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moriah

(8,311 posts)
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 06:04 PM Dec 2015

No, Paul Ryan, you don't get to make the mentally ill "own" this act of terrorism.

So, I woke up this morning, took my Lamictal and Prozac, then logged in to Facebook to see that Paul Ryan seems to think people like me are dangerous.

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 — people’s 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
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No, Paul Ryan, you don't get to make the mentally ill "own" this act of terrorism. (Original Post) moriah Dec 2015 OP
and to think he was almost the VP Angry Dragon Dec 2015 #1
I am glad he was one of the few Republicans.... moriah Dec 2015 #2
suicides do not count with gun humpers Skittles Dec 2015 #3
Of course not. moriah Dec 2015 #4
Great piece! Thanks for sharing. HuckleB Dec 2015 #5
Thanks! moriah Dec 2015 #10
NYT: Paul Ryan Pushes Changes in Mental Health Care After Colorado Shooting proverbialwisdom Dec 2015 #6
Since this man could still become president, this evidence Hortensis Dec 2015 #7
Check it out. proverbialwisdom Dec 2015 #8
Thanks, ProverbialWisdom. I confess Scientology Hortensis Dec 2015 #9
Tom Insel, Ronald Pies, Scientology? Ridiculous, those inane talking points are for gullible readers proverbialwisdom Dec 2015 #15
I liked his vote on mental health parity. moriah Dec 2015 #11
I had to look that up, Moriah. Paul Wellstone's name on a Hortensis Dec 2015 #12
No kidding. moriah Dec 2015 #13
Ah, AND check the details anyway... Hortensis Dec 2015 #14

moriah

(8,311 posts)
2. I am glad he was one of the few Republicans....
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 07:24 PM
Dec 2015

... to actually vote for the Act in 2008. But soooo many didn't. Shameful.

moriah

(8,311 posts)
4. Of course not.
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 08:23 PM
Dec 2015

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.

moriah

(8,311 posts)
10. Thanks!
Thu Dec 3, 2015, 04:37 PM
Dec 2015

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)
6. NYT: Paul Ryan Pushes Changes in Mental Health Care After Colorado Shooting
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 11:49 PM
Dec 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/us/obama-repeats-call-for-stricter-gun-laws-after-colorado-shooting.html

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)
7. Since this man could still become president, this evidence
Thu Dec 3, 2015, 07:35 AM
Dec 2015

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.”

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
9. Thanks, ProverbialWisdom. I confess Scientology
Thu Dec 3, 2015, 03:21 PM
Dec 2015

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)
15. Tom Insel, Ronald Pies, Scientology? Ridiculous, those inane talking points are for gullible readers
Thu Dec 3, 2015, 06:15 PM
Dec 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/science/blazing-trails-in-brain-science.html?_r=4

Dr. Thomas R. Insel is the longest-serving director of the National Institute of Mental Health since its founder left. READ MORE.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22266-psychiatry-now-admits-its-been-wrong-in-big-ways-but-can-it-change

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/psychiatry’s-new-brain-mind-and-legend-“chemical-imbalance”


NEW 2015 BOOK: The Science and Pseudoscience of Children's Mental Health: Cutting Edge Research and Treatment (Childhood in America) by Sharna Olfma

This 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

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22266-psychiatry-now-admits-its-been-wrong-in-big-ways-but-can-it-change

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.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
12. I had to look that up, Moriah. Paul Wellstone's name on a
Thu Dec 3, 2015, 04:54 PM
Dec 2015

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.

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