After Arizona shooting, we need a way to track the mentally ill

from Dallas Morning News

After Arizona shooting, we need a way to track the mentally ill: "

The following is a guest blog post written by Cedric Wood of Dallas, a psychotherapist and a Community Voices volunteer columnist. His e-mail address is CedWood@aol.com.

The questions are flying again just as they do every time there is a mass shooting. 'Why did Jared Loughner do it?' 'Why did it happen?' I have been reporting on mass shootings since the first one, the shooting at Columbine, and the media asked the same question, 'Why did this happen?'

But this time I'm hearing a new line of questioning. Just as in the case with 'Cho' the Virginia Tech Shooter, there were a lot of people who knew he was not functioning mentally very well. 'Every one knew a little bit of something' Meredith Viera said on the Today Show.

This is a very important and encouraging development. There should be in each state capital a list of names of people who have been 1. Creating trouble in school, be in high school or college. 2 people who have applied to the military and been rejected or discharged, and 3. People who have had the police called on them because of violent or erratic behavior in a home, school, or work setting.

I know what you're thinking. This is the first step toward a Gestapo state where all subversives are tracked and their rights are unfairly truncated. But if compassionate men and women design the program, there will have to be multiple indicators before anything is done. Few people would argue with the first line of reaction that would be putting them on a list that would alert the police when he tries to buy a gun at a gun store or a pawn shop. This would have prevented the Tucson shooting.

But a further reaction to anyone achieving a high score on a 'Dangerousness Scale' would be reported to a judge who would call for the person to report to a court. In that court an injunction would be given the person which would require them to see a mental health professional on a weekly basis. The MHP would conduct therapy and monitor the person for any signs of erratic or threatening behavior. This would be all that would happen in most cases. And shouldn't we be providing mentoring to these folks?



The person on the Today Show said 'His parents have barricaded themselves in their house. They are crying all day and are beside themselves.' They, sadly, are also victims in this shooting. But our compassion for them is blunted by our annoyance that they did not see that their own son was careening out of control. This goes for Cho's parents and sister, as well. We can't help but wonder 'Did they not see what was going on?'

Yes, of course, they could see what was going on. But it is easy to imagine that Loughner was probably a bully and told his parents that he was, under no circumstances, going to see a 'shrink' and probably threatened his parents with harm if they brought it up again. In other worlds, his parents may have felt completely helpless to do anything about their unstable son. They may have thought that the best way to keep him 'calm' was to give in to his every whim and demand. As with so many parents, they were not functioning at the upper end of the spectrum of psychological understanding.

The outcome of this new program would mean several things. Not only would it prevent future shootings but it would identify people who are living in the twilight of mental functioning. These people need medication, therapy and monitoring whether they are a danger to themselves or others. This is not about Police State public control tactics. This is about having compassion for the members of our society who are suffering and slipping down a road toward violence or homelessness. Let's catch them while they are still young and their parents are still alive and able to participate in family therapy. Hopefully, we can prevent any more tragedies like the one in Tucson with Representative Gabriella Giffords. Let's honor her valor and sacrifice with a bill in the State Senate of Texas which will mandate this program to help the psychologically challenged and to prevent further tragedies.

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