No, Paul Ryan, you don't get to make the mentally ill "own" this act of terrorism.
Apparently, we shoot people, not because irresponsible politicians make false, incendiary remarks that cause violent people to do violent things and get praised for them in the press and think they are fighting for a noble cause, but because we are so dangerous that Congress must do something.
There's no doubt our mental health system is broken. Believe me, I know. I give thanks daily that I have my medicine now. It was a long, hard road. But the only person I was dangerous to was myself.
In fact, even if all mental illness were magically cured, gun violence would only decrease by 4%. But since over 60% of gun deaths are suicide, sensible gun registration, waiting periods, and background check requirements would save more lives peoples lives like mine. I don't think many Republicans like him care much about us, though. If he did, wouldn't he have gotten more of his fellow Republican representatives to vote for the Mental Health Parity And Addiction Equity Act of 2008?
Why is he only saying this now? It's because we always have to believe that evil is other" so since this terrorist is white, Christian, and Conservative he must just be mentally ill".
But we are not other". We are your friends, coworkers, and loved ones. We are not dangerous. And we will NOT accept the stigma gun advocates continuously place on us, when we're the ones most likely to be killed by guns, not the ones doing the shooting.
Posted in full with permission, links in actual article explain context.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/12/2/1455956/-No-Paul-Ryan-you-don-t-get-to-make-the-mentally-ill-own-this-act-of-terrorism
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)moriah
(8,311 posts)... to actually vote for the Act in 2008. But soooo many didn't. Shameful.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)they are serious assholes
moriah
(8,311 posts)Just like they refuse to accept the reality that encouraging your supporters to be violent in support of your cause can lead to someone doing just that.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Any potential benefits to mental health in the US from such statements by politicians after gun violence, in my opinion, is drastically outweighed by the presumption it creates that mentally ill people are dangerous, violent, and therefore are to be shunned or discriminated against even more than they already are.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Paul Ryan Pushes Changes in Mental Health Care After Colorado Shooting
By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
DEC. 1, 2015
Note the URL vs article title.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)that his libertarianism isn't so extreme as to feel society should let the mentally ill, at least those with money or insurance, go untreated is encouraging.
Unfortunately, it's a typical GOP bill in that it is coercive of the individual, rather than enabling, and unnecessarily beneficial to business. (Both characteristic of the current push toward fascism from the right.)
The article posted for some reason does not mention that many mental health industry professionals and organizations have started speaking out against it.
David Shern, from Johns Hopkins University, writes that the latest mental health Murphy bill in Congress is an expansion of the approaches that got us into our current difficulties. Early intervention and prevention, assessable and patient-focused services with a rehabilitation orientation and increased funding for the community supports needed for successful recovery are the tickets to system improvement.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and other groups with that sort of approach to the world lack credibility with me. L. Ron Hubbard's cynical and weird success in converting his failed business and serious legal problems into an enduring and tremendously lucrative religion calls for some respect, just IMO definitely not Scientology itself.
That said, everyone, even the GOP obviously, agrees the mental health industry needs major cleaning up. IMO Obama's gotten a good start with the ACA, but that's all it is.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Dr. Thomas R. Insel is the longest-serving director of the National Institute of Mental Health since its founder left. READ MORE.
Dr. Ronald Pies, editor-in-chief emeritus of the Psychiatric Times stated in 2011, "In truth, the chemical imbalance' notion was always a kind of urban legend - never a theory seriously propounded by well-informed psychiatrists."
READ MORE: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blogs/couch-crisis/psychiatrys-new-brain-mind-and-legend-chemical-imbalance
Link worked earlier today, does not now, although quote is contained in book, below, and cache still available: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fNfbAJBPW-kJ:www.psychiatrictimes.com/blogs/couch-crisis/psychiatry-new-brain-mind-and-legend-chemical-imbalance+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safariNEW 2015 BOOK: The Science and Pseudoscience of Children's Mental Health: Cutting Edge Research and Treatment (Childhood in America) by Sharna OlfmaThis book explains how studies in brain development and epigenetics―the inextricable interplay of genes and environments―have led to breakthroughs in the understanding of children's psychological disturbances and serve to discredit the scientifically unsupported "chemical imbalance theory" of mental illness.
REVIEW: "This very timely volume, on an exceptionally important topic in the lives of children and families, is a frank and thought-provoking consideration of the issues." - Frank Farley, PhD, Former President, American Psychological Association
For Anatomy of an Epidemic, Whitaker won the 2010 Investigative Reporters and Editors Book Award for best investigative journalism. This and other acclaim made it difficult for establishment psychiatry to ignore him, so he was invited to speak at many of their bastions, including a Harvard Medical School Grand Rounds at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he faced hostile audiences. However, Whitaker's sincerity about seeking better treatment options, his command of the facts and his lack of anti-drug dogma compelled all but the most dogmatic psychiatrists to take him seriously.
Too busy for this today.
moriah
(8,311 posts)But damn few of his fellow Republicans voted with him.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)bill always suggests good things, and apparently it was a step forward in its time, though just a step. Good for Paul Ryan for signing on an unpopular bill with the GOP, although I have to say I don't feel I'll go very wrong if I suspect anything with his name on it and wonder about the details.
moriah
(8,311 posts)It might have been because it was popular in his state....