Stabbing at Houston College

[slsh]

Don't know anything at all about the suspect, but I have to ask... do you think someone might *finally* get the hint that mental health services should be the priority? They can restrict every potential weapon that exists, and those of us who have lived with violent kids knows that list is almost infinitely extensive, but people who have untreated mental health issues are still going to act out.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Nope.

In Canada, there are 12 secure psychiatric beds for women... for the entire country.
They are thinking we might need a few more...
Really?

 

[Kathy813]

The good news is that since it was a knife attack instead of an automatic or semi-automatic weapon, all 12 victims are still alive although two are in critical condition.

Sadly, all of the talk about improvements in treating the mentally ill after the tragedy in Newton seems to have died down. I saw the 60-minutes segment on Sunday with some of the parents of the Newtown victims and it just broke my heart. Their grief was palpable and they too noticed that much of the original talk about background checks and help for the mentally ill has fallen by the wayside in just four short months.

~Kathy

 

[HaoZi]

Question is, how many more incidents will it take to do something, and how many will there be before they decide that maybe those with mental health problems are too dangerous (even those that aren't)? Dangerous line to walk, but one that might happen again.

 

[Hound dog]

Between incidences like these and the vast number of mentally ill who are homeless.........you'd think they'd get a clue that shutting down nearly all the facilities for them was a mistake. Yes, they needed an overhaul and most likely new regulations or whatever, but what did they really think would happen when those who are mentally ill and violent have no where to go??

I don't think it will change, simply because that would mean that the powers that be would have to admit the mistake they made.

 

[Bunny]

I don't think that anyone will ever admit that dismantling the mental health system from what it was the wrong thing to do because no one has any ideas of what to do about it. Nobody wants to go back to the old system of institutions, because some of them were really inhumane, but turning people out, and allowing insurance companies to drastically cut mental health services has done nothing but made things worse. When parents tell professionals about the behaviors they are seeing, patting them on the shoulder and telling them that it really can't be that bad isn't going to help anyone. We need help. Real, substantial, sustained help.

 

[DammitJanet]

Sue, you and the others are absolutely right. I have said from the beginning that the powers that be screwed the pooch when they closed up the mental health hospitals. Did you know that the Aurora shooter had been seen by his college psychiatric professional two weeks before the shooting where he told them he had delusions and visions of killing a bunch of people but all the college psychiatric folks did was alert the college police who took away his campus ID so he couldnt gain access to the school buildings! They never thought to alert the cops at large so they could pick him up on a 72 hour hold and that tragedy might have been averted.

The laws in Connecticut were already strong enough at the time so that he shouldnt have been allowed to have been allowed to live in a home with guns in it.

When I heard about this awful happening I couldnt help think of the member here that we have with the boy who carries around the monkey. Im praying to all that is holy that it isnt him.

However this does show that it is mental heath that is needed that not anything to do with guns though I am still in favor of some of the gun reforms.

 

[HaoZi]

You know, it's a good thing he started at the heath center - his first victim was stabbed in the neck and the girl that helped that victim was a nursing student, likely the reason that victim is still alive.
I am glad to see that so many people jumped into action to help the victims and subdue Quick.

Latest article says he was deaf, had an implant at 7 to help him hear and was homeschooled for many years, but had dreams of stabbing people to death since he was young.

 

[InsaneCdn]

However this does show that it is mental heath that is needed that not anything to do with guns though I am still in favor of some of the gun reforms.

Gun reform can reduce the carnage per incident... but only mental health reform will reduce the number of incidents.
Canada is a good example - tighter gun control, fewer incidents with major carnage - but they tell us that our number of "incidents" per capita isn't much different than our neighbor to the south. Both sides of the border have issue with handling the mentally ill appropriately.

 

[Nancy]

The difference is 14 people injured vs 20 people dead.

I agree the mental health system needs a major overhaul but we can't even agree how to fund education in this country, I doubt whether there is much support to helping the mentally disturbed. No one is going to fund that privately, which makes it another government program and we all know how those are fairing.

 

[TerryJ2]

Gun reform can reduce the carnage per incident... but only mental health reform will reduce the number of incidents.

Well said, Insane.