Mental health "care" in the U.S.
Last week in Albuquerque, a man who was reportedly mentally ill went on a shooting spree that ended up with five people dead. A medical professional had called police to request that he be taken into protective custody because he was a danger to himself or others. Before the police found him, he shot a Department of Transportation highway repair worker and two employees of a motorcycle shop. And when the police did find him, he shot the two officers who had come to take him into custody.
According to press reports, this man had a long history of mental illness. His neighbors told reporters that he was a pleasant man, a gentle soul – when he took his medication. When he didn’t take his medication, he got scary, which (my guess now) is probably why somebody involved with him professionally called for police help in getting him rounded up and into a controlled situation.
The American health care system is already in a shambles because it is run by for-profit insurance companies and HMOs that are more interested in saving money than in making the most effective health-care decisions. When it comes to mental-health care, the system is even more of a joke. It’s as if any chemical imbalance in the brain is something that can be overcome by the patient thinking right.
I don’t know details about the patient involved in the shooting spree. But I do know about a student I had. To preserve his privacy, I’m not going to give details. But I will say that he had a severe mental disorder that disrupted the classroom. His family had medical insurance, but that insurance didn’t cover mental illness, and his working-class family definitely didn’t have the financial resources to pay for the treatment he needed. He couldn’t even qualify for a publicly funded treatment program until after he’d been cited for the incident in my class. I wish him well in his treatment. I can clearly see that he is an extremely talented and intelligent writer, and I want to see him succeed. It’s just a pity that he couldn’t get help for his mental problems until he became a problem himself.
In New Mexico, and also throughout the nation, there are many reports of mentally ill people who commit crimes, but who could have been helped beforehand if only the resources were in place. I wonder, how many unnecessary deaths might be prevented if we had a good way to get mentally ill people into the treatment programs they need?
According to press reports, this man had a long history of mental illness. His neighbors told reporters that he was a pleasant man, a gentle soul – when he took his medication. When he didn’t take his medication, he got scary, which (my guess now) is probably why somebody involved with him professionally called for police help in getting him rounded up and into a controlled situation.
The American health care system is already in a shambles because it is run by for-profit insurance companies and HMOs that are more interested in saving money than in making the most effective health-care decisions. When it comes to mental-health care, the system is even more of a joke. It’s as if any chemical imbalance in the brain is something that can be overcome by the patient thinking right.
I don’t know details about the patient involved in the shooting spree. But I do know about a student I had. To preserve his privacy, I’m not going to give details. But I will say that he had a severe mental disorder that disrupted the classroom. His family had medical insurance, but that insurance didn’t cover mental illness, and his working-class family definitely didn’t have the financial resources to pay for the treatment he needed. He couldn’t even qualify for a publicly funded treatment program until after he’d been cited for the incident in my class. I wish him well in his treatment. I can clearly see that he is an extremely talented and intelligent writer, and I want to see him succeed. It’s just a pity that he couldn’t get help for his mental problems until he became a problem himself.
In New Mexico, and also throughout the nation, there are many reports of mentally ill people who commit crimes, but who could have been helped beforehand if only the resources were in place. I wonder, how many unnecessary deaths might be prevented if we had a good way to get mentally ill people into the treatment programs they need?
posted by Carol Anne | 12:44 AM
3 Comments:
Mental health care has never achieved the status and respectability, and hence insurability, of conventional "pill and scalpel" medicine. Maybe that's in part because treatments for mental illness run the gamut from successful, well-established protocols for some mental illnesses to treatments that may not be much more predictable or provable than bad witch doctoring.
Or perhaps it's because a lot of folks get creeped out by the very thought of mental illness and would rather not have to think about it or confront it.
Or perhaps it's because many mental illnesses are less well understood and less treatable than garden-variety illnesses and many diseases.
After working in this field for 5 years, I realized how much work still needs to be done. In attempting to keep a patient in care, we must prove that they are actually ill. A Doctor, Clinical Therapist, Nurse, and Residential Treatment Counselor could all and collectively be overruled by one person, that had a bachelor degree in something and sitting in an office in another state. This would determine if the insurance would pay. In addition, the treatment facility being non-profit, extra money to keep the patient was scarce. We would watch kids leave and would wonder among ourselves how long it would be before we read about them in the police log. Sad reality.
I agree the American health care is in shambles and has a major crisis. I hope someone will work to improve health insurance for all.
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