It’s time to talk about mental illness …
One of the most insightful comment about the Sandy Hook shooting comes from the mother of a mentally ill 13-year-old:
I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.
Today we mourn with the victims’ families. On Monday, though, we do have to ask ourselves what can be done to prevent tragedies like this. Gun control is the obvious focus for that debate but the way this society deals with mental illness needs much more attention. The reality is this: there are millions of guns in circulation in his country, legally and illegally. How do we keep them out of the hands of the mentally ill? And how do we ensure people with mental illness get the treatment they need? Those are the questions we need to address. Tomorrow. Today, we mourn.