'I Am Adam Lanza's Mother': A Mom's Perspective On The Mental Illness Conversation In America
FridayÂ’s horrific national tragedy -- the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut -- has ignited a new discussion on violence in America. In kitchens and coffee shops across the country, we tearfully debate the many faces of violence in America: gun culture, media violence, lack of mental health services, overt and covert wars abroad, religion, politics and the way we raise our children. Liza Long, a writer based in Boise, says itÂ’s easy to talk about guns. But itÂ’s time to talk about mental illness.
I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
The way we treat our mentally ill, we may as well still be back in the Dark Ages.
I love the liberal naive argument of the mental health or lack thereof. First, it's not true, there are mental health clinics both private and public all over the country. Most health insurance covers mental health (shrink visits). Second, if a monster is going to do what this guy did, then mental help health isn't probably not going to prevent it. Remember the batman killer was seeking mental health help. Third, the only way it may be prevent is forced institutionalization prior to a crime being committed. You can be 'committed' anymore unless you commit a crime first. I guarantee the libs would be against forced institutionalization (as would the conservatives).
The ONLY way to stop this is to STOP making these places EASY targets. Mass shooters are ALWAYS cowards they pick the targets so they can kill numerous UNARMED and HELPLESS victims!
That is not the only solution. Arm everyone LOL.
Do you not understand that these people are mentally unstable? They don't choose easy targets, they choose targets which represent something to them, and hardening those targets would have very little impact on whether they attacked them or not.
Besides that, regardless of whether a mentally ill person actually committed one of these heinous acts or not, the larger overall picture is that we need to be providing more help for those who are suffering.
A shrug of the shoulders and a "hey can't help you, but if you come after me, I got a gun to" solves nothing.
This isn't a matter of liberal vs conservative; or rather it shouldn't be. This is a matter of what options should we have to make sure people are safe, even from themselves.
You speak of no one supporting forced institution, sir if a person is mentally unstable they are legally not afforded the "right" to consent to sex, but you want to give them the right to remain on the streets when those around them are begging for them to be sent somewhere ?
And let's stop the "liberals want this for free or liberals want that for free" before it even begins. I am not a liberal, nor did I suggest that anything should be free. I absolutely contend that if a parent gets their adult child committed that parent must also assume the financial responsibilities of paying for said treatment.
However, I would like to point out that those who are mentally instable are more than likely already being supported by the government in the form of every welfare program we have. So ultimately what is the difference if we sign a mentally unstable person up for all these welfare or we simply pay for their incarceration in a mental institution where they belong?
