Healthcare crisis: Mental illness is at the root of all violence

The hell that many parents, families and loved ones live with everyday is often anchored to the unspoken disease that hides behind tears, severe mood changes and violent outbursts: Mental illness. Often, their first victims cry out for help, wrenching their hands in despair as they helplessly watch their world fall apart, one terroristic moment at a time. When they turn to find help, the hands of those who try to render it are often tied in red-tape through a system that throws the problem back into the unskilled lap of those who have no clue what to do and others who have no resources available to pay the steep cost of mental illness.

Without knowing the full story behind the murderous acts of Adam Lanza, what we do know is this: He was mentally ill and he had access to guns. You might as well thrown gasoline on an open flame when mixing these two together. Should the Lanza household possessed any type of weapons in their midst? Absolutely not! However, access to weapons including guns, by mentally unstable and afflicted individuals is too easily gained through our current system.

In the case of Adam, it appears it was his mother who put the key in his hand, opening the door that should have been bolted shut. While we don’t know every detail (and probably never will) what we do know is she owned guns, they were kept in her home and Adam obviously had access to them.

What is more troubling is Adam’s mother, Nancy Lanza, was a healthcare professional, with financial access to support at her fingertips, and yet this tragic event still happened. If current accounts are accurate, mom took son to a shooting range shortly before his rampage. Certainly Nancy never could imagine what she was exposing her to son when she made this tragic decision. But what she probably did know and what is not too uncommon is the attitude of loved ones who deal with mental health problem behind doors; breaking down and giving in to the overwhelming effects of the disease.

Often, they are so desperate for answers that they simply throw their hands in the air and look the other way. Exhausted and ill-equipped, families are left managing what takes a doctorate degree to comprehend, much less treat.

Better gun control is absolutely at the top of the list, but right above it is repairing the mental health care system. When we place freedom above illness we get a disease that spreads to kill.

A great article on the subject can be found at the following link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false).

Quick Tips for Wellness: Contact your congressman, legislature and President, letting them know how you feel about making changes to guns laws including mental health background checks.

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