CONGRESS…Please Don’t Play Politics with Mental Health Reform
Elliot Rodger, the 22-year old former student at the University of California Santa Barbara campus, had a history of mental illness. His recent stabbing and shooting binge left six people dead and 13 injured, before he took his own life. A month before this terrible tragedy, a relative became concerned and notified the authorities that Mr. Rodger might be dangerous. The sheriff’s deputies conducted a welfare check and concluded Mr. Rodger posed no threat to himself or others.
Families of individuals suffering from severe mental illness are – or can be – the early warning system of potential tragedy. They see the fuse burning long before the bomb goes off. Yes, they can notify the authorities, but until their loved one reaches the criteria for police intervention, there is nothing concerned families can do until the individual reaches the crisis stage. By that time, it is sometimes too late. “Homicidal” or “suicidal” should not be the only legal standard for treatment intervention. Untreated serious mental illness increases the risk of violence and suicide.
Following the Newtown shootings, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), a clinical psychologist by training, raised congressional awareness of the need to fix our broken mental health system and led the charge on Capitol Hill for reform. He spent a year reviewing federal mental health policies and last December introduced the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” H.R. 3717. This bill emerged from a series of hearings on mental illness treatment issues before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which Congressman Murphy chairs. These hearings “revealed that the approach by the federal government to mental health is a chaotic patchwork of antiquated programs and ineffective policies across numerous agencies.”
H.R. 3717 addresses the obstacles families face when trying to save loved ones from untreated serious mental illness. The bill will expand access to treatment for individuals who miss out on mental health services because they are too ill to seek them. It will lead to treatment before tragedy. It is the most comprehensive mental health reform legislation to be introduced in 51 years.
The “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act” currently has 89 co-sponsors, 32 of them Democrats. Fearing that Democrats might be viewed as bipartisan on mental health care reform, Nancy Pelosi worked behind the scene to orchestrate a rival bill that was recently introduced by Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ). Congressman Barber’s bill, “Strengthening Mental Health in Our Communities Act,” fixes nothing…simply throws more taxpayer money at mental health, and strips out the reforms in the Murphy bill.
Mental illness is not particular who it attacks. It affects both Republican and Democratic families and is a serious national problem. I urge Mrs. Pelosi and the Democrats to stop worrying about who gets credit for legislation that addresses mental health reform, do what is right for the country, and come together to support H.R. 3717.
Had H.R. 3717 been law during my son’s 13-year struggle with severe bipolar disorder, his family would have been able to help him get treatment before he reached the crisis stage and took his life.
Dottie Pacharis, Author, Mind on the Run – A Bipolar Chronicle