8/8/2019 My Thoughts On the Shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifforrds

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/my-thoughts-on-the-shooting-of-congresswoman-gabrielle-gifforrds 1/2

My thoughts on the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle GiffordsbyDaniel Mooreon Monday, January 10, 2011 at 3:42pm

aka "My Mental Health Rant"Of course this event is tragic beyond words. But I will try my best. I am a person who grew up in Arizona, and currently have family members who live in Ms. Gif

fords' Congressional District, I also am a parent of a severely mentally ill person. So in my mind this hits very close to home. Yes I am a Democrat, but had this happened to a Republican - it would have been just as horrific (in fact the judge who was killed was a Republican).Sarah Palin and others who used "shooting" metaphors in their speeches, websites, radio shows, blogs - while they may not have intended to incite actual violence - I feel it is highly irresponsible, and to me, inexcusable that a public figure would use such terms. Because you have to take into account that some randomcrazy person like Loughner (or even a real live hater), will take those words/images to heart. I think we ALL should learn from this BUT WILL WE???

Loughner had a very significant history of bizarre outbursts, and apparent "mental health" issues. My question is - what attempts - if any were made to "remedy"this situation. I would be the LAST to blame the parents, as I (with my kids) have been in more psychiatrist's offices, therapist's offices, and psychiatric hospitals over the years than I have had hot meals (almost).Obviously it's easy to say IF ONLY he had received treatment, etc. But for the most part you can't FORCE someone to receive psychiatric care. And if the personis over 18 (actually over 15 in Colorado) - THEY are in charge of their care - IF they choose to participate in ANY care at all.There ARE provisions in most states to put someone on a 72 hour hold - and thenat the end of that a representative of the psychiatric facility must appear befo

re a judge to petition for "commitment" - which if approved can result in a COURT ORDER for the person to be "committed" against his will for up to 90 (sometimes up to 180) days. For this to happen the person has to be deemed to be IMMINENTLY(i.e. right now) a danger to himself or others (or grossly disabled).So if your family member is saying and doing scary things (as mine was), it's really a crapshoot as to whether you can get your family member into care (or offthe street). There are several "gatekeepers" between you and care for your lovedone.First you will likely have to call the police...

from my experiences over the past 15 years, in 3 states, and one foreign country- the results from this are - at best - mixed. I have gotten everything from "why are you wasting our time" to seeing my son arrested (more than once) at the point of a gun (and fearing for his life). More recently - those who responded - were more familiar with the nuances of dealing with the mentally ill - many thanks for that.Here's the deal - if the police don't think your loved one's problem rises to the level of being sent to a hospital - GAME OVER.Secondly - once your loved one is AT the hospital ER - they usually call someonein from a mental health organization - sometimes this is helpful and your lovedone can get the help they need - BUT sometimes (at least in my experience) they

are not interested in being on the same team as you. I had one evaluator question why I was "telling a different" story than my son was, and recommend he be RELEASED from the hospital - only to have him re-admitted THE SAME NIGHT at anothe

8/8/2019 My Thoughts On the Shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifforrds

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/my-thoughts-on-the-shooting-of-congresswoman-gabrielle-gifforrds 2/2

r hospital...So - If this second "gatekeeper" isn't with you - AGAIN - GAME OVER.Thirdly - Let's say just for fun - that you actually are able to jump these first two hurdles - and your family member is sent to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Again MIXED RESULTS at best. I have seen everything from actual effective d

isease management to (the doc saying, after ONE night) "we are going to let himout because we don't think he will take his meds or co-operate with us". Which BEGS THE QUESTION - why - if you are going to hospitalize someone against their will - are you going to throw up your hands and DISMISS him because he won't "co-operate" - Hmmm.Fourthly - If you don't have good insurance - you may reach the end of the trailRIGHT THERE - been there, done that.And people are different - one patient may have fairly good results - while another may not - especially if they feel (as many mentally ill people do) - that they "don't have a problem" - or "people don't understand" them. If they are psych

otic what they see, hear, etc. - IS their reality - they don't understand why YOU can't see it. It's really a fine line you have to walk - because IF you are tohelp them AT ALL you must find a way to become trusted by them.Lastly - without the participation of the "patient" - all of the visits to hospitals, doctors, etc. - the meds, the therapists - are just a diversion - becausein the end - if the person doesn't wish to take meds - HE WON'T. If he doesn't wish to be treated - HE WON'T - and as long as a person can appear (on the surface) to appear reasonably normal - and not attract the attention of authorities -well I guess we don't have to spell out the potential issues that could arise.It's always been an uphill battle to get help for someone who is severely mentally ill - it's hard, it's inconvenient, it's expensive, and sometimes you feel yo

u are fighting the battle alone - but as the events of Saturday, January 8th, 2011 in Tucson illustrate - it is NECESSARY to ensure access to mental health carefor ALL citizens - it could just be a matter of LIFE or DEATH.