As yet, another violent massacre occurs in our community; this one involving young children which makes it that much harder to take. I pause to think about it as I have done so often since the news broke on Dec. 14, 2012. During the chaos, ABC News had a senior medical correspondent, an M.D, stating that the tragedy and the gunman was the face of mental illness. I immediately took offense. Really? We knew virtually nothing about the shooter at the time, let alone whether or not he had a diagnosis of mental illness. Yet, here was the media, already branding him the face of a disease that affects 57.7 million people in the USA alone. That’s a lot of faces he is supposedly representing.
It may come out as the news continues to unfold, that mental illness did play a role but right now, we don’t know. As an organization, NAMI is putting out the statistics to fight the stigma that will no doubt be a backlash from this tragedy, that people who have mental illnesses are much more likely to be the victim of violence rather than the perpetrator, that the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small, and that it is important that we not make assumptions or speculate as to what the role of mental illness played in this situation at this time.
However, it is hard for us as a society not to speculate, not to make assumptions as to the sanity of a person who would willingly shoot his own mother and then go into a school and shoot kids as well as the adults trying to protect them. It’s hard for us not to jump to the conclusion that this was a crazed gunman who took his own life in the end.
NAMI says that mental illness is one like any other. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illness is a disorder of the brain. However, right now, I find myself questioning that. Is mental illness truly an illness like any other? Does diabetes make a person want to harm themselves or others? Does high blood pressure distort messages in the mind and make a person feel that they are called to kill? Does cancer create voices that drives a person to crime?
OR, is this type of behavior unique to mental illness? Is mental illness, rather; an illness like none other? And should it be treated as such? Maybe it is indeed, a very special illness that requires very special treatment. One that requires early prevention and intervention and that treatment should be wholly available to anyone who needs it.
I have mental illness. I have not killed myself or anyone else, but I have caused harm. Not criminal harm, but harm nonetheless in the form of self-abuse, and at times, adversely affecting those who love me. At times, I have been very upfront in sharing my journey with mental illness. Other times, in certain circles of people, I have pretended that a portion of my journey just doesn’t exist. Maybe that needs to change.
If any good can come out of this Newtown tragedy, it may be that mental health will be front and center on the nation’s agenda. Treating mental illness, talking about mental illness, confronting issues that affect mental health will take as much precedence as treating and talking about other physical health disorders.
But, in order for that to happen, mental illness needs to come out of the closet, out of the darkness, out of the impenetrable silence. We need to be able to simply talk about it in our country, in our states, to our neighbors, and to our families and friends.
President Obama has now called for a national dialog on mental illness which is supposed to be launched this spring. His proposal includes:
- Early identification and intervention including training for teachers, school resource officers and others in a position to spot the signs of mental illness and provide assistance.
- Steps for improving mental health and substance abuse treatment for indivicuals between the ages of 16 and 25.
- Finalizing mental health parity regulations for health insurance.
- Training more than 5,000 additional mental health professionals to serve students and young adults.
- Launching efforts to improve understanding of mental illness and the importance of mental health treatment.
These are all wonderful intentions; the test will be whether President Obama, Congress and State Governments follow through. For if mental health is not talked about, the downside of it is that the problems don’t go away. Rather, they go underground, growing and festering until they come out the other side as something unrecognizable, unfathomable, and yes, tragic.
The good news is that we know mental illness is treatable – in that way, it is an illness like many others. We can’t cure it yet, but living in recovery is possible. Remission is possible, as is relapse. It requires close monitoring and support, and often medications and counseling.
Like type 1 diabetes, dealing with mental illness is a lifelong process. Unlike diabetes, mental illness can cause some odd beliefs and behavior but it is still manageable, tricky sometimes, but ultimately treatable. And this is the way the conversation should be headed.
(What I have to add to Julie’s illuminating and brave essay, is that we always hear about the people with a mental illness who are violent but seldom hear about those same individuals who suffer from a mental illness and are the many victims of violence. Jill Sadowsky)
