Step 2: How About Healthcare Reform?

When you realize that the majority of the homeless people we have in this country are people who are mentally ill and cannot be forced to stay at a mental health facility because they have rights. They cannot be forced to stay on their medications because they have rights.
Aparrently a person who is dignosed as mentally ill still has the rights to make their own decisions.
They may not need to be warehoused in a hospital but they do need to be monitored and medicated.
Yes we need to overhaul the mental health care system ---- that is if we actually have one.

Well, yes. But first you have to get everyone in America to agree on the same base values. So far we haven't been able to do that.

There are a good many people who believe that if *it* doesn't affect them, they don't want to pay for it with tax dollars. They believe those mentally ill people are just lazy and worthless. If they got a job they wouldn't be mentally ill. If they got a job they would have health care. If they..... whatever.

I've even seen facebook posts that the shooting happened because we stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance at school and that "taking God out of schools allowed evil in" and that's why the shooting happened.

Until we can all agree on the base value system with which we want to deal with all humanity that lives in our country....... no law passed will be successful. Because it ends up to be a watered down version of what COULD have been helpful by vindictiveness and self-righteousness on the other side (BOTH other sides, by the way).

Our country needs SO much... Education reform... healthcare reform... new jobs... immigration reform... how do you pick? What good is MENTAL health reform if I don't have a decent education or a job? What good is a job if I'm unmedicated and can't show up due to illness? It all works together as a package.

I'm for true mental health care - and not necessarily the drug band-aid that is so often given. I would absolutely love to know exactly what drugs (legal and otherwise) all these mass shooters were taking.

I'm not in favor of mandatory screening, though if people want it I think it should be available.

I don't remember any sort of screening when I was a kid (I'm 43). I also don't remember any events like those of the last few years. The UT shooting was a bit before my time (or at least my concious memory).

What I do know is that we have an increasingly drugged, sick society. It's hard to say which came first.

Well...Couldn't hurt.

Truth be told ALL healthcare is in disparate need of reform.
The country IS on the right path.

From your statement: "As many parents(as is evident in my neighbourhood) that clamor for Gun control, there are parents that correctly assess the need for Mental Health care" it sounds like you're saying this is an either/or choice. It's not.

Our local school district shares one counselor for all 3 elementary schools.

For the past month and a half I have been fighting to get my kids insurance through the state. So they can have more than a very occasional visit from the school counselor. We were denied. I've also tried several non profits and they are all out of funding or wait listing.
I will continue to fight, however-it's easy to see why people stop searching for help.

screenings are key I believe. And they should start in the school when kids are young. We need to empower our schools to take the next step when there is concern about a child's mental health. Instead of just overlooking odd/unusual behavior it needs to be explored. I believe that too many school counselors just let it go because actually dealing with it is too difficult. The parents don't want to hear it about their children and the school doesn't want to commit additional resources. This will be a difficult but necessary dialogue for our country to go through. Esp since it is not considered PC to profile anyone-ESPECIALLY those that SHOULD be profiled.

First I must say that I am 43 and never had a "mental health exam" until I was forced to by my evil stepmonster. Secondly the police have a hands off policy it seems - we had a neighbor saying death threats to me and the cops said, tough, nothing we can do unless you catch him actually hurting me or our property. That was so not helpful.

My family is very familiar with mental health issues as our mother was schizophrenic. Getting her help was not always easy, but she was obviously off her rocker so not impossible. Paying for that help put our family in bankruptcy. With that history it still was next to impossible for one of my brothers to get meds even though HE knew he needed them. Right now I have no health insurance, my "happy pills" (depression is another form of mental illness, it is chemically caused) cost me $150 a month. Luckily I get on my husband's insurance in a few weeks, but if I had more serious issues then depression I would not seek help right now cause of the costs. I can't put my whole family in major debt and even a mentally ill person can be slightly logical. And no, the health care bill will not help that cause self employed or unemployed people are still going to be under the radar or off it altogether.

It's a hard issue, even if treated the person can relapse with no warning. When my mom was on her meds after a while she would be fine and stop taking them. She would feel like she didn't need them anymore. She would either flush them, lie about taking them or take them and then spit them out later by cheeking it. There is no way to stop that and unfortunately at that point they ARE ok, so nothing you could even do, until you realize it was too late.

It's hard to fix problems in the brain, it's not like a broken bone you can see.

We need to invest in mental health care. There is a shortage of doctors and facilities in this area and has been for years. Even if you have health insurance and money it can be hard to find someone who's taking patients!
Screenings are good, but we should not rely simply on talking to the child. Mental illness does not show itself every minute of every day and can easily be overlooked by someone who is spending only 15 minutes with a child. A brief interview with an adult in the child's life would be far more revealing.

Thanks for bringing this subject up, since it's something I live every day, navigating the world of mental health care. We had to go through hell and back to get my husband diagnosed and treated for Bipolar Disorder. Unfortunately, his personal rights trump those of society, so when he decided to refuse treatment, the suffering began. Over the years, he's developed many secondary health issues and is now permanently disabled. Mental health parity helped several years ago, to make continuing treatment affordable; But the "Affordable" Care Act seems to have reversed all progress my family has made in the past decade. Now, I can only afford catastrophic coverage and services that have always been provided/covered are not. This has been my personal experience, but I know I'm not alone.

Ummmm I'm not sure where a lot of you live but I've never had problems with finding mental health care for my son. And drs who see young kids are rare. No we aren't rich. And yes our insurance covers it just like any other dr visit. My point is people want to assume these horrible people are mentally ill cause its easier to assume that then face reality that there are just plain horrible people out there!
Added: screenings or what ever to help identify mental illness will only go so far. If a person mentally ill or not doesnt seek help or doesn't want help then you can't do much. You can't force someone to take meds
Added2: I see a poster say that mentally ill people need to be profiled. So my son who's bipolar needs to be profiled the rest of his life? NO because not all people who have mental illness are bad people.