Mass Violence, Mental Health and Gun Control

Yes, it is beyond horror, when so many are dead, and the most of them children. I cannot begin to imagine losing a child in such a way. Having said that, I did lose a child to severe mental illness and drug addiction. And with all the talk these days of gun control, I cannot help but think we need mental health reform in our country.

I know first hand how helpless you feel when someone you love is mentally ill. If that person is an adult, even though by the very nature of their illness they are unable to make their own decisions, that is exactly what they are allowed and expected to do. IF you can prove they are a danger " to themselves or others", they will be admitted to a facility for three to five days, medicated and released. They are expected to comply with meds, follow up with therapist and after care, etc. It is a list that someone who had it all together would find daunting, and someone who is mentally ill simply cannot do it.

My attorney once told me " there is no place for people like your daughter in America; she will wind up in prison, on the streets, or dead".

He was exactly right.

Is their no one to speak for them? No one to advocate? Hippa privacy laws that are applicable in every other medical situation have no place here. These people aren't capable of making their own medical decisions. My daughter never even realized she was sick. And she was very very sick. 

So today my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, the family of the suspect, those suffering from mental illness, and all  the families and people who love someone with a mental illness. God help us all.