Warlord
06-22-2013, 08:16 AM
The Guardian's comment pages are really leading the charge. Known as a fierce liberal bastion (and still pretty much leaning that way) they nonetheless online are refreshing and offering different points of view that put the US media to shame.
Here's one you probably didn't expect to see there:
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Gun control is not the answer to mass shootings. Mental health treatment is
Dottie Pacharis is retired from a law firm in Washington, DC, and author of a book called "Mind on the Run: A Bipolar Chronicle". As a result of her son's 13-year battle with bipolar disorder, she has become an advocate for appropriate care for the mentally ill, especially family involvement in decisions about treatment
Mass murders are not committed by sane people. Only a small fraction of mentally ill people ever become violent, and then, usually, when they fail to get treatment. Individuals with a severe mental illness should not be allowed to purchase guns or have access to them. Combine guns and untreated mental illness: you have a tragedy waiting to happen.
The tragic mass shootings in Newtown, Aurora, Tucson and Virginia Tech reportedly all involved untreated mental illness. After each such tragedy, I hear people say, "Those parents knew their sons were ill; why didn't they do something to prevent that tragedy?" Once your child turns 18, he or she has a civil right to refuse treatment and remain mentally ill until or unless she or he becomes suicidal or homicidal, as determined by judges at commitment hearings. State laws vary, but all states set strict controls regarding involuntary hospitalization and forced treatment, limiting it to circumstances when a person is an imminent danger to self or others, or likely to become so.
These laws give adults with mental illness the right to decide when, where, how and even if they will receive treatment. Yet, some serious mental illnesses make it difficult for those affected to assess their own need for treatment. When patient rights exceed necessary protections, individuals with severe mental illness can die. And many do. And sometimes, they harm others along the way.
I am the mother of one such adult son, who took his life six years ago. He suffered from severe and persistent bipolar disorder. During a manic episode, he was transformed into a different person. He became psychotic, completely out-of-control. He drove his car at high rates of speed with no regard for the safety of others. He was wired. He required little to no sleep. He became extremely religious.
He was, he believed, in the "witness protection program". Federal agents were trying to assassinate him because he was in possession of top secret information that would take down important people in the government if he went public. He developed an unhealthy fixation with the president and made many attempts to get into the White House, for what he thought were scheduled meetings with President Clinton. There were days he actually believed he was the president, living in the White House.
He was in complete denial that anything was wrong with him. It took the assault of a police officer to get my son committed for treatment. With forced meds, he recovered in five weeks. He went on to have four additional bipolar manic episodes, each one more severe than the previous and of longer duration. That longer duration was because of judges at commitment hearings who took the easy way out, releasing him time and time again, ruling he was not an imminent danger to himself or others – many times, against the recommendation of the treating psychiatrist.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/22/gun-control-mass-shootings-mental-health
Here's one you probably didn't expect to see there:
-
Gun control is not the answer to mass shootings. Mental health treatment is
Dottie Pacharis is retired from a law firm in Washington, DC, and author of a book called "Mind on the Run: A Bipolar Chronicle". As a result of her son's 13-year battle with bipolar disorder, she has become an advocate for appropriate care for the mentally ill, especially family involvement in decisions about treatment
Mass murders are not committed by sane people. Only a small fraction of mentally ill people ever become violent, and then, usually, when they fail to get treatment. Individuals with a severe mental illness should not be allowed to purchase guns or have access to them. Combine guns and untreated mental illness: you have a tragedy waiting to happen.
The tragic mass shootings in Newtown, Aurora, Tucson and Virginia Tech reportedly all involved untreated mental illness. After each such tragedy, I hear people say, "Those parents knew their sons were ill; why didn't they do something to prevent that tragedy?" Once your child turns 18, he or she has a civil right to refuse treatment and remain mentally ill until or unless she or he becomes suicidal or homicidal, as determined by judges at commitment hearings. State laws vary, but all states set strict controls regarding involuntary hospitalization and forced treatment, limiting it to circumstances when a person is an imminent danger to self or others, or likely to become so.
These laws give adults with mental illness the right to decide when, where, how and even if they will receive treatment. Yet, some serious mental illnesses make it difficult for those affected to assess their own need for treatment. When patient rights exceed necessary protections, individuals with severe mental illness can die. And many do. And sometimes, they harm others along the way.
I am the mother of one such adult son, who took his life six years ago. He suffered from severe and persistent bipolar disorder. During a manic episode, he was transformed into a different person. He became psychotic, completely out-of-control. He drove his car at high rates of speed with no regard for the safety of others. He was wired. He required little to no sleep. He became extremely religious.
He was, he believed, in the "witness protection program". Federal agents were trying to assassinate him because he was in possession of top secret information that would take down important people in the government if he went public. He developed an unhealthy fixation with the president and made many attempts to get into the White House, for what he thought were scheduled meetings with President Clinton. There were days he actually believed he was the president, living in the White House.
He was in complete denial that anything was wrong with him. It took the assault of a police officer to get my son committed for treatment. With forced meds, he recovered in five weeks. He went on to have four additional bipolar manic episodes, each one more severe than the previous and of longer duration. That longer duration was because of judges at commitment hearings who took the easy way out, releasing him time and time again, ruling he was not an imminent danger to himself or others – many times, against the recommendation of the treating psychiatrist.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/22/gun-control-mass-shootings-mental-health