Re: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

[Guest guest]

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown â January 9, 2011 13:38:21 The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole. If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts." This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community. Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them. Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)." Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown â January 9, 2011 13:38:21 The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole. If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts." This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community. Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them. Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)." Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown â January 9, 2011 13:38:21 The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole. If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts." This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community. Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them. Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)." Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown â January 9, 2011 13:38:21 The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole. If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts." This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community. Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them. Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)." Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I suggest you mean " this gal.... " from the bottom of the piece you responded to [emphasis added]: " Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology. "

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Jim <mofunnow@...> wrote:

 

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love " measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

" When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I suggest you mean " this gal.... " from the bottom of the piece you responded to [emphasis added]: " Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology. "

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Jim <mofunnow@...> wrote:

 

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love " measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

" When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I suggest you mean " this gal.... " from the bottom of the piece you responded to [emphasis added]: " Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology. "

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Jim <mofunnow@...> wrote:

 

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love " measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

" When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I suggest you mean " this gal.... " from the bottom of the piece you responded to [emphasis added]: " Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology. "

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Jim <mofunnow@...> wrote:

 

We must have more money to drug more and lock people

up more and more!!!

We must stop constitutional rights of the mentally ill immediately

for their own good!!

We must fund the system that is killing us all!!! for our own

good!!!!

This guy is a freaking Nazi.

On 1/9/2011 8:27 PM, nandtbearden@... wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Ge

rmany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love " measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

" When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has gone mad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.html

When Lee Loughner went to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States.

The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and carry the pistol without a permit.

> > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381> >> > > >> > > >> > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown> >> > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21> >> > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.> >> > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.> >> > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts."> >> > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!> >> > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.> >> > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.> >> > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.> >> > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.> >> > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.> >> > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.> >> > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.> >> > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.> >> > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:> >> > "When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."> >> > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.> > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T> >> > ------------------------------------> >> >

[Guest guest]

AZ is well-known to still have a "Wild West" attitude. Among the most lenient gun laws in US. During recent mid-terms, rhetoric was very high. Giffords' opponent ( ) actually ran an ad that said "Get on Target for Victory in November; Help Remove le Giffords from Office; Come fire a fully-automatic M16 with ."I am a gun-owner. I would use my weapons to protect myself/family. I am a 2nd (and all others) Amendment supporter. NO ONE needs a 30-round clip, NO ONE needs an M-16, NO ONE needs an Uzi, in order to have their Constitutional Rights intact, IMO. Palin's PAC had placed crosshairs on Giffords' district (and others) with taglines along the lines of "We've diagnosed the problem...Help us prescribe the remedy."TerrySent via BlackBerry by AT&TFrom: "jeremy9282" <jeremybryce1953@...>Sender: SSRI medications Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:48:10 -0000<SSRI medications >Reply SSRI medications Subject: Re: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has gone mad http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.htmlWhen Lee Loughner went to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and carry the pistol without a permit. > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381> >> > > >> > > >> > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown> >> > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21> >> > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.> >> > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.> >> > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts."> >> > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!> >> > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.> >> > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.> >> > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.> >> > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.> >> > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.> >> > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.> >> > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.> >> > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.> >> > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:> >> > "When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."> >> > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.> > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T> >> > ------------------------------------> >> >

[Guest guest]

Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the

right to bear arms.

If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer

and would not sell a gun

to just anyone.

Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a

gun he could just as easily have stabbed as many people

before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but

more importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let

on the market.

Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho.

Watch and see.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state

has gone mad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.html

When Lee Loughner

went to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he

faced few obstacles to walking away with a Glock 19

semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was making the purchase in

Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are

among the most lenient in the United States.

The 22-year-old passed an instant

background check required under federal law for all gun

buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the Tucson store. A

law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and carry

the pistol without a permit.

> >

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> >

> > 

> >

> > 

> >

> > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on

le Giffords: America's Mental Health Breakdown

> >

> > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> >

> > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona

on U.S. Representative le Giffords and other innocent

victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal

judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective

mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental

health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure

that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the

safety and well being of society as a whole.

> >

> > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it

must be for legislators on federal, state and local levels to

undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive

change of America's laws for treating mental health patients.

Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health

benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses

so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must

publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in

their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To

this end, legislators must listen to family members, law

enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on

Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions

as well as the obstacles.

> >

> > As information of this chaotic episode, initially

referred to as an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared

by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either

drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East

or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only

when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young

22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

read that the media began to describe him as "one of the

crazies" or "nuts."

> >

> > This label is particularly painful for those who are

advocates for proactively treating people with mental disorders.

Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was

"consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very

disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any

officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for

proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they

literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act

like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical

professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed

person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

> >

> > Throughout the day the focus of the media was

understandably on the condition of Representative Giffords

presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why

the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from

the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government

officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to

better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness

may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person

goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately

responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is

any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and

calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health

laws we have unchanged.

> >

> > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in

America because it is not considered a disease that is popular

to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting

mental illness. We can and must do something about it before

more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and

untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must

be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical

treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed

by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked

facility depending on the condition of the patient until they

are able to function in society and they should be assisted to

become a contributing member of the community.

