change our priorities as a society so that we can give young generations hope for a healthy and dignified existence. That means free universal health care, free education, decent jobs paying real living wages, etc. Just as our educational system reflects the problems of our society, so does the state of our collective mental (un)health.
Then (or rather at the same time) we need to re-evaluate our standards of mental care. Too often what passes for it is a monthly visit to a psychiatrist who prescribes (expensive) medication, which may or may not work, but certainly does not cure most problems. And that's for the lucky ones with insurance.
Counseling and psychotherapy by well prepared and compassionate professionals, badly needed for all people with mental problems, are beyond reach of most people (and are rare to find anyway).
This is not true.
". And that's for the lucky ones with insurance."
You think people are 'lucky' that they can sit in front of a quack who doles out mind altering drugs and hasn't got the slightest clue as to help you feel happier?
If one wants a gun and health care, one must possess the money to pay for the gun and the health care, and the desire to acquire both items/services.
One item is a small steel piece of bullet firing machinery mass produced on a factory line, the other an advanced human service. The fact one would be cheap and the other expensive is elementary.
There is no boogie man barring the door to the gun shop or the phone book.
Your utopianism, while cute, is unbecoming of a serious reflective adult. Your 'free' bag of goodies has to be paid for by someone, somewhere along the line.
You have so seriously misread and misinterpreted my words that I think any further exchange between us would be counterproductive.
What you call utopianism is common sense.
Trying to heal the impoverished or ill among us is in the interest of not just the ill and poor but the wealthy and healthy.The purpose of a self forming government is to respond to the the disorder and the disease in society .This means not only enforcing the rules but understanding what drives people to break the rules.If you understand these behaviors ,as we often do today ,not act proactively is utter foolishness.The advantage of understanding the way things work is to be able to anticipate and change them.
Talk about being without serious adult reflection. The one track conservative mind is the one most in need of a restraint on human selfishness.