Loud political deconstruction of January’s Tucson shootings continues ad nauseam.
Wrestling for party advantage is an easy way out of dealing directly with the realities of such tragedies. Violent political rhetoric and inadequate gun control laws are, of course, issues seriously needing to be addressed. But may we look at what is again staring us right in the face with this latest shooting tragedy — the lack of mental health care.
Here is a shooter who, because of his lethal rampage, could only have been in what most of us would call a psychotic episode. There is no indication that this 22-year-old had been seen or diagnosed by a mental health professional. His fellow community college students and professors were scared to death of him and he was eventually suspended, but chose not to seek the mental health evaluation it would take to get back to his classes.
No one, it seems, stepped up to help him. In our culture of crossing the street in order to evade a beggar, no one was able to help stop this boy’s downward spiral.
Teachers, college administrators, parents and employers usually have little or no understanding of mental illness.
Interestingly, 75 percent of all psychiatric disorders appear between the ages of 14 and 24, according to the National Academies Press. It should also be noted that psychiatric disorders seldom result in violence.
Campuses can “raise awareness with the whole community (mandatory educational presentations so that everyone is aware of warning signs of problems and what the campus resources are to address them) and increase the likelihood that students will get help before it’s too late,” Richard Kadison, chief of the Mental Health Service at Harvard, said in a recent New York Times article.
Marcus Hotaling chair of the mental health division for the American College Health Association, said in the same article, “Colleges should train the faculty and staff to recognize symptoms of mental distress and offer clear direction on whom to contact when a problem arises. Since students often turn to friends first, counselors should be educating students generally about recognizing those symptoms in their classmates. When the student is at risk of hurting himself or others, it is important to get him to a safe place (typically a hospital),”
Once a child becomes 18, the process gets more difficult. No one can force an adult into counseling unless they prove to be a danger to themselves or others, then they may possibly meet the criteria in order to be involuntarily committed through the court system.
If you are caught in an emergency and there is a concern for the safety for anyone, dial 911. Severe mental distress may be just as dangerous as, say, a heart attack for the sufferer and immediate treatment is important. The emergency room doctor needs to be aware of your safety concerns.
Local mental health resources include Kitsap Mental Health Services in Bremerton; The Crisis Clinic, reached at 800-843-4793; Peninsula’s 211 providing online access to community resources; and Olympic College’s Students in Need Group.
State budget cuts this year will likely devastate what little funding remains available to community mental health services. Gov. Gregoire has sadly succumbed again to political pressures to cut back more assistance for low-income individuals who are mentally incapacitated. Basic Health is terminated and Medicaid is expected to be cut back.
Politicians are saying their hands are tied and these cuts are the only way to balance their budget. They tell the victims how terribly sorry they are, yet these cuts will make it more difficult for people with mental health disorders to get the treatment they must have in order to survive.
Millions of dollars can be saved in mental health care if we could just intelligently concentrate more on early intervention.
But because of these drastic cuts and our current financial crisis, it seems likely that we will see more and more untreated mental illness cases causing more very costly catastrophes.
Is it time to hold our lawmakers accountable?
Reach Marylin Olds at marylin.olds@gmail.com.
