C. GUNN HAYDON: Time for a national focus on mental health

Photo by Charles Krupa

The word "HOPE" is illuminated Wednesday on the front lawn of a funeral home hosting the wake of Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung in Woodbury, Conn. Hochsprung was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.

Photo by Charles Krupa

LEFT: The word "HOPE" is illuminated Wednesday on the front lawn of a funeral home hosting the wake of Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung in Woodbury, Conn. Hochsprung was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.

Photo by Julio Cortez

Associated Press photos Rosaries are lit by the morning light Wednesday on a makeshift memorial near the town Christmas tree in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The memorial, which was put up in the aftermath of the elementary school shooting that shocked the small town, is increasing in size as the days go on.

Photo by David Goldman

A champlain at right embraces a mourner outside a fire station before the funeral procession passes of 7-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Daniel Gerard Barden, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Barden was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

SAN ANGELO, Texas ? It is not possible to express in words the feelings I have about the tragedy that occurred Friday in Connecticut. The loss that those families have suffered is huge, and my few words would be meaningless to them.

It is important to remember, however, that while this tragedy was caused by guns, it is not guns that are to blame. The real issue here is the mental health of the shooter, and how he came to circumvent gun laws already in place to be able to perpetrate such a horrible event.

The political community in this area has long since labeled me a "liberal." I prefer to think of myself as a progressive, someone who would seek social solutions in progress toward a world that makes opportunity available to all.

One of the things I would have more resources directed toward is mental health. The marginally mentally ill are ignored by the system, and have been for some time.

In general, the reasoning for this is that caring for them is too expensive. We can't afford to identify and treat all of those among us who can't function in the real world, so we consign them to churches and soup kitchens, cardboard boxes and bridges, their real problems going undiagnosed and untreated. If the shooter in Connecticut was one of these people, then shame on us.

Also among us are troubled veterans, products of two wars and a decade of conflict abroad. As a veteran of combat (the Battle of Dak To, January 1969?July 1969) I, too, suffer from my experiences. I have had dark thoughts. I have considered suicide. I have been violent at times. I have abused alcohol and other substances.

My first marriage was torpedoed by the psychiatric evaluation I was given when I came back from combat in mental shambles ? post-traumatic stress disorder was not recognized until a decade after my return.

In today's military the number of soldiers afflicted with PTSD is much higher than was reported from my conflict, partly because we now have some benchmarks from which we can diagnose from, and partly because some of the stigma is gone from admitting combat experiences cause that kind of problem. Some of the stigma ? not all of it.

Since the recognition of PTSD as a disorder in 1980 there have been more than 500,000 entries on to the Veterans Affairs PTSD patient roster, 100,000 from 1980 until 2002, and the rest, 400,000 more, since the invasion of Afghanistan. It is estimated that 25 percent of all vets suffering with PTSD in the most recent conflicts have not identified themselves. I feel the number is much higher.

And, in the long run, the greater majority of PTSD cases will go unrecognized or undertreated because of budget constraints. If the shooter was one of my combat brethren, and he did this because the system was too financially strapped to identify him, or too complex and cold for him to appeal to for help ? if such is the case, then shame on us again.

All we hear about is the "fiscal cliff" these days. All we hear about is the "debt ceiling." Both of these issues are hot button political fodder for politicians and media alike, but neither has much merit.

The obligations we have are obligations that were approved by Congress, and, by virtue of the powers vested in the executive branch, the president is required to meet those obligations. He does so by borrowing money.

The debt ceiling is not really an issue, nor should it be. Prioritizing where the spending needs to occur is also Congress' responsibility, and for most of the first decade of this century they have happily spent it on the mechanizations of war.

It is time to change that. It is time to bring our men and women home, help them to reintegrate into normal society (if that is truly possible ? I'm not sure), and focus on curing the mental ills that beset all of us who have witnessed great violence and destruction. After all, it was our government that put us in the position to be so damaged, and so should it be our government that comes to our aid when we return.

My thoughts and those of my wife and extended family go out to the families of those who lost so much in Connecticut.

San Angeloan C. Gunn Haydon operates an energy company.

Source: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/dec/19/no-headline---haydon/?partner=yahoo_feeds

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