My heart goes out to those kids and their famililies. Is so senseless.
It does show you tho the importance of good mental health and how important it is to try to keep well. Also if we know people who suffer from mental illness it is a good thing to check on them to see if taking meds,going to therapy,doctor and taking care of selves by eating right,showering,changing clothes,getting enough sleep and so on..I am sure in the caase of this young man who shot all these people, there were warning signs and red flags going off. The people in his life chose to ignore them. Probably because they didn't know how to handle it.
Someone could have called his parents that he wasn't acting right. His girlfriend who it is alledged he was after to hurt, could ahve called the police if she knew he was a danger to self and others. Optimally he belonged in a hospital. Unfortuantely this is not always possible as the person is a loose cannon. Unless he can be talked into dgiving up weapons,put in hospital and back on meds...most scenarios turn out this way.
Bush wants to cut funding for Mental Health services and funding to find a cure for mental illness. This includes research. Scientists are always coming out with drugs but they have many side effects.
What is mostly needed in this society is some compassion,education,understanding for those afflicted. Just because people act differently than us doesn't mean we should treat them as if they aren't human and with disrespect. I might also add taht if you know someone is a bit nuts it is common sense to keep mouth shut around them and just agree with them as might wnat to consider the alternative of waht might happen if they lose control and get angry at you.
I think many people do because they are struggling to survive themselves. They expect us to work f/t even when some of us can't. It is for this reason that I keep to self and try to take care of me as best as I can and amuse self. Thank God I have my two cats too as I believe animals are great therapy. Mine definitely are.
Wake up America. How long is it gonna take for you to acknowledge this illness and start dealing with it?! We are not criminals but have illnesses. You have compassion for physical illnesses you can see but not for those you don't see. Mental illness is genetic and is a chemical imbalance as many lack enough seratonin in the brain. We don't need to be treated like freaks for you to ignore,avoid and when homeless step over on the street. Instead we need to be assimilated into society.
The way it is set up now is people go into hospital because they can't handle the stressors of life which many times are unaccepting people around them who expect them to act like them. When they come out they face the same peole again with the same closed minded attitudes. It costs $600/day to keep us in a hospital bed but $700/month to house us in our own apt. Resources are needed in the comunity to support us to keep or apts. and to have someone to help us if too down to clean home or even to go out for coffee with. I think the latter is a more cost effective and humane way to deal with this problem and illness.
