I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother

[Tgace]

http://gawker.com/5968818/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother?post=55295456

Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants."I can wear these pants," he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

"They are navy blue," I told him. "Your school's dress code says black or khaki pants only."

"They told me I could wear these," he insisted. "You're a stupid *****. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!"

"You can't wear whatever pants you want to," I said, my tone affable, reasonable. "And you definitely cannot call me a stupid *****. You're grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school."

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.

Powerful..read the rest.

Illustrative of the mental health care issues we have in this country.

 

[Tgace]

Are mental wards the solution? As awful as those were? What can be done??? Wait till they kill then put them in prison or THEN commit them to a ward?

 

[WC_lun]

Some of the comments on the article are powerful as well.

Growing up with a father that was mentally ill has taught me a couple of things. One is the mentally ill can be very unpredictable. It is in the nature of thier illness. The other is that sometimes mentally ill people will do things that make absolutely no sense to a rational mind. Looking for a reason for thier actions, beyond they are mentally ill, can be a fruitless excercise.

 

[Tgace]

As an LEO I have dealt with many as well. Most are no threat...but for most of them it just seems like there is no clue about what to do. Give them pills, send them home and pray seems to be the plan.

 

[Sukerkin]

Proper hospital wards with properly trained and motivated staff are the only answer. It costs money but in the end it's cheaper than the somewhat hidden costs that "Care in the Community" racks up.

Modern mental health care is nothing like the nightmare images of the sanitoriums of yesteryear.

 

[WC_lun]

The safety net for those that are a threat certainly is very thin. It is sad when the same mentally ill person is involved in a police call again and again for bahavior linked to thier illness, yet they have issues getting the help they need. It is a damn shame when all the officers in a precinct know a person has mental illness and have a relationship with the person built upon numerous calls, hospital personel also have a relationship for the same reason, and still the mentally ill person cannot get help untill something terrible happens

 

[Tgace]

The safety net for those that are a threat certainly is very thin. It is sad when the same mentally ill person is involved in a police call again and again for bahavior linked to thier illness, yet they have issues getting the help they need. It is a damn shame when all the officers in a precinct know a person has mental illness and have a relationship with the person built upon numerous calls, hospital personel also have a relationship for the same reason, and still the mentally ill person cannot get help untill something terrible happens

Amen.

 

[Takai]

Some of the comments on the article are powerful as well.

Growing up with a father that was mentally ill has taught me a couple of things. One is the mentally ill can be very unpredictable. It is in the nature of thier illness. The other is that sometimes mentally ill people will do things that make absolutely no sense to a rational mind. Looking for a reason for thier actions, beyond they are mentally ill, can be a fruitless excercise.

I grew up with some similarities in my family life. Mental illness (and family members that patterned that mental illness). You are absolutely right that trying to apply rational thought process does not work because their thought processes are not rational to us.

The safety net for those that are a threat certainly is very thin. It is sad when the same mentally ill person is involved in a police call again and again for bahavior linked to thier illness, yet they have issues getting the help they need. It is a damn shame when all the officers in a precinct know a person has mental illness and have a relationship with the person built upon numerous calls, hospital personel also have a relationship for the same reason, and still the mentally ill person cannot get help untill something terrible happens

Indeed. I can still remember the names of all of the "frequent fliers" that we had when I was a public safety dispatcher. The system is not only broken, it feels like it is rigged to keep these people in limbo. The bureaucracy seems bent on "studying" the problem but not on solving it. Sanity cannot be legislated into existence!