Here in the states, a man named Jared Lee Loughner opened fire
at a super market where a politician U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
was giving a speech. She was definitely his target. There is a
lot of coverage on the news here about his behavior as well as
when he was in high school and once he graduated people were very
concerned about his behavior. The first article I read mentioned
his background and how he had left a note for the senator saying
what he was going to do.
Then the article said every single thing except what was glaringly
obvious. Jared Laughtner had a severe mental illness that impaired
his judgement and led to this terrible event. As I was reading the
articles, I said to myself: “Are these writers blind? Don’t they
know anything? He is 100% showing all of the signs of paranoid
schizophrenia. All of the signs from paranoia, inability to get
along with others, trouble with the reality around him to odd
writings and behavior. The list is endless. I kept reading the
article waiting for the word schizophrenia to be mentioned and
there was not one reference to a possible brain disorder.
Of course, things are different this morning. People can’t stay
blind forever. Now the articles have these headlines:
Jared Lee Loughner a ‘Disturbed’ Man
Jared Lee Loughner and His Legacy of Despair
The Lunatic’s Veto (Thank you New York Post!)
and now there is a label: The Tuscon Safeway Shooter
**
Legacy of despair? How much longer is our society going to skirt
around the issue and use these words instead of saying the real words:
Mental Illness- Schizophrenia- Bipolar Disorder. The real words.
As those of us with the illnesses or those of us who care about
someone with a mental illness, need to speak out and say, “This was a
man with a brain disorder, a mental illness that distorted the reality
of his mind. Yes, the shootings are his fault. But not in the way the
media portrays the situation. He obviously did not get the care he needed-
and that is the real tragedy. When I saw his picture I was so shocked.
As is so common, he looks like a sweet and normal guy. The problem is
that whatever illness he has, and I’m pretty sure paranoid schizophrenia
will come out soon- he is a human being who did something so terrible
it’s hard to imagine. He killed and injured people as do many who are
not of sound mind and body. My heart goes out the families and
to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
But… for once.. can we just talk about this for what it is? An
illness that was not caught and treated? We would never treat cancer in this way-even if someone committed such a terrible crime. Can we use this to discuss mental illness instead of finding a reason WHY this happened? It happened
because he was ill and even though people tried, he didn’t get the right treatment.
Julie
Here are the comments I have received since posting this blog:
Thank you for writing this, Julie. I hope you will get it published elsewhere: this is a message that needs to get out into the world.
I totally agree! My mentally ill ex once went to a political rally with a knife — because he was paranoid schizophrenic. Fortunately he turned around and went home when he couldn’t find a parking spot. It’s an illness, and we should be talking about that.
I’ve been thinking the very same thing, Julie. How right you are that a mental illness such a paranoid schizophrenia is treatable and that, sadly, this is a tragedy that could have been prevented had this young man received proper help. The signs were all there. My only hope at this point is that these events lead our health care system to a better place in terms of educating the public, identifying brain disorders early on and providing treatment to all connected with the issue.
Thanks for your blog!
RIGHT ON!
So many well put points. The key is having access to first a diagnoses, then treatment, then sticking to the treatment plan and medications forever.
This last part can be so difficult, but when someone with a mental illness–as Jared Lee obviously has–does something so horrific, it hopefully reminds us all to keep our wellness plans at the top of our priority list.
I could not agree more, Julie. Because symptoms are behavioral and mental instead of physical mental illness is still stigmatised in this society.
For a lot of complicated reasons mental illness is not dealt with in effective ways most of the time
U r soooooooo right julie! Why aren’t we using the money & energy into treating mental illness
EXCELLENT point, Julie. The same thoughts occurred to me. Thanks for voicing them!
I couldn’t agree with you more! I believe one of the problem’s is people think you’re trying to make excuses for folks suffering from these illnesses……but that’s not the case. Just like you said “the shooting are his fault”, but we can’t overlook the facts. Knowing everything I know now (which does not compare to your knowledge), the times I’ve brought things up to the family about Kyle’s illness….they response I get is “oh, here it comes….making excuses for his behavior again”…..NO, not excuses…..I’m just trying to get them to understand his mental illness!
Keep up the good work Julie…..you have many supporters!
