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Re: do you have strong opinions/feelings about government mental health funding? Sareitha Sedai Send a noteboard - 07/08/2012 04:02:52 PM
well, with yet another massacre in the US, caused by yet another nutjob that was known to some to be unstable, i am wondering what could possibly be done to get some of these people some kind of help to prevent these tragedies from occurring so regularly. obviously, some kind of extra gun laws are not going to happen, but there will also not be any additional discussion about providing mental health services to anyone either. so it makes me wonder: for countries with government provided health care, how do your countries deal with mental health issues? and for the americans here, do you think having a national mental health service is becoming a necessity?

my own personal thoughts are that the mentally ill should be able to get help with their conditions without worrying about the stigma that is usually associated with going to some kind of counseling. and also without having to worry about having to pay, especially for those who can't afford the care. if these frequent random shootings can be prevented, then the money will be well worth the investment in the long run.


I don't think instituting a national mental health service is the way to destigmatize. Not referring to people as "nutjobs" might be a step in that direction I think for the people whose brains are broken to the degree you're talking about, the stigma isn't what's kept them from getting treatment. Possibly it's what's kept their families from getting them treatment, but I think too often it's just difficult (if not impossible) to identify that a mental disorder (even if you know or suspect one is present) is this severe and will lead to this type of event. I was listening to a piece on NPR the other day talking about how the families of these mass murderers end up being affected. And Larry Robison's mother said that from the time he was a child she had been fighting to get him the mental health treatment it was clear (to her) he needed, but institutions would never hold him longer than 30 days.

I agree with you that people shouldn't have to worry about how to find or pay for mental health treatment...but I also think that about basic physical health treatment too I don't think government provided mental health care would be the answer to preventing most of these killings but I do think it should be an option just like I think government provided physical health care should be an option (not the only option but an option).
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do you have strong opinions/feelings about government mental health funding? - 07/08/2012 06:19:53 AM 536 Views
There's a fairly legit stigma attached to 'homicidal psychopath' - 07/08/2012 10:05:33 AM 395 Views
I would like to see a graph... - 07/08/2012 02:12:46 PM 344 Views
Me, too, though that would not establish causality. - 09/08/2012 01:02:16 AM 348 Views
Re: do you have strong opinions/feelings about government mental health funding? - 07/08/2012 04:02:52 PM 340 Views
No stronger than my feelings on public healthcare generally. - 08/08/2012 09:16:19 PM 394 Views
A local example. . . - 09/08/2012 08:25:36 PM 620 Views

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