> >

> > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not

adequate for treating mental health or substance abuse patients,

so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of

those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local

market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws.

There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and

debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help

their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper

medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical

imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia,

schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record,

many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of

illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits

particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition

according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use.

Another country with a long history of how the mental health

system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion

of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have

participated in numerous conferences with the most respected

psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience

to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> >

> > According to mental health professional and expert F.

Fuller Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity

Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally

Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000

Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with

a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with

their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000

considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not

include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our

nation.

> >

> > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions

across America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers

Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to

house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing

patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do

so of their own volition instead of being required to comply

with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people

living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent

studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in

Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow

citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for

mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

> >

> > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help

those with mental diseases and addictions both within my family

as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have

personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle

in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until

today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the

people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the

overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated

law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU

by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have

actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> >

> > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack

of funding for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be

overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater

challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House

Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve.

However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the

time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health

care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be

repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after

until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey

points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on

March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him

and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left

untreated.

> >

> > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make

tough fiscal choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use

"tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses

both of these considerations. For the families who lost their

loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts

and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le

Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain"

is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our

sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the

signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have

tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be

disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of

America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are

changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick

perpetrator.

> >

> > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people

helping to save lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of

this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an

inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in

Arizona and across America:

> >

> > "When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners

took comfort from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and

presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever

heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I

rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the

unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and

the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a

garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

> >

> > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors

of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory

Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of

Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and

The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout

North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70

countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics

at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

> > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > >

> > > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > >

> > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

> were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

> must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

> receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

> > >

> > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

> treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

> provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

> other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

> must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

> the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

> try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

> listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

> National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

> the solutions as well as the obstacles.

> > >

> > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

> " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

> rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

> from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

> responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

> a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

> read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or

> " nuts. "

> > >

> > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

> are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class "

> and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

> to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

> any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

> someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

> to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

> for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

> provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

> for all concerned!

> > >

> > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

> condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

> target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

> initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

> other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

> experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

> illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

> caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

> untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

> these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

> that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

> current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > >

> > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

> and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

> locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

> until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

> to become a contributing member of the community.

> > >

> > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

> sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

> therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

> taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

> diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

> disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

> triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

> ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

> pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

> psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

> Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

> country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

> is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

> ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

> with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

> their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > >

> > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

> in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

> Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

> are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

> psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

> not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

> 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

> and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

> vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

> > >

> > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

> it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

> because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

> required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

> 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

> Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

> Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

> be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

> addiction and substance abuse.

> > >

> > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

> the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

> for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

> frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

> ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

> the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

> more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > >

> > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

> economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

> that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

> in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

> the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

> in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

> somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

> the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

> former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

> graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

> schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > >

> > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

> who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

> continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

> " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

> convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

> the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

> nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

> help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

> impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

> is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

> pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > >

> > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > >

> > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

> who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

> the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

> upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

> like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

> blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

> for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

> Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

> in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

> humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > >

> > > ------------------------------------

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

> > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > >

> > > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > >

> > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

> were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

> must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

> receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

> > >

> > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

> treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

> provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

> other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

> must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

> the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

> try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

> listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

> National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

> the solutions as well as the obstacles.

> > >

> > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

> " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

> rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

> from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

> responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

> a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

> read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or

> " nuts. "

> > >

> > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

> are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class "

> and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

> to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

> any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

> someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

> to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

> for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

> provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

> for all concerned!

> > >

> > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

> condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

> target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

> initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

> other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

> experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

> illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

> caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

> untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

> these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

> that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

> current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > >

> > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

> and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

> locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

> until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

> to become a contributing member of the community.

> > >

> > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

> sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

> therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

> taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

> diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

> disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

> triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

> ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

> pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

> psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

> Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

> country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

> is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

> ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

> with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

> their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > >

> > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

> in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

> Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

> are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

> psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

> not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

> 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

> and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

> vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

> > >

> > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

> it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

> because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

> required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

> 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

> Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

> Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

> be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

> addiction and substance abuse.

> > >

> > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

> the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

> for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

> frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

> ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

> the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

> more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > >

> > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

> economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

> that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

> in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

> the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

> in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

> somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

> the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

> former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

> graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

> schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > >

> > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

> who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

> continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

> " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

> convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

> the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

> nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

> help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

> impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

> is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

> pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > >

> > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > >

> > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

> who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

> the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

> upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

> like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

> blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

> for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

> Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

> in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

> humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > >

> > > ------------------------------------

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

> > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > >

> > > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > >

> > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

> were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

> must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

> receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

> > >

> > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

> treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

> provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

> other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

> must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

> the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

> try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

> listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

> National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

> the solutions as well as the obstacles.

> > >

> > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

> " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

> rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

> from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

> responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

> a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

> read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or

> " nuts. "

> > >

> > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

> are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class "

> and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

> to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

> any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

> someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

> to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

> for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

> provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

> for all concerned!