I’ve been thinking the very same thing, Julie. How right you are that a mental illness such a paranoid schizophrenia is treatable and that, sadly, this is a tragedy that could have been prevented had this young man received proper help. The signs were all there. My only hope at this point is that these events lead our health care system to a better place in terms of educating the public, identifying brain disorders early on and providing treatment to all connected with the issue.
Thanks for your blog!
So many well put points. The key is having access to first a diagnoses, then treatment, then sticking to the treatment plan and medications forever.
This last part can be so difficult, but when someone with a mental illness–as Jared Lee obviously has–does something so horrific, it hopefully reminds us all to keep our wellness plans at the top of our priority list.
Here are the comments I received when I sent this out as a newsletter:
Thank you for writing this, Julie. I hope you will get it published elsewhere: this is a message that needs to get out into the world.
I totally agree! My mentally ill ex once went to a political rally with a knife — because he was paranoid schizophrenic. Fortunately he turned around and went home when he couldn’t find a parking spot. It’s an illness, and we should be talking about that.
I’ve been thinking the very same thing, Julie. How right you are that a mental illness such a paranoid schizophrenia is treatable and that, sadly, this is a tragedy that could have been prevented had this young man received proper help. The signs were all there. My only hope at this point is that these events lead our health care system to a better place in terms of educating the public, identifying brain disorders early on and providing treatment to all connected with the issue.
Thanks for your blog!
RIGHT ON!
So many well put points. The key is having access to first a diagnoses, then treatment, then sticking to the treatment plan and medications forever.
This last part can be so difficult, but when someone with a mental illness–as Jared Lee obviously has–does something so horrific, it hopefully reminds us all to keep our wellness plans at the top of our priority list.
I could not agree more, Julie. Because symptoms are behavioral and mental instead of physical mental illness is still stigmatised in this society.
For a lot of complicated reasons mental illness is not dealt with in effective ways most of the time
U r soooooooo right julie! Why aren’t we using the money & energy into treating mental illness
EXCELLENT point, Julie. The same thoughts occurred to me. Thanks for voicing them!
I couldn’t agree with you more! I believe one of the problem’s is people think you’re trying to make excuses for folks suffering from these illnesses……but that’s not the case. Just like you said “the shooting are his fault”, but we can’t overlook the facts. Knowing everything I know now (which does not compare to your knowledge), the times I’ve brought things up to the family about Kyle’s illness….they response I get is “oh, here it comes….making excuses for his behavior again”…..NO, not excuses…..I’m just trying to get them to understand his mental illness!
Keep up the good work Julie…..you have many supporters!
Cindy
I can’t help but feel that none of us are qualified to diagnose this murderer and excuse his behavior
as an outcome of mental illness.
yes, he may be ill, and yes, maybe had he been treated, this wouldn’t have happened.
and maybe if Arizona allowed ANYONE to own a gun, it wouldn’t have happened.
Mental illness, bipolar disease are crippling, horrible things.
But they are not always the reason people do horrible things to one another.
Let’s not play psychiatrist based on media reports.
Hello Leslie,
I completely understand where you are coming from. My goal is simply to get the media to think in terms of mental illness and not in terms of how terrible this young man is. What he did is heinous, but he is obviously very ill. I don’t believe that mental illness turn people violent. It’s extremely rare, especially in schizophrenia. But let’s make sure both sides of the situation are covered fairly. Feel free to write more and I will post it on the site. Thank you for your comments! Julie
I just received this email from a newsletter reader. He makes an excellent point:
hi Julie,
Schizophrenia? I did read anything about hearing or seeing people. He for sure is a Sociopath. Has a mental disorder. But to say he is schitzo.
Hi,
A sociopath lacks compassion for others and will do what they want without thinking of the consequences. A sociopath is very well organized and presents as normal to the population.
A person with schizophrenia has delusions which are false beliefs- such as believing the government is out to get them – you can have delusions and not pure hallucinations. But I would bet he has those as well. Jared Loughner was obviously very emotional and disturbed in his beliefs which I believe takes him out of the category of sociopath.
