# "MUST" Read After Conn. Shooting



## Arkie (Sep 25, 2012)

http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html

Bob


----------



## LJH (Aug 27, 2012)

That one's going viral, as it should. Thanks for posting it here.


----------



## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

Yeah that women has problems. 

I was a Paramedic for many years and I will never forget the day I came across "Micheal Myers Jr' (yes I nicknamed him after the Halloween movie killer). I was on a routine transport because none of the transport ambulances were available so they sent us. I went to the pedi floor of a University hospital to pick up a patient going to a psych hospital, which is something I've never done before. I peek in the room before I go find his nurse and there sits this poor little kid with his head shaved and a huge scar on the right side (obvious brain surgery). I then go down to get the paperwork and his nurse is very curt and is not explaining much other then to say "if he gives you any KAKA call the police". I'm totally perplexed at this time as I can't understand why any nurse would say something like this about a poor child who just had brain surgery.

So I get him loaded up (he hasn't said much), and we go downstairs and get him in the ambulance. This is where I made my mistake and that is I assumed this was an innocent sick child. I asked if he has ever been to the facility we were taking him to, he replied with things I can't repeat here which shocked me and I told him he couldn't talk to me that way. That is when I caught a right hook to the nose and he was on top of me before I could even realize what was about to happen. It took us about 5 minutes to get him tied down for MY safety.

I then opened his records as I realized I should of been given a full history on this kid before I took him off the floor, he has tried to burn his twin brother to death, had stabbed his mother, and was always setting things afire (he had burned down one family home). The parents were trying everything to have him committed to the state institution but because of his age the judge would not remand him to state custody, so they were sending him to private facility after private facility until they would no longer take him. The one I was taking him to had not taken him before so they were going to be in for a surprise!

So now that I've shared my war story, the thing about this family that had the little serial killer in the making is that they had insurance and money. So they were able to keep putting their kid in a hospital for care (fyi the brain surgery was for a benign tumor that they thought might be part of the problem, once they got in there it was obvious it was not affecting any part of his brain and removing it didn't change his behavior). But what about the folks who don't have the funds? Where would this kid go? Especially in the state I now currently live in we are really lacking mental health beds (fact is most of the local hospitals provide emergency psych care). 

We need to change our system so parents can get help for their unstable kids (here is another big difference, not every mentally ill person is out killing people or wanting to, most are very stable and it's the unstable we need to worry about). We also need to be able to get help for our adult family members who are acting unstable, and not have the system say "there is nothing we can do unless they want help".


----------



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

My brother is mentally ill. 

Thank you so much for posting this.


----------



## fd123 (May 29, 2012)

WOW!!! To be completely HONEST....I never looked at things that way.....VERY SAD SITUATIONS out there......


----------



## Idahodreamer (Sep 19, 2009)

THAT is EXACTLY what the government should be looking at! Seriously, banning guns? How did making pot illegal stop people from getting some? How is banning guns from everyone going to keep a nut (or two, or three, or four) from getting ONE GUN and slaughtering more people? I honestly LOVED that teachers in Texas are going to be carrying concealed weapons. Nobody is gonna mess with Texas. Nobody.


----------



## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

I am glad that blog post has gone viral. The lack of proper mental healthcare in the U.S. is getting worse every year. 

It seems that people only get 'help' when they are in crisis. I say 'help' because it isn't truly help. People get what they need for a very short term, and then are ignored. Routine, preventive care would help solve so many problems, but it is often unavailable to those who need it most. And it is out of reach for those without insurance, unless they are willing to put themselves in debt for it. I hate that we live in a society where we must make a choice between paying for healthcare, or paying for rent and food. 

As an example, want to guess how long I'd need to wait to see a psychiatrist if I wasn't in a crisis situation? Over a sixth month wait for new patients. I've struggled with issues of depression for years, but am currently very well controlled, so all I need is a normal doc. But my issues are small potatoes compared to a great many people who truly need all the help they can get, but cannot. 

When I was in nursing school, one of my clinicals was at a VA hospital, in mental health. Men and women who'd served their country proudly, were now struggling with crushing mental health issues. But even with the VA, services were only really available for those in crisis. Once they were out of the red zone, they didn't get much help. Little wonder so many people relapsed over and over again, had episodes of depression, bipolar swings, PTSD, alcoholism, etc. Actually, a lot of people with mental health issues 'self medicate' with alcohol. It...numbs things, for a short time. 

