Taking a semi-break from studying to write this. By semi-break I mean I still have some guy, an internal medicine doctor on YouTube talking to me about respiratory acidosis/alkalosis and metabolic acidosis/alkalosis. Fun right? Ok so back to my actual topic.
Another shooting. Another person shoots and kills or injures others for one reason or another. The first thing that comes up after is why they did it. Rightfully so. People, especially those directly affected by the tragedy deserve to know why their loved ones have been shot. Most times, there is no good answer. Hell, there is never a *good* answer. There is never a good reason to kill someone in a setting like these. I will not get into times when killing someone may be ok, but let's leave it as there are times, and they are few and far between.
I want to start off by saying that I can not defend someone who does things like this. There is no real defense. I am not apologizing for the shooter's actions. But am pointing out a failure by the media and our healthcare system. Being depressed or having anxiety is not an excuse for killing or injuring others. But maybe, just maybe, if there were better services for people with mental illness of varying degrees, there would be less of these horrific stories that have become all too prevalent in our current age.
One of the first things to be said about the shooter at Fort Hood yesterday was that he "suffered from mental illness." Really? You mean someone was unstable mentally when they shot almost two dozen people? Does a stable person do this? No.
I have no real big issue with the media always saying that the person responsible for shooting others was not mentally stable. It's true. However, writing it off as mental illness is not the same thing. The shooter this time was being treated for depression, anxiety, and reported PTSD. The PTSD is being thrown in. He was not diagnosed with PTSD, but it is being reported he self-reported he had it.
Depression and anxiety are not going to cause you to shoot 20 people. Let me say that again. These two things alone are not going to do it. There is something else at play.
I actually heard a host on a talk-radio/news radio host today say that the shooter was in Afghanistan for four months and never saw combat and then ask, so how could he have PTSD? Really? Shut your mouth, read a book, and think before you talk. Do you really think Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder comes solely from military combat situations? Maybe we should coin a new disorder and make it Post-Military Combat Zone Involvement Stress Disorder. PMCZISD. Better yet, Intense Situation Acknowledgement With Situational Hyper-Intense Theoretical Mental Attack Notions. That's right. ISAWSHITMAN. Someone can get PTSD from any traumatic situation. Yes, there are events with military deployments and involvement that can cause PTSD, but there are many people out there who have it from car accidents, witnessing a traumatic event, being in a fire, you know, just like the disorder states "Post-Traumatic Stress". As in, stress following a trauma.
Let's not pigeon hole those of us with "mental illness" as potential murderers. Another person today said that "We need to do something about the people walking among us with mental illnesses". What do you suggest? I have a suggestion if you don't mind my opinion. How about, you take your narrow-minded self back to your basement and put on that foil helmet and write up some more conspiracy theories of how the aliens are poisoning the earthworms to cause autism in kids.
Sure this country, and countries around the world, see mental illness as almost taboo. Something you don't talk about. If you have it, don't talk about it. If people find out, they will see you as weak and possibly the topic of a future Dateline, 20/20, Criminal Minds, or some other prime time television show plot. If you think there isn't a problem with mental health treatment in this country I have a little experiment I would like you to do. Pull out your health insurance card. Read the name of the company, then start calling psychiatrist offices saying you are a new patient with possible depression that needs to see a doctor. When they ask what type of insurance you have tell them. If by chance they take your insurance, see when the next new patient appointment is. You might be surprised to hear when it will be. How does 2015 sound to you? Even a quick internet search will yield articles with titles like "Mental health care: Average wait to see a psychiatrist in Dauphin County is 8 months". And reading that article, that is for someone with private health insurance, have medicaid or medicare? The wait goes to over a year. Oh and Dauphin County? It's in Pennsylvania, and happens to be the home of the Pennsylvania state capitol.
There is the option to go directly to an emergency room. When I was calling for appointments this was brought up. I was told even they were turning away people who were not in an acute crisis. Psychiatric hospitals? You almost always have to be referred into at this point because they are so overcrowded.
Does your insurance have co-pays? You know, $30 to see your primary doctor, $75 for urgent care, etc.? Check out what it is for a specialist office visit. Usually about double the primary doctor. Every visit to the psychiatrist is a specialty visit. And initially, that could be twice a week for a month or two. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly to follow depending on your progress. Oh and those lovely medications you see on TV to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. Check your insurance to see if those are covered and how much they are. A lot of those newer medications are top tier prescriptions.
Oh, and before you get too far you should review your policy. A lot of insurance companies don't cover mental health like medical. It is often covered by another company other than your primary provider. And those companies, have other ideas on how you should pay, not to mention prior authorization for every appointment or medication. Your doctor, you know once you actually see them, may say you have XYZ diagnosis and require ABC medication(s). The insurance company may come back and say we disagree, you have QRS diagnosis and do not require medication, or a medication that doesn't even make sense to your set of problems. I was told that the medication my doctor wanted was not approved by the insurance company and they wanted me to take a different medication instead. If I didn't have some form of medical knowledge I might not have pushed back. They wanted me to take a medication for my depression, that was used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar mania. The opposite of the medication I was prescribed by my doctor to treat depression.
Before you start believing that the people with mental illness are a problem, take a peek at the system we deal with. It is pretty messed up when it comes down to it. So before believing the media about things like "they went untreated for mental illness" or "they reportedly were suffering from some mental illness, but were not being treated for it" remember, they might have called for their appointment a month or two ago and were waiting until December to see the psychiatrist.
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