tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post1895512625429464291..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Mental Illness in AmericaJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-79355257487100329702020-01-03T22:14:13.427-05:002020-01-03T22:14:13.427-05:00But what would an “acceptable solution” be? Our la...<i>But what would an “acceptable solution” be? Our laws do not allow locking up mentally ill people unless they present a clear danger to themselves or others, and many people who knew Grafton Thomas thought he was mild-mannered and anything but violent; before this attack, could a case have been made that he was a danger to society? He did once have a tense confrontation with the police, which led to his being charged with “second-degree reckless endangerment and menacing a police or peace officer,” but those sorts of confrontations happen every day. Are we going to lock up all the homeless people who have ever had a run in with the cops?</i><br /><br />The obvious middle ground, as you allude to later in your post, is to make mental healthcare available to anyone who wants it. We need to solve our massive homelessness crisis. We need to get people out of poverty. These negative conditions promote and perpetuate mental illness, so we must alleviate or eliminate them to whatever extent is possible.<br /><br />We can't have a reactionary mindset, we have to be preventative. The best way to prevent crimes by the mentally ill is to prevent mental illness itself. If we're squeemish about locking up people who only <b>might</b> be a threat, then we need to be doing everything we can to ensure people never get that far along - that their problems are handled <b>before</b> there is even a chance of them being a threat.<br /><br />You have a homeless man who is schizophrenic, and you think he might potentially be a danger to people, but you don't want to lock him up until it's unquestionably plain and obvious that he's a threat? Then give him a decent house; give him a decent job; give him decent food; give him all the medical attention he could possibly need; give him assisted living; help him to be stable and healthy, and surround him with people who can monitor him for worsening of his condition and intervene before he <b>does</b> become a threat to himself or others.<br /><br />Until we start investing in our own society, it's going to keep slowly falling apart.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com