The now too-widely-covered horrors of yesterday’s mall killings in Omaha, Nebraska, point to many flaws in our national health care system, among other things such as mall security, too many guns in society, etc.
But I want to focus very briefly on the health care problem, based on comments I just heard on CNN from a man whose 22-year-old son was suffering symptoms of schizophrenia. This father rushed to his son’s side seeking to help him with the “voices” (specifically, as I recall from the interview, the “voice of God”) telling him about a mission he must accomplish. This father discovered that, 1) since his son was 22, he couldn’t be forced into care, unless, 2) he clearly demonstrated behavior that was a threat or immediate danger to himself or others.
The point the father was making, as I understood it was that 1) we need better standards for enforced treatment, and, 2) we — including the wealthy county where the father lived — are sadly lacking in the availability and quality of health care available for the mentally ill. This father said, I believe, that we spend $79 billion a year in health care, and that available for the mentally ill is woefully, dangerously inadequate.
So my question, based on that interview, and the mall incident by the mentally ill young man in Omaha, what are we going to do as a society? Are we going to keep building more and better prisons — or are we going to build more and better mental health facilities and treatment?
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
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