(Mar. 23, 2016) Nuts. Crazy. Lunatic. Maniac. Psychopath. Wacko. These are words I frequently hear used to describe people suffering from mental illness.
Would we refer so callously to people with cancer, muscular dystrophy or Parkinson’s disease?
Mentally ill individuals have a disease, not a character flaw. Mental illness is not something people choose.
Approximately 10 million Americans struggle with serious mental illness, but millions are going without treatment as families struggle to find care for their loved ones. As with any other serious illness, people suffering from mental illness need medical treatment. Therein lies the problem.
State laws vary, but all states set strict controls on involuntary hospitalization, limiting it to circumstances when a person is an imminent danger to self or others, or likely to become so. These laws give people with severe mental illness the right to decide when, where, how or even if they will receive treatment.
Families must watch their loved ones descend, sometimes slowly, into Code Red territory because current laws do not allow them to push the “help” button until the person reaches the crisis stage. Only when an ill person becomes a danger, as determined by a judge at a commitment hearing, can they be involuntarily hospitalized and treated.
But by this time, it is sometimes too late.
Our failure to care for the mentally ill comes at a high cost. Yet with proper diagnosis and treatment, many patients are able to overcome mental illness, contribute to society and live normal and happy lives.
Last November, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 2646) legislation introduced by U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy and Eddie Bernice Johnson advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. The bill currently has the strong bipartisan support of 185 cosponsors.
The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act would revamp our mental health system and ensure that people suffering from severe mental illness receive the care they need. It would increase the number of inpatient psychiatric beds, authorize court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment for individuals with a long history and pattern of proving a danger to themselves or others, and make adjustments to HIPAA privacy laws by helping patients get treatment for their illness before they reach the violent breaking point.
I lost an adult son to suicide. He suffered from untreated bipolar disorder. Although too late to save my son, HR 2646 would save the lives of others struggling from untreated mental illness by enabling them to receive treatment sooner, making them less likely to reach a violent breaking point.
DOTTIE PACHARIS
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA
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