I've seen this type of behavior and the effects on the family, the child, the friends and community. One of my dearest friends in California has a son who has threatened his family since he was five years old. He's spent more time in child psychiatric institutions than he has at school and he's in his teens now. The family is totally ostracized from the community -- people are afraid to be around him and think the parents aren't doing enough. The mother and father have split up because of the boy but somehow have found the strength to get try again as a couple. The siblings stay away from home as much as possible -- even the street corner when everything is closed is preferable to home. The few friends who have had the courage to remain friends to this family rarely go to their house and, of course, the boy is not welcome in theirs. So, this family is totally isolated from the community.

The only "help" is locking the child up when he becomes violent. Sooner or later, the parents are going to have to make the hard choice -- lock their son up somewhere or let him loose on society. Right now, there really isn't anything in between.

The bigger tragedy is not that children exist like this young man but that there is no help for the parents. Social services tries to force the parents to give up parental rights and then basically locks the child into a "therapeutic" foster home where the child is put on very strong medication and then locked away until adulthood, at which time the child is forced to fend for himself. The courts will lock a child like this away, give it treatment in a juvenile facility or prison (not jail -- very little treatment occurs there) and then, again, let the child loose with no real backup once time has been served.

There are no easy solutions. There is no short-term fix. There needs to be more help and support for the families and continuing help for the child when it reaches adulthood. As long as we keep on doing things the way we are doing them, we will continue to hear of tragedies of this sort.

Like a sick heart or kidney, the Brain needs medical intervention and I don't mean office therapy. We need more research into the workings of the brain to perform safe surgery to correct these illnesses or alter the brain to eliminate the violent outbursts that occur.

Why so many children with these so called "damaged brains". Is it genetic, environmental, both? Can't remember kids with these problems when I grew up - were they locked away? They talk about having to lock schools now - we didn't even lock our homes. Seems like our society is failing on all counts. The lack of mental health and support for these families would certainly be a good place to start but we also need to understand how this starts in the first place.

Really?
 

I really don't think you can cut the demon out.

The thread is starting to look like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

There are no easy answers. Mental illness is something the person who is ill must work extremely hard to understand what is going on in their mind. There are many forms and medications do help in a lot of cases. I would tend to think there are a great number of people who are diminished in the sense they could lead a much more effective life. I cases where the mentally ill person is a threat to themselves or others needs to be treated in a safe environment.

How does all this get accomplished is for better minds than I. Mental health needs to be funded properly. As a society, we need more avenues for people to get treatment before tradgedy strikes. GOD knows the world is getting crazier every day. I fear that many people don't get treatment because they don't have the resources and or not willing to get help. A pull yourself up by the bootstraps train of thought does not work.

Off soapbox. :smiley:

When I read the title I thought it was some weirdo. After reading the article, I am in total agreement. Having worked in mental and forensic institutions and hybrids as a Psychological Specialist, I saw into the void we call the mental health "system". We truly need a fresh dialogue and to spend some of the wasted give-away dollars to help families and individuals who are demonized for institutionalizing their loved ones. We need a system of institutions with flexible entrance and exit strategies and an end to stigmatizing people with maladaptive brain function.

Money and Mental Illness
 

We need to face the facts. Many forms of mental illness are simply NOT curable, or even effectively treatable, given our current state of medical knowledge.
No matter how much money we throw at them, no matter how much health insurance one might have.
In many cases, medications provide minimal symptomatic alleviation. And other treatment modalities are only partly effective.
We need to protect ourselves even if it means curtailing the "civil rights" of the mentally ill. Those with tendencies towards violence of any kind, or who even threaten violence, need to be confined.....permanently if necessary, until such time as we can RELIABLY prevent violent behavior.

I cannot add much to the solution to this problem but I believe I can safely say that referring to people with neuro-brain disorers as "nut cases"doesn't help

Reading this thread I am left with the impression that all mental illness cases are being treated as the same. The fact is there are degrees the same as the levels designated with cancer, burns, etc. many people have mental issues but live full lives in many professions. It is unfortunate when a "sandy Hook"incidnt occurs because it puts thr spotlight on one person ignoring the millions of people who will never harm anyone.

The mental health system is inadequate and underfunded. Further diagnosis is tricky and an initial diagnosis can be incorrect.

I have a physical disease that was never properly diagnosis until 26 years later and the docs all had a visual view so how much harder is it to diagnosis a brain disorder. Remeber Alzheimer's has many of the same symptoms as mental illnesses and I don't hear people call them nut cases. Perhaps it because they are concerned that they or a love one could sucumb to this disease and not other mental disorders. Please in discussing this topic let's hope reason supercedes emotion

And please keep your guns and ammunition locked up if you have a violent, mentally ill person living in your home.

Rosemary Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I really do not believe that they would perform a lobotomy in 2012/13.
Especially after how the lobotomy done on Rosemary Kennedy turned out........

Nowadays they try "chemical restraints" which sometimes "unbalance" the patient even more.......sad to say.

Just saw on our morning news that since Hurricane Irene flooded our state mental hospital up in Waterbury, Vermont, doctors have been at their wit's end in trying to deal with all of the mental patients........and no place to put them. A few are being kept in various hospitals around the state.......but according to the doctors interviewed, it is a massive problem.

Citizens of Vermont have been wondering , for decades, why they let so many deranged folks roam around, when they obviously need close supervision........there just is no place to put them all, especially now, after the massive flooding.

We both just heard on the morning t.v. news that a "POSSIBLE MOTIVE" for Adam Lanza's rampage was that he either overheard or discovered that his mother was planning on incarcerating him in a mental institution..........heard that on ABC. Not cast in stone , so "don't shoot the messenger"........just what we heard.

Well said Joe.

Hurry home.

Heart wrenching! Can't even imagine how hard her life must be.

Adam Lanza's Motive: Did Fear Of Being Committed Lead To Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting?


It is reported in this article that Nancy Lanza was in the process of trying to have Adam committed to a facility, and that is what set him off. Who knows what the truth is. More details will be divulged as the investigation continues.

Wait and see what the facts really are. It does sound like he was extremely angry at his mother and wanted to not only murder her but destroy everything she loved in her life.

Still see this as the work of an evil person and not so much as someone who is mentally ill. Evil people have murdered children quite frequently.

There are 57.7 mentally ill people in a year in the US according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. http://www.nami.org/

Also remember that people with some kind of mental illness have contributed greatly to art and the sciences over the last couple of thousand of years. http://health.discovery.com/tv/psych...disorders.html

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Sec...ContentID=4858