The shooting's true lesson

NY Post ^ | January 10, 2011 | DJ JAFFEE

[Scanian]

Now that someone with mental illness has shot one of Washington's own, maybe Congress will start to pay attention to its abysmal failure to provide care for the most seriously mentally-ill Americans.

We'll see. Lawmakers took a brief lunge in that direction after mentally-ill John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan in 1981, and an even smaller step in 1988 when Russel Weston, another mentally-ill man, entered the Capitol and shot two police officers. But most mentally-ill people are not violent -- and Congress seems content with ignoring those who are.

I fear legislators will react to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' shooting by giving themselves added police protection -- that is, covering their own butts while leaving everyone else's exposed.

When you read Jared Loughner's rantings on YouTube, you're instantly transported back to the 1980s, when mentally-ill Ted Kaczynski -- the Unabomber -- started a 20-year career of sending bombs through the mail. He was caught only in 1995 -- after family members who read the Unabomber's 35,000-word psychotic manifesto, said, "That sounds like Ted," and told the police.

The family had tried to get help for Kaczynski before then -- but, like most families of people with serious mental illness, faced a Catch-22. They are powerless to do anything other than say, "Why don't you go to a doctor" until after the mentally ill person becomes dangerous.

Here's what Congress should do to save money, improve care and prevent violence:

1) Prioritize the seriously mentally ill.

[Carley]

Are the laws going to be changed so that disturbed people can be institutionalized without their consent?

Some years ago the parents of a disturbed teen went to Court, begged the Judge to put their son in a mental institution.

He sent the family and the boy home with instructions to the son to ‘behave himself.

A few days later the son murdered a little girl who came to his door selling girl scout cookies.

We are at a crossroads when it comes to locking up people against their will.

[Scanian]

I posted links to the stagte hospitals in FL and GA this am...they’re up and running.

Let’s get ‘em committed and deal with the budgetary issue as needed.

Let’s not emulate the libs and come up with some spending program and assume that solves the problem.

A lot of the changes in handling the mentally ill had to do with “patient rights” PC bilge which resulted in thousands of Loughner’s being foisted on us.

[panthermom]

I worked with someone who had the same problem with her son, she was scared to death of him, had all sorts of disorders. Killed the pets etc, tried to stab them. I mean they were terrified of him. I used to listen to her at work on the phone with the state trying to get him in an inpatient facility.

[Carley]

My heart aches for parents of such children. No matter the age of the son or daughter.....usually son......who is out of control and a clear danger to everyone.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The liberal wet dream is to declare EVERYONE mentally ill, except a chosen few (The rulers).

Kind of like how the old USSR would declare political opponents mentally ill and have them commited to get them out of circulation.