I guess I stood up on a soap box for a bit. I just hope with all my heart, that in the aftermath of this tragedy, mental healthcare gets some real attention.


----------



## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

I just need to put this out there. I worked with children, whether it was in the school system, or in daycare, private settings, etc for many many years. From 1988 until 2006. During these yearsm there were MANY children that I encountered that were horrible, mean little creatures! Now, before you GASP, remember, I love children, and I am just trying to make a point.

These children were mean. They were violent. They were demeaning. They loved to cause trouble, bring pain to, stir up a big mess any chance that they got.

I have had kids as young as 7 & 8, tell me they want to kill me. Not just the statement, like some kids do, when angry. Ive seen them draw BLACK pictures and ruin crayons into pieces drawing death scenes. Ive heard them talk about what theyd use and how theyd do it. Ive had many (esp in the southern states) that I can almost promise you have grown up into women abuseers. When they were young I would hear "Women are only good for one thing. Women suck. Women need beat regularly...

It is imperitive that parenst recognize when a child needs help. When a child actually has a problem instead of always writing it off. Or ignoring it. 

Can you imagine, if ONE teacher in that school actually had a gun? Maybe so many babies would not have been killed. 

Ok, rants over. In the meantime, I am STILL glued to the tv, waiting to hears names that I recognize from the past at one of these shootings one day.


----------



## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Thank you for posting. IMO there are dangerous people and not-dangerous people, special needs or no. We have some absolutely lovely special needs students, but I know that sometimes special needs kids can really get out of control. This post was very informative.


----------



## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

Woodhaven....The last 4 years of working with children, I worked solely with special needs. The last year I added adult special needs and MR as well. The actual special needs (concluding from MR) are not like the children that I described above. They are smarter, wiser & actually have empathy. I was refering to the angry, violent special needs, that havent been diagnosed as such. They go undiagnosed because everyone writes them off as just bad children. Authentic sn are wonderful people.


----------



## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

Shellshocker66 said:


> Yeah that women has problems.
> 
> I was a Paramedic for many years and I will never forget the day I came across "Micheal Myers Jr' (yes I nicknamed him after the Halloween movie killer). I was on a routine transport because none of the transport ambulances were available so they sent us. I went to the pedi floor of a University hospital to pick up a patient going to a psych hospital, which is something I've never done before. I peek in the room before I go find his nurse and there sits this poor little kid with his head shaved and a huge scar on the right side (obvious brain surgery). I then go down to get the paperwork and his nurse is very curt and is not explaining much other then to say "if he gives you any KAKA call the police". I'm totally perplexed at this time as I can't understand why any nurse would say something like this about a poor child who just had brain surgery.
> 
> ...


As a previous EMT, we were always told if something was a psych call and they were put into 4 point restraints. Here where we are I've noticed they only use secured transports, some of which are basically cop cars - for everyone's security.


----------



## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

I have extensive first hand experience with mental health. Previously being an EMT, raising a child with Bipolar, as well as another relative. My husband was a corrections officer and dealt w/ mental illness, as well as a multitude of diagnosis when previously married. 
The article that was referenced, it was almost like reading my own account. Although, the frequency of the violent behavior was much less, more suicidal and uncontrolled outburst. As mentioned not all mentally ill will 'go after' someone else, many are suicidal. For many years there were children labeled ADHD/ADD then when they hit adult hood the diagnosis changed to bipolar. It wasn't until about 20 yrs ago that they started to realize that early onset bipolar symptoms shared some ADHD and ADD symptoms (slightly different from adult hood symptoms). This realization has helped with proper medications for these kids. With out proper diagnosis and support they are in trouble. Our psych was well respected and educated on early onset bipolar, he also recommended a book the bipolar child, which was great and a resource for teachers as well. We had one school who used the book to help my son as well as a few others she had. Unfortunately most weren't willing to help. In CA he was hospitalized twice, out there there were many more resources. Moving to central Oregon was the complete opposite! Insurance is a BIG thing. When we had no insurance it was virtually impossible to get help. His two meds were over $800 a mo. 
In short, not all mentally ill are a danger to others. It is fact lack of available resources, money and or insurance is like a death sentence. We need to understand more about mental illness, w/o state institutions we need to have resources available. I can't tell you how many times we were told, theres a 6wk wait, for crisis if they settle before admission (as rapid cyclers can) so sorry not needed, we only have 6 beds for 4 counties sorry go home. 
Sorry it's long and this is a goat site, but I think it affects everybody in one way or another.


----------