Thanks for pointing this out- I will need to be more clear when I talk about the topic. Your comments help and I will put this on my blog. Thanks! Julie
Yes, I totally agree. Thanks for speaking the truth, Julie.
By the by, my mother who was a paranoid schiz was told by her voices to put my father out of his misery (He was a hard-working, chronic, raging alcoholic.) She obediently responded by stapping him with a carving knife. In aiming for his heart, she struck his sternum, so the blow was not fatal. Thank God.
Dear Julie,
Since reading your books and columns, I’ve felt great admiration and appreciation for you, and now I want to thank you for expressing so well what I and countless others are thinking. The tragedy is that it was easier for this young man to buy a gun than it was for him to get care for what was obviously a severe mental illness. How sad to read that people are using the word “evil” to describe psychosis. It’s a convenient distraction from the real problems of poor mental health care and abundant weapons.
Thank you for writing the truth at this tragic moment. You have given both individuals and society many important gifts, and I hope you never lose sight of the difference you’ve made.
With all good wishes,
Lindsay
Dear Julie,
thank you for your words of rationality in the midst of a blizzard of weird and unfounded charges in the news.
I hope your thoughts will help people to become more willing to admit to the presence of untreated mental illness.
sincerely,
D. Mullan
Julie,
You are absolutely correct. He absolutely meets the criteria for paranoid schizophrenia. Why he fell between the cracks and nobody picked up on it, blows me away.
It was noted in an AP article that neighbors said he and his family were aloof. If we as a culture, are so narcissistic, and cannot reach out and help, something is wrong with our culture.
His high school has had to have had a social worker, or psychologist. More recently the Community College must have had a mental health center. People in his classes were overtly afraid of him. Why he did not get a professional diagnosis I just do not get…
Heidi Kingsbury, MSW
Julie,
Thank you for putting the right words to this horrible situation. Soon the media will be asking why his parents didn’t do anything. No one will ever mention the deplorable lack of help and care for the mentally ill and their families. These poor people died because of it. When will someone wake up?
M. A.
Mother of a Bi-Polar Adult
I thoroughly agree with you all. There is something going on in our society that is putting a mask on all that is good, all that is helpful (ie. appropriate mental health treatment). Sodom & Gomorra, as in the day’s of Noah. They let mentally ill people be out in society on their own, not able to take care of themselves; “as long as they are not threatening to hurt themselves or someone else,” they say; “we cannot hold them if they don’t want to be there” (ie. hospital, to get stabilized back on meds). Well… I’d say this young man was definitely going to hurt somebody!! What has our society become?
VMK
Also, a Mother of a Bipolar Adult
Julie, here in Arizona where this happened they’re now describing him as a pot smoking loner.They’ve stopped talking about him being mentally ill. I hear he’s supposed to get a good lawyer though- if so his mental state will come out in trial.I think the powers that be in this state will use his case to demonize both the mentally ill and pot smokers. Dave Phoenix
Well said! I totally agree Julie. I too have been waiting for the presumed “diagnosis” to be mentioned, seeing as how its pretty clear… but no such luck, until now.. So thank you!!!!
WHY has no one mentioned it? My take is: Aside from news anchors, and reporters the only people I’ve seen address this horrific event have been politicians. Politicians want to skirt around the issue of mental illness (especially those untreated) because that conversation would naturally lead to discussing healthcare… and we all know thats a can of worms the majority of politicians do NOT want to open.
Thank you again for your article.. Keep up the good work!!
I am concerned about dwelling on his mental illness. I work with mentally ill people in a wellness program. Some are paranoid, some are schizophrenic but the vast majority of them have no inclination towards violence. I have learned in my work that mentally ill people, like everyone else, have a wide range opinions and beliefs on a wide range of political matters, culture, religion, etc. Their thoughts may be sometimes disorganized, they struggle sometimes with a distorted perception of events, but they are people.
Yes our society needs to do more for them than it’s doing, but I am not willing to risk promoting more unreasonable fear of people with mental illness than there always is by letting this disturbed killer be their poster-child. There has been so much progress in getting the mentally ill out of large institutions, into group homes and supervised living, into the community.
