Everyminute.org

This was a sad day. A sad day indeed. Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy. As a person living with mental illness, I feel sad for everyone touched by this event. Sad is not a strong enough word. I feel ill – ill in heart, ill in soul, ill at ease. I remember hearing a lot of talk afterward about the need for more gun control and the need for a more peaceful society in general. In fact, one of the lecture halls on the campus is to be turned into a Center for Peace and Nonviolence according to a report I heard today. I have no problems with supporting these points of view. I stand before you as an unashamed pacifist and as most Americans would admit, a big proponent of peace and nonviolence.
But what happened at Virginia Tech wasn’t a gun control issue. And while the acts were most certainly violent, I maintain that hate was not at the root of the problem. I believe that the mental health system is in part to blame for the tragedy. Had there been better access to services for the poor individual with mental illness, one could argue that April 16th would only be remembered as the day after tax day. Often, it is extremely difficult for people with mental illnesses to receive any treatment, much less adequate treatment. If the person has no insurance, it’s often impossible. In the state of Tennessee, many people were dropped from our Medicaid system years back leaving them uninsured and underserved. Our mental health court was seeing people actually committing crimes to get into the system to get treatment!
Statistics show that less than 1% of people with severe and persistent mental illnesses are violent. They are much more likely to be the victims of crime rather than the perpetrators. With proper individualized treatment plans and easier access to services, the percentage would be even lower. It is past time for an increase in mental health research funding. Too many lives have been taken, lost, or destroyed by the delay.