Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Colorado Weighs Reopening Psychiatric Hospital For Homeless

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

Last summer's mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., led Gov. John Hickenlooper to call for stricter gun control and in mental health care.

Several significant gun bills passed, and a package of mental health reforms is moving forward. But there may not be enough support to win funding for 300 new inpatient psychiatric beds.

That by the Democratic governor would bring mentally ill and addicted homeless people to , at one time a psychiatric hospital for veterans and then a prison. The facility, near the tiny town of , has been closed for two years.

WRONG FOCUS: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE GUN SAFETY DEBATE

Excerpt from: Bazelon Center (click for full article)

In the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, lawmakers have scrambled to design policy responses to reduce the likelihood of similar tragedies from occurring in the future. Despite the Surgeon General’s acknowledgment of the “exceptionally small” connection between mental illness and violence, policy advocates, journalists, and politicians have placed people with mental illnesses in the center of the debate on gun safety. This emphasis has led to reactive, ill-conceived proposals that focus on mental health despite the lack of relationship to gun violence. Some have used mental health as an excuse to divert attention from the real issue of gun regulation. Others have inappropriately championed mental health reforms—or mental health record reporting—as a key solution to prevent gun violence. Both approaches are wrong.  People with psychiatric disabilities are a misplaced priority for gun legislation. In fact, people with serious mental illnesses are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators of it.Reporting their records will not meaningfully increase public safety. Studies show that “severe mental illness alone [is] not statistically related to future violence.  The seminal study on risk of violence and mental illness—the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study—compared the prevalence for violence among individuals with mental illnesses to the prevalence for violence among other residents of the same neighborhoods.  The study showed that the two groups’ prevalence for violence was “statistically indistinguishable.”  Indeed, “if a person has severe mental illness without substance abuse and history of violence, he or she has the same chances of being violent... as any other person in the general population.

 

School Security, Mental-Health Measures Advance

Excerpt from: Education Week (click for full article)

 

The national discussion about improving school safety evolving from the shootings in Newtown, Conn., reached a pivotal moment last week, as the U.S. Senate began consideration of a measure to strengthen school building security, and a Senate committee passed a measure that would bolster school-based mental-health services.

Although Republican senators threatened a filibuster to keep the Senate from discussing the school building security measure—part of proposed legislation that deals largely with the higher-profile issue of gun control—compromises reached behind the scenes nudged the legislation onto the chamber's floor by the end of the week.

The deal that paved the way for the Senate breakthrough centered on some aspects of the gun bill regarding background checks for buyers. It came on the heels of plans for improving school safety from the National Rifle Association and other groups, and followed President Barack Obama's proposals for new spending in his budget to upgrade security, improve school climate, and boost mental-health-care services for students—similar ideas to those he offered in January in response to the Newtown shootings. But those measures are likely to face an uphill battle in a Congress that has proved unfriendly to proposals that involve new spending.

Disability Advocates Call ‘Glee’ Portrayal ‘Poor Choice’

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

Fox’s “Glee” is generating controversy after depicting a character with Down syndrome bringing a gun to school.

In an episode which aired Thursday night, gunshots are heard during glee club practice, prompting a lockdown at the high school. Ultimately, viewers learn that Becky Jackson, a student with Down syndrome who is played by actress Lauren Potter, brought a gun to school and the shots were fired accidentally.

But not everyone feels the same way. Officials from the National Down Syndrome Society called it a “poor choice” to depict Becky bringing a gun to school.

“Acting like every other teenager in doing things like sports and going to college, those are things great to portray for Becky,” said Julie Cevallos, vice president of marketing for the organization. “Taking a gun to school is something very serious and would likely come with a mental health condition. That’s not appropriate for someone with Down syndrome and not a stigma they need.”

Meanwhile, comments from viewers on Twitter criticized the characterization for being “disgraceful” and “seriously lame.”

Shooting victim creates app to save lives

Excerpt from: CNN (click for more information)

Kristina Anderson was 19 years old when she was shot three times during the Virginia Tech massacre. Now she's committed to building life-saving technology that she wished she had that day.

 

Opinion: Domestic violence and guns a deadly combination

Excerpt from: Health Policy Solutions (click for full article)

 

As the gun debate heats up in Colorado, it is victims of domestic violence who could be most affected by its outcome.

On Monday, a Senate panel approved a bill that would require domestic violence offenders to relinquish their guns if a restraining order had been filed against them.

When an offender has easy access to guns, there is nothing more dangerous for a victim.  In a fit of rage or the heat of the moment, a woman’s life can end in an instant.

There are 300 million guns in our country, enough for every man, woman and child.  Sadly, many of these guns are purchased for self-defense only to be used to intimidate, frighten and murder a family member.

In the Wake of Sandy Hook

Excerpt from: The Reporter (click for full article)

 

The Bazelon Center has worked hard to help shape the media coverage and policy proposals that have resulted from the recent mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, to try to head off discriminatory policies and to shift the debate toward productive discussions. When these kinds of tragedies occur, the media coverage and policy debate often turns to scapegoating, stereotyping and discriminating against people with mental illnesses (even when it is unclear whether the perpetrator had a mental illness), wrongly branding Americans with mental illnesses as dangerous and violent. This often leads to proposals that infringe on the civil rights and life opportunities of people with mental illnesses, including making it easier to institutionalize and/or criminalize these Americans. 

Therefore, the Bazelon Center quickly disseminated a strong press statement regarding this terrible incident, emphasizing two key points: the all-too-easy access to guns, and the lack of access to the crucial community mental health services that people want and need. We continue to provide numerous interviews to the media, helping to shape the ongoing debate in the media and in policy circles.

Recommendations to Prevent Gun-Related Violence

Excerpt from: American Psychological Association (click for full article)

 

This website offers several categories of ways to help prevent gun related violence, including improve and expand school violence prevention efforts, enhance access to mental and behavioral health and substance use services, and increase federal funding for other vital service and training programs.

Painkiller Paradox: Feds Struggle To Control Drugs That Help And Harm

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

Israel, who lives in Buffalo, N.Y., is now on a mission to prevent more people from dying from their addiction to prescription painkillers. And he's far from alone.

These drugs have been a godsend for millions of people in pain. But they are narcotics, which means they can make people high. As a result, they are abused by millions of people. And many patients who take them for pain become dependent.

"What we're seeing, increasingly, over the last few years has been widespread abuse, and the abuse just keeps increasing," says Joseph Rannazzisi of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "It's a huge problem. And I think we're at epidemic proportions right now."

Overdoses have been rising rapidly, now killing more than 15,000 Americans every year.

"It's not a white or black or Hispanic issue. It's not a male or female issue. It's everyone," Rannazzisi says. "We see kids as young as 12 years old, elderly patients."

How Would Better Mental Health Care Reduce Gun Violence?

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

President Obama's plan to reduce gun violence includes provisions aimed at shoring up access to mental health care — but is that practical? Host Michel Martin discusses the plan's mental health goals with Michael Fitzpatrick of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Dr. Carl Bell of the University of Illinois.