Sure this man had an inclination towards paranoid schizophrenia, it’s fairly obvious, his pot-smoking could have even been an attempt to self medicate but probably escalated his tendency toward paranoia. But there was also a clearly obvious OCD component too, found in many who become stalkers. There seemed to be a problem with impulse control. But even with others who have this combination multiple diagnosis the result isn’t always violence.
The fact is, only a very small percentage of mentally ill people represent a danger to society, I know this because that is the percentage I work with- those essentially who have behaviors so extreme in violence or sexual practices that they must be in an institution. They are nothing at all like those with mental illness in other living arrangements who are no more danger to society than “normal” people anywhere. In fact given the percentage of the mentally ill population who represent a danger to anyone and need to be institutionalized is probably the same percentage of “normal” people who represent a danger to society and reside in prison.
I do not want to see this event increase negative stereotyping of those with mental illness.
In answer to your inquiry about the shooting of U.S. Representative Giffords, I agree with Johm R who says that it is worrisome that this blog is dwelling on this. I do not think it is the place of any layman to put forth a diagnosis. That’s a formal process which includes
Yes, Julie. People don’t call it what it is…I did hear a local radio station attempting to explain how difficult it is to get someone help. Here in Wi, you must be a danger to yourself, or others. Unless family members and friends are willing to testify, it just won’t happen until the law gets involved. I’m sure this is true in most states. Also, I wonder if they are trying not to use any labels so they can get the life sentence, or death…So, education is needed to get people to get the help for their own disordered family members.. I keep rereading your books! We need a bigger audience for your message! How can we do this? K. S. , WI
I agree. The family members definitely need to be educated, to help their loved one to live and not die. Thank you for this comment.
Mother of a Bipolar Adult
He obviously was a long time sufferer of a mental illness, and he never got help and those around him never did anything to help him either. But thats IF he had anyone around him to help. But at the same time he obviously never sought out proper help for himself, and never took control of his actions or health either.
Its a double-edge sword for me. I just can’t bring myself to feel sorry for someone who kills heaps of people, even if they are mentally ill. Cos fact is MOST mentally ill people only harm themselves, and the rest get help and lead normal lives.
So to me this business just addds to the stigma of ‘all mentally ill people will go off on a violent rampage eventually, so should be locked up drugged for their lives’.
I’ve been diagnosed Bipolar, and at my worst the most violent thing to anyone else, was to push someone away where I was in a situation where I felt caged in and couldn’t get out of an office at work, where the 3 management cornered me and stood over me, while ranting at me over my poor work peformance at the time and they seemed to think these bully tactics would work at improving my mental state and work performance.
So this kind of violence is hard for me to understand. Not to mention how pre-planned it was. That hows some kind of methodical thinking.
I dunno, schizophrenia is very different to Bipolar, So I won’t ever claim to know what its like and how hard it was for him. But again I can’t feel bad for someone who did this kind of act. We’ve all had violent urges, but you don’t act on it.
Notwithstanding comments about possibly jumping to diagnostic conclusions, I think the important points in Julie’s blog make it one of her very best to date. The epidemic of failure to diagnose at all is what concerns me the most – those many people who have never been identified as needing treatment. A front line police constable recently told me that 80% of his work involves mental illness. Is this how our society has decided to provide medical treatment, through its law enforcement officials? I have bipolar disorder, under control with medication. But our society is – sorry for the pejorative term – crazy!
Mentally ill is the first thing I saw when I heard the news and how he lived his life. We on the inside can see it. There are still so many (some even close to it in their homes) who deny that MI exists. It is all in our minds. How appropo. Thanks for sparking the conversation. You are sooo good at that!
Meredith Linden
http://thedailybipolar.blogspot.com
The problem I have with identifying a mental illness that this man suffers is it just stigmatizes those of us who have a mental illness as well. I vivdly remember that just after I was diagnosed with bipolar and had admitted it to my collegues, there were several people in our area diagnosed with bipolar that made critical errors of judgement that ended their lives. I do not hesitate to discuss my illness with health officials but even my closest friends are prone to shy away from this topic. How I wish that our mental illnesses could be treated with the same respect as physical illnesses.
Hi Julie, I read how these so-called friends knew of his “nutty journals” and did nothing about saying something. Its people out there who have a basic idea of how their “friends” think, and have a little idea that they may be ill enough to do harm. Its all of our job to protect each other from sickos if we feel they are a threat to society, we don’t have to be in the middle of an investigation of our suspected accusations, but if we just say something a lot can be prevented and less tragedies may occur. People are afraid that if they say something about someone, the person and their families and friends may go after them. That isn’t true at all, if you feel there is someone out there who is a threat to society or is doing harm to others, you can report it, and it all will be annonymos. Its time we start looking out for one another, so in that way there will be less tragedies, and the shoulda-coulda-wouldas. Thank.you.
I became very unpopular with some people when I said that a part of me feels very sorry for Jared Loughner. He obviously suffers from mental illness. Every sign has been glaringly there, yet no one sought help for him. Why didn’t his parents go to the Probate Court (or whatever the procedure is in Arizona) and have him committed for at least 72 hours and see what kind of help was available for him? No one is afraid to get involved when someone suffers from a medical illness, but when the illness is a mental illness, people choose to pretend they don’t notice what is going on.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20110112/pl_politico/47477_1
I’m appalled people wants to believe Loughner is a Bipolar or Schizophrenic when the reality is he’s a right wing extremist. You talk about stigma being an inability to name what may or may not be wrong with Loughner when I believe the stigma is in the ease in which it is being named and it has been, actually making it an excuse for political reactionaries like Loughner, not to mention his defense team already leaning on a very serious illness to protect him from the death penalty. He’s white and he’s a terrorist and it terrifies people one of their own and others like him could be in America waging war against their own people and it terrifies the Right Wing more, not to mention the gun toting fanatics who fear their weapons being taken from them. This morning they are saying people who are mentally ill shouldn’t have weapons when the reality is NO ONE should and they’re not saying this to protect the public but to protect themselves and their own politics. I think there is comfort in the fact Americans are not tolerating mental illness or any excuse as a reason for what Loughner has done, seeing through the need for right wingers to blame the mentally ill for a crime we DID NOT commit. Sarah Palin is desperate for the spotlight to be taking away from right wingers like herself and is using every trick in the book. Her PR people are scanning and removing her twitter remarks, her public remarks about guns and her comments encouraging extremists like Loughner to lash out, even if this wasn’t her intention, it still had it’s effect. She is so scared right now. Think about this. If they simply let Loughners actions lie at the door of Bipolars and Schizophrenics then no one is looking for groups he might be working with and what’s to stop it from happening again? If Loughner wasn’t white and American they’d be tearing down the doors of every Muslim in the country. Are we going to allow mental illness to be used as an excuse for terrorism? Bipolars and Schizophrenics should be outraged. Did you know the chances of a mentally ill person committing a crime like this is a likely as thunder striking three times. Most crimes in this country are committed by people known to the victim, crimes committed by alcoholics and drug users and in this case a terrorist AND NO, not every alcoholic is Bipolar either, sometimes people just have problems they deal with through substance abuse. Where’s the proof he has Bipolar anyway? Is it because his mother says so? Of course she does people she’s protecting her son from the death penalty or life in prison. Even if he was mentally ill it is information that wouldn’t be released to the public in account of his impending trial, it’s speculation deliberately being leaked for the reasons above. Has his own Doctor confirmed it? I’d like to see him try without ending up in court for revealing confidential information about his own client? They say he’s been diagnosed, well they better prove it in court and NOT during his trial. Haven’t they said he has it already? I want to hear that from a Doctor NOW and from who ever apparently diagnosed him, not tomorrow when there is already so much speak about it,it’s bound to influence ANYONES opinion. Isn’t it the hardest thing to diagnose? Not if you shot people in a country that’s afraid to see you for what Loughton actually is. A terrorist.
Your comments are so greatly appreciated. I just posted this on my bp magazine blog:
Thank all of you for your amazing comments. The response has been what I hoped- that we could openly talk about what has happened and how it is portrayed in the media. I welcome all comments here. You definitely do not have to agree with me. The point is that we discuss things and not let this opportunity for helping those with a mental illness pass us by. I hope that the victims and their families will receive the help, love and support that they need. Let’s ask that people do the same for those with a brain disorder, even when they commit horrific crimes.
Julie