> > >

> > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

> condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

> target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

> initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

> other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

> experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

> illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

> caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

> untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

> these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

> that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

> current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > >

> > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

> and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

> locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

> until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

> to become a contributing member of the community.

> > >

> > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

> sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

> therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

> taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

> diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

> disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

> triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

> ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

> pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

> psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

> Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

> country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

> is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

> ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

> with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

> their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > >

> > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

> in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

> Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

> are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

> psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

> not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

> 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

> and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

> vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

> > >

> > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

> it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

> because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

> required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

> 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

> Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

> Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

> be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

> addiction and substance abuse.

> > >

> > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

> the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

> for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

> frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

> ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

> the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

> more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > >

> > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

> economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

> that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

> in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

> the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

> in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

> somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

> the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

> former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

> graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

> schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > >

> > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

> who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

> continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

> " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

> convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

> the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

> nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

> help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

> impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

> is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

> pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > >

> > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > >

> > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

> who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

> the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

> upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

> like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

> blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

> for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

> Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

> in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

> humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > >

> > > ------------------------------------

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

> > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > >

> > > â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > >

> > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

> were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

> must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

> receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

> > >

> > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

> treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

> provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

> other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

> must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

> the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

> try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

> listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

> National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

> the solutions as well as the obstacles.

> > >

> > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

> " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

> rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

> from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

> responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

> a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

> read that the media began to describe him as " one of the crazies " or

> " nuts. "

> > >

> > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

> are reported as stating that he was " consistently disruptive in class "

> and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

> to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

> any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

> someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

> to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

> for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

> provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

> for all concerned!

> > >

> > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

> condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

> target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

> initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

> other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

> experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

> illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

> caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

> untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

> these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

> that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

> current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > >

> > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

> and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

> locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

> until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

> to become a contributing member of the community.

> > >

> > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

> sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

> therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

> taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

> diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

> disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

> triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

> ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

> pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

> psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

> Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

> country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

> is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

> ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

> with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

> their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > >

> > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

> in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

> Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

> are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

> psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

> not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

> 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

> and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

> vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

> > >

> > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

> it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

> because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

> required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

> 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

> Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

> Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

> be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

> addiction and substance abuse.

> > >

> > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

> the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

> for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

> frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

> ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

> the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

> more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > >

> > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

> economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

> that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

> in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

> the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

> in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

> somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

> the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

> former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

> graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

> schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > >

> > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

> who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

> continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

> " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

> convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

> the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

> nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

> help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

> impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

> is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

> pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > >

> > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > >

> > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

> who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

> the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

> upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

> like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

> blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > >

> > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

> for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

> Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

> in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

> humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > >

> > > ------------------------------------

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

,

Please understand most original settlers of America had guns for

hunting

and protection and are used to them and their kin do not want to

give them up

or the tradition.

I grew up eating fresh meat and guns hung over the inside of my

grandfather's front door

for easy reach on the way out.

It's a part of life here for many but there are many who have

never held a gun also and don't care for them.

In Arizona you can carry your AK-47 around on your shoulder or a

pistol on your belt

or concealed with no training/certifications. I think you must

have some training in common sense handling

of firearms or there will be preventable accidents.

Add violence causing drugs and we get mass killings. Banning guns

or clip sizes is not looking at the real problem, it's just

reducing more freedoms for the rest of us, a typical response.

There can be extremists anywhere I guess but that's like thinking

all Irish were bombing

British buildings and fighting with the IRA, it's just not so.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 4:15 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

"assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or

"nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class"

and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love"

measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

"bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

,

Please understand most original settlers of America had guns for

hunting

and protection and are used to them and their kin do not want to

give them up

or the tradition.

I grew up eating fresh meat and guns hung over the inside of my

grandfather's front door

for easy reach on the way out.

It's a part of life here for many but there are many who have

never held a gun also and don't care for them.

In Arizona you can carry your AK-47 around on your shoulder or a

pistol on your belt

or concealed with no training/certifications. I think you must

have some training in common sense handling

of firearms or there will be preventable accidents.

Add violence causing drugs and we get mass killings. Banning guns

or clip sizes is not looking at the real problem, it's just

reducing more freedoms for the rest of us, a typical response.

There can be extremists anywhere I guess but that's like thinking

all Irish were bombing

British buildings and fighting with the IRA, it's just not so.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 4:15 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

"assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or

"nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class"

and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love"

measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

"bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

,

Please understand most original settlers of America had guns for

hunting

and protection and are used to them and their kin do not want to

give them up

or the tradition.

I grew up eating fresh meat and guns hung over the inside of my

grandfather's front door

for easy reach on the way out.

It's a part of life here for many but there are many who have

never held a gun also and don't care for them.

In Arizona you can carry your AK-47 around on your shoulder or a

pistol on your belt

or concealed with no training/certifications. I think you must

have some training in common sense handling

of firearms or there will be preventable accidents.

Add violence causing drugs and we get mass killings. Banning guns

or clip sizes is not looking at the real problem, it's just

reducing more freedoms for the rest of us, a typical response.

There can be extremists anywhere I guess but that's like thinking

all Irish were bombing

British buildings and fighting with the IRA, it's just not so.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 4:15 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

"assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or

"nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class"

and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love"

measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

"bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

,

Please understand most original settlers of America had guns for

hunting

and protection and are used to them and their kin do not want to

give them up

or the tradition.

I grew up eating fresh meat and guns hung over the inside of my

grandfather's front door

for easy reach on the way out.

It's a part of life here for many but there are many who have

never held a gun also and don't care for them.

In Arizona you can carry your AK-47 around on your shoulder or a

pistol on your belt

or concealed with no training/certifications. I think you must

have some training in common sense handling

of firearms or there will be preventable accidents.

Add violence causing drugs and we get mass killings. Banning guns

or clip sizes is not looking at the real problem, it's just

reducing more freedoms for the rest of us, a typical response.

There can be extremists anywhere I guess but that's like thinking

all Irish were bombing

British buildings and fighting with the IRA, it's just not so.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 4:15 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

Terry

I've lived in N Ireland for more years than I care to remember & I have

seen sights during the troubles that leave an indelible mark, but the

vast majority view of the people here is that they would not care to own

personal protection even if it were legal so to do.

It is interesting to see, something I could have never predicted, that

the extreemists have been brought in from the cold & now form part of

the government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

America

were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and

must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to

receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

for

treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required

to

provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all

other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators

must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis

with

the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts

to

try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must

listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and

the

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who

know

the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an

"assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most

people

rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

terrorists

from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were

responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified

as

a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were

read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or

"nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

classmates

are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class"

and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling

behavior

to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if

any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving

someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally

have

to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious

attack

for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to

provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice

for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the

condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

primary

target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least

initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security

and

other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health

experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental

illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what

caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes

untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for

these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those

that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the

current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

can

and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

professional

locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient

until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted

to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

a

sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

counseling,

therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being

taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes

mental

diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar

disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is

triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and

ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary

pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading

psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that

Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another

country with a long history of how the mental health system should

work

is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have

loved

ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous

conferences

with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have

found

their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey

in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's

Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we

are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe

psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated

not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of

40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds

and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include

the

vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

instead

it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes

because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being

required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than

100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless.

Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church

in

Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens

should

be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug

addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

from

the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas

for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

families,

frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the

ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly

protect

the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done

more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

nation's

economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress

that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative

Giffords

in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest

the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care

in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated

somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we

change

the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of

former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford

graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid

schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love"

measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

those

who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We

continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from

a

"bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also

convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen

the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and

nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to

help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and

impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health

care

is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and

pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

those

who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for

help,

the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity

came

upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty

like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the

blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

Member

for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is

Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based

in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and

humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

>

> Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

>

> If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and

> would not sell a gun

> to just anyone.

>

> Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he

> could just as easily have stabbed as many people

> before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more

> importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

>

> Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch

> and see.

>

> Jim

>

>

> On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

> >

> >

> >

> > I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has

> > gone mad

> >

> >

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.\

html

> >

> > */When /**/ Lee Loughner/*

> >

<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html\

?hpid=topnews>*/went

> > to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles

> > to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was

> > making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where

> > gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

> >

> > */The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under

> > federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the

> > Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and

> > carry the pistol without a permit./*

> >

> > *//*

> >

> >

> > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> > America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > > >

> > > > â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > > >

> > > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> > Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> > the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> > preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

> > America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably

> > broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be

> > required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a

> > whole.

> > > >

> > > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> > legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> > in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

> > for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be

> > required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as

> > they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly

> > treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal

> > on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal

> > obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases.

> > To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law

> > enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental

> > Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as

> > the obstacles.

> > > >

> > > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

> > an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

> > people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

> > terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown

> > extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was

> > finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his

> > irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe

> > him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

> > > >

> > > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> > proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

> > classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently

> > disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported

> > this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help

> > him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so

> > high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that

> > they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act

> > like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical

> > professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person.

> > What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

> > > >

> > > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

> > the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

> > primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at

> > least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland

> > Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing

> > mental health experts to better understand the how and why this

> > happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it

> > certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime

> > if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is

> > ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there

> > is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous

> > consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > > >

> > > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> > because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> > there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

> > can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> > including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> > perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> > hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> > necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

> > professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of

> > the patient until they are able to function in society and they should

> > be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

> > > >

> > > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> > treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> > are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

> > a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> > until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> > onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> > help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

> > counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper

> > medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance

> > that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective

> > disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this

> > chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs --

> > especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is

> > any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and

> > analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's

> > worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of

> > marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental

> > health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion

> > of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have

> > participated in numerous conferences with the most respected

> > psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be

> > enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > > >

> > > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

> > Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How

> > America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its

> > Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have

> > severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and

> > untreated not complying with their needed medications and another

> > sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated

> > or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count

> > does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in

> > our nation.

> > > >

> > > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> > America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> > Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

> > instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed

> > crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of

> > being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more

> > than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are

> > homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First

> > AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow

> > citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental

> > disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

> > > >

> > > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> > mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> > for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> > aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

> > from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the

> > pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> > Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

> > families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals

> > is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that

> > supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases

> > have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > > >

> > > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> > for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

> > nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th

> > Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore

> > Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a

> > conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical

> > breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in

> > Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the

> > day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher

> > Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein

> > on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and

> > was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > > >

> > > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> > choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> > measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> > considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

> > those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with

> > them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus

> > far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We

> > should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who

> > may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his

> > delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like

> > all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be

> > disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's

> > mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect

> > the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > > >

> > > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> > lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> > these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> > this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > > >

> > > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> > from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> > king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

> > those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out

> > for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in

> > extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I

> > wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I

> > was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> > Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

> > Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She

> > is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation

> > based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China

> > and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> > Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > > >

> > > > ------------------------------------

> > > >

> > > >

[Guest guest]

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

>

> Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

>

> If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and

> would not sell a gun

> to just anyone.

>

> Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he

> could just as easily have stabbed as many people

> before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more

> importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

>

> Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch

> and see.

>

> Jim

>

>

> On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

> >

> >

> >

> > I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has

> > gone mad

> >

> >

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.\

html

> >

> > */When /**/ Lee Loughner/*

> >

<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html\

?hpid=topnews>*/went

> > to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles

> > to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was

> > making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where

> > gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

> >

> > */The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under

> > federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the

> > Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and

> > carry the pistol without a permit./*

> >

> > *//*

> >

> >

> > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> > America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > > >

> > > > â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > > >

> > > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> > Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> > the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> > preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

> > America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably

> > broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be

> > required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a

> > whole.

> > > >

> > > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> > legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> > in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

> > for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be

> > required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as

> > they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly

> > treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal

> > on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal

> > obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases.

> > To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law

> > enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental

> > Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as

> > the obstacles.

> > > >

> > > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

> > an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

> > people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

> > terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown

> > extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was

> > finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his

> > irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe

> > him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

> > > >

> > > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> > proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

> > classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently

> > disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported

> > this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help

> > him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so

> > high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that

> > they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act

> > like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical

> > professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person.

> > What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

> > > >

> > > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

> > the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

> > primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at

> > least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland

> > Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing

> > mental health experts to better understand the how and why this

> > happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it

> > certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime

> > if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is

> > ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there

> > is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous

> > consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > > >

> > > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> > because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> > there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

> > can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> > including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> > perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> > hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> > necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

> > professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of

> > the patient until they are able to function in society and they should

> > be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

> > > >

> > > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> > treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> > are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

> > a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> > until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> > onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> > help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

> > counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper

> > medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance

> > that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective

> > disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this

> > chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs --

> > especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is

> > any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and

> > analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's

> > worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of

> > marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental

> > health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion

> > of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have

> > participated in numerous conferences with the most respected

> > psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be

> > enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > > >

> > > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

> > Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How

> > America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its

> > Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have

> > severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and

> > untreated not complying with their needed medications and another

> > sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated

> > or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count

> > does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in

> > our nation.

> > > >

> > > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> > America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> > Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

> > instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed

> > crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of

> > being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more

> > than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are

> > homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First

> > AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow

> > citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental

> > disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

> > > >

> > > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> > mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> > for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> > aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

> > from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the

> > pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> > Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

> > families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals

> > is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that

> > supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases

> > have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > > >

> > > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> > for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

> > nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th

> > Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore

> > Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a

> > conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical

> > breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in

> > Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the

> > day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher

> > Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein

> > on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and

> > was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > > >

> > > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> > choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> > measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> > considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

> > those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with

> > them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus

> > far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We

> > should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who

> > may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his

> > delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like

> > all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be

> > disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's

> > mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect

> > the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > > >

> > > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> > lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> > these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> > this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > > >

> > > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> > from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> > king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

> > those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out

> > for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in

> > extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I

> > wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I

> > was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> > Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

> > Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She

> > is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation

> > based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China

> > and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> > Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > > >

> > > > ------------------------------------

> > > >

> > > >

[Guest guest]

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

>

> Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

>

> If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and

> would not sell a gun

> to just anyone.

>

> Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he

> could just as easily have stabbed as many people

> before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more

> importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

>

> Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch

> and see.

>

> Jim

>

>

> On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

> >

> >

> >

> > I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has

> > gone mad

> >

> >

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.\

html

> >

> > */When /**/ Lee Loughner/*

> >

<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html\

?hpid=topnews>*/went

> > to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles

> > to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was

> > making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where

> > gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

> >

> > */The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under

> > federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the

> > Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and

> > carry the pistol without a permit./*

> >

> > *//*

> >

> >

> > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> > America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > > >

> > > > â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > > >

> > > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> > Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> > the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> > preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

> > America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably

> > broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be

> > required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a

> > whole.

> > > >

> > > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> > legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> > in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

> > for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be

> > required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as

> > they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly

> > treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal

> > on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal

> > obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases.

> > To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law

> > enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental

> > Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as

> > the obstacles.

> > > >

> > > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

> > an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

> > people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

> > terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown

> > extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was

> > finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his

> > irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe

> > him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

> > > >

> > > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> > proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

> > classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently

> > disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported

> > this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help

> > him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so

> > high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that

> > they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act

> > like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical

> > professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person.

> > What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

> > > >

> > > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

> > the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

> > primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at

> > least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland

> > Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing

> > mental health experts to better understand the how and why this

> > happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it

> > certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime

> > if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is

> > ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there

> > is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous

> > consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > > >

> > > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> > because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> > there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

> > can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> > including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> > perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> > hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> > necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

> > professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of

> > the patient until they are able to function in society and they should

> > be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

> > > >

> > > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> > treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> > are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

> > a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> > until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> > onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> > help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

> > counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper

> > medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance

> > that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective

> > disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this

> > chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs --

> > especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is

> > any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and

> > analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's

> > worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of

> > marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental

> > health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion

> > of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have

> > participated in numerous conferences with the most respected

> > psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be

> > enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > > >

> > > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

> > Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How

> > America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its

> > Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have

> > severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and

> > untreated not complying with their needed medications and another

> > sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated

> > or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count

> > does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in

> > our nation.

> > > >

> > > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> > America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> > Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

> > instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed

> > crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of

> > being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more

> > than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are

> > homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First

> > AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow

> > citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental

> > disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

> > > >

> > > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> > mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> > for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> > aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

> > from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the

> > pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> > Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

> > families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals

> > is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that

> > supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases

> > have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > > >

> > > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> > for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

> > nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th

> > Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore

> > Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a

> > conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical

> > breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in

> > Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the

> > day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher

> > Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein

> > on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and

> > was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > > >

> > > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> > choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> > measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> > considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

> > those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with

> > them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus

> > far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We

> > should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who

> > may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his

> > delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like

> > all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be

> > disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's

> > mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect

> > the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > > >

> > > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> > lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> > these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> > this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > > >

> > > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> > from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> > king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

> > those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out

> > for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in

> > extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I

> > wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I

> > was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> > Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

> > Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She

> > is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation

> > based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China

> > and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> > Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > > >

> > > > ------------------------------------

> > > >

> > > >

[Guest guest]

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

>

> Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

>

> If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and

> would not sell a gun

> to just anyone.

>

> Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he

> could just as easily have stabbed as many people

> before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more

> importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

>

> Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch

> and see.

>

> Jim

>

>

> On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

> >

> >

> >

> > I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has

> > gone mad

> >

> >

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.\

html

> >

> > */When /**/ Lee Loughner/*

> >

<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html\

?hpid=topnews>*/went

> > to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles

> > to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was

> > making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where

> > gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

> >

> > */The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under

> > federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the

> > Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and

> > carry the pistol without a permit./*

> >

> > *//*

> >

> >

> > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > 

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

> > America's Mental Health Breakdown

> > > >

> > > > â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

> > > >

> > > > The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

> > Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including

> > the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly,

> > preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in

> > America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably

> > broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be

> > required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a

> > whole.

> > > >

> > > > If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

> > legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate

> > in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws

> > for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be

> > required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as

> > they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly

> > treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal

> > on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal

> > obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases.

> > To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law

> > enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental

> > Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as

> > the obstacles.

> > > >

> > > > As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

> > an " assassination attack, " evolved and was shared by the media, most

> > people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or

> > terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown

> > extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was

> > finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his

> > irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe

> > him as " one of the crazies " or " nuts. "

> > > >

> > > > This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

> > proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's

> > classmates are reported as stating that he was " consistently

> > disruptive in class " and " obviously very disturbed. " Yet who reported

> > this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help

> > him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so

> > high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that

> > they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act

> > like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical

> > professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person.

> > What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

> > > >

> > > > Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

> > the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the

> > primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at

> > least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland

> > Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing

> > mental health experts to better understand the how and why this

> > happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it

> > certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime

> > if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is

> > ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there

> > is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous

> > consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

> > > >

> > > > There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

> > because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and

> > there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We

> > can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost

> > including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become

> > perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the

> > hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time

> > necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a

> > professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of

> > the patient until they are able to function in society and they should

> > be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

> > > >

> > > > Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

> > treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly

> > are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for

> > a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts,

> > until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not

> > onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to

> > help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing

> > counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper

> > medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance

> > that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective

> > disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this

> > chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs --

> > especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is

> > any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and

> > analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's

> > worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of

> > marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental

> > health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion

> > of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have

> > participated in numerous conferences with the most respected

> > psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be

> > enormously helpful for America to embrace.

> > > >

> > > > According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

> > Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How

> > America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its

> > Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have

> > severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and

> > untreated not complying with their needed medications and another

> > sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated

> > or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count

> > does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in

> > our nation.

> > > >

> > > > Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

> > America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown

> > Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but

> > instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed

> > crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of

> > being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more

> > than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are

> > homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First

> > AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow

> > citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental

> > disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

> > > >

> > > > For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

> > mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring

> > for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every

> > aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation

> > from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the

> > pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it.

> > Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed

> > families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals

> > is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that

> > supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases

> > have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

> > > >

> > > > Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

> > for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our

> > nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th

> > Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore

> > Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a

> > conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical

> > breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in

> > Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the

> > day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher

> > Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein

> > on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and

> > was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

> > > >

> > > > As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

> > choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use " tough love "

> > measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these

> > considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to

> > those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with

> > them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus

> > far from a " bullet to the brain " is nothing short of miraculous. We

> > should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who

> > may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his

> > delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like

> > all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be

> > disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's

> > mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect

> > the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

> > > >

> > > > There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

> > lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully

> > these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during

> > this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

> > > >

> > > > " When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

> > from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a

> > king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me;

> > those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out

> > for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in

> > extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I

> > wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I

> > was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15). "

> > > >

> > > > Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

> > Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board

> > Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She

> > is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation

> > based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China

> > and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World

> > Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

> > > > Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

> > > >

> > > > ------------------------------------

> > > >

> > > >

[Guest guest]

LOL, maybe a drive by swording. I think of old

fashioned cavalry, before guns a drive by swording is what you

could expect.

vehicle wrecks kill more than guns, are we to ban vehicles?

Unintentional poisoning kills more than guns in certain age

groups,

actually there is always something that kills more than guns,

though homicide by firearms is up there.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/Violence_2007-a.pdf

Latest stats I could locate.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/Unintentional_2007-a.pdf

Guns are not for irresponsible people. Neither are vehicle

licenses.

In the USA the people are expected to run the government through

their representatives. The people are to have their rights and if

the majority of the people wish to have guns banned then so be it.

On 1/12/2011 10:20 AM, mauderegan wrote:

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and would not sell a gun

to just anyone.

Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he could just as easily have stabbed as many people

before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch and see.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has gone mad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.html

*/When /**/ Lee Loughner/* <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html?hpid=topnews>*/went to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

*/The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and carry the pistol without a permit./*

*//*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

LOL, maybe a drive by swording. I think of old

fashioned cavalry, before guns a drive by swording is what you

could expect.

vehicle wrecks kill more than guns, are we to ban vehicles?

Unintentional poisoning kills more than guns in certain age

groups,

actually there is always something that kills more than guns,

though homicide by firearms is up there.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/Violence_2007-a.pdf

Latest stats I could locate.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/Unintentional_2007-a.pdf

Guns are not for irresponsible people. Neither are vehicle

licenses.

In the USA the people are expected to run the government through

their representatives. The people are to have their rights and if

the majority of the people wish to have guns banned then so be it.

On 1/12/2011 10:20 AM, mauderegan wrote:

I never heard of a drive by knifing. madelyn

Arizona has strong Second Amendment Rights, the right to bear arms.

If I owned a gun store I would chat up every potential customer and would not sell a gun

to just anyone.

Most Americans consider guns a basic right. If he didn't have a gun he could just as easily have stabbed as many people

before being stopped. He should have never been sold a gun but more importantly his psychiatric drugs should have been never let on the market.

Of course we may never know, they will seal his records like Cho. Watch and see.

Jim

On 1/10/2011 3:48 PM, jeremy9282 wrote:

I'm amazed that this is possible in Arizona, perhaps the state has gone mad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010901912.html

*/When /**/ Lee Loughner/* <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html?hpid=topnews>*/went to the Sportsman's Warehouse outlet on Nov. 30, he faced few obstacles to walking away with a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. /*

*/The 22-year-old passed an instant background check required under federal law for all gun buyers, said Reese Widmer, manager of the Tucson store. A law enacted last year allowed Loughner to conceal and carry the pistol without a permit./*

*//*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=806381





Noel Irwin Hentschel: Loughner Attack on le Giffords:

America's Mental Health Breakdown

â? January 9, 2011 13:38:21

The tragic and devastating attack in Tucson, Arizona on U.S.

Representative le Giffords and other innocent victims including the killing of a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge was, sadly, preventable if the exceedingly ineffective mental health laws in America were changed. America's mental health system is undeniably broken and must be fixed to ensure that those who need treatment be required to receive it for the safety and well being of society as a whole.

If any good is to come out of this horrifying event it must be for

legislators on federal, state and local levels to undertake immediate in-depth hearings that lead to a definitive change of America's laws for treating mental health patients. Insurance companies must be required to provide the same health benefits for mental disease as they do for all other illnesses so that patients can be properly treated. Legislators must publicly interview expert witnesses who deal on a daily basis with the overwhelmingly bureaucratic and legal obstacles in their efforts to try to help people with mental diseases. To this end, legislators must listen to family members, law enforcement, medical professionals and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); these are the ones who know the solutions as well as the obstacles.

As information of this chaotic episode, initially referred to as

an "assassination attack," evolved and was shared by the media, most people rushed to the conclusion that either drug cartel gangsters or terrorists from Mexico, the Middle East or our own homegrown extremists were responsible. It was only when the perpetrator was finally identified as a young 22-year-old white male and his irrational Internet rants were read that the media began to describe him as "one of the crazies" or "nuts."

This label is particularly painful for those who are advocates for

proactively treating people with mental disorders. Loughner's classmates are reported as stating that he was "consistently disruptive in class" and "obviously very disturbed." Yet who reported this troubling behavior to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken, one must inquire. The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person. What a travesty of justice for all concerned!

Throughout the day the focus of the media was understandably on

the condition of Representative Giffords presuming that she was the primary target which is probably why the main experts commenting, at least initially, have been from the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security and other government officials as opposed to interviewing mental health experts to better understand the how and why this happened. Mental illness may not be an excuse for crimes but it certainly can be what caused and motivated someone to commit a crime if the person goes untreated. Begging one to consider who is ultimately responsible for these heinous acts and to discuss if there is any culpability by those that ignore the dire need and calamitous consequences of leaving the current mental health laws we have unchanged.

There is a critical breakdown of mental health care in America

because it is not considered a disease that is popular to address and there is a definite stigma attached to admitting mental illness. We can and must do something about it before more innocent lives are lost including the lives of the sick and untreated, some who may become perpetrators of crimes. Laws must be enacted that allow for the hospitalization and proper medical treatment for the amount of time necessary for recovery followed by compassionate care in a professional locked or unlocked facility depending on the condition of the patient until they are able to function in society and they should be assisted to become a contributing member of the community.

Seventy-two hours, 14 days or even 30 days is not adequate for

treating mental health or substance abuse patients, so they constantly are walking through a revolving door. One of those revolving doors for a sick person can be into a local market armed with violent thoughts, until we change the laws. There must be legal avenues that are not onerous and debilitating emotionally and financially for families to help their loved ones. It is critical that there be ongoing counseling, therapy and monitoring of the compliance of proper medication being taken by the patient to treat the chemical imbalance that causes mental diseases such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bi-polar disorder. For the record, many times this chemical imbalance is triggered by the use of illegal drugs -- especially marijuana and ecstasy are culprits particularly if there is any hereditary pre-disposition according to in-depth studies and analysis by leading psychiatrists in Switzerland and Germany. It's worth noting that Loughner is reported to have a long history of marijuana use. Another country with a long history of how the mental health system should work is Ireland where there are a high proportion of families who have loved ones with a mental disease. I have participated in numerous conferences with the most respected psychiatrists in these countries and have found their experience to be enormously helpful for America to embrace.

According to mental health professional and expert F. Fuller

Torrey in his 2008 research book called The Insanity Defense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens we are informed that 4,000,000 Americans are believed to have severe psychiatric disorders with a subset of 400,000 homeless and untreated not complying with their needed medications and another sub-sub set of 40,000 considered the most dangerous, not being treated or taking meds and demonstrating very violent behavior. This count does not include the vast numbers who are not properly diagnosed in our nation.

Prisons have become the new mental health institutions across

America. A perfect example of this is the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles. It was built in recent years to house prisoners but instead it is the solution for housing patients that have committed crimes because they are free to do so of their own volition instead of being required to comply with mental health treatment. There are more than 100,000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles that are homeless. Recent studies undertaken by U.S.C. and provided by First AME Church in Los Angeles indicate that more than half of these fellow citizens should be in health care facilities being treated for mental disease, drug addiction and substance abuse.

For as long as I can remember I have worked to help those with

mental diseases and addictions both within my family as well as caring for those who are on the streets. I have personally witnessed every aspect of the mental health debacle in California and in our nation from the nineteen sixties until today including the defunding and the pleas for help by the people and families affected directly by it. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus by these distressed families, frustrated law enforcement and medical field professionals is that the ACLU by fighting and providing funding for laws that supposedly protect the rights of those afflicted with mental diseases have actually done more to ruin their lives than to help them.

Funding for mental health, or more accurately the lack of funding

for it, is one of the major hurdles that must be overcome. Our nation's economic woes make it an even greater challenge for the 112th Congress that Speaker of the House Boehner recently swore Representative Giffords in to serve. However as a nation with a conscience if we do NOT invest the time and resources on the critical breakdown of mental health care in America, today's violent tragedy in Arizona will be repeated somewhere else, in some way, tomorrow and the day after until we change the laws. The mental health researcher Torrey points to the killing of former Congressman Allard Lowenstein on March 12, 1980 by Stanford graduate Dennis Sweeney who shot him and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but left untreated.

As a businessperson, I know what it means to make tough fiscal

choices and as a mother I know what it mean to use "tough love" measures. We need new legislation that encompasses both of these considerations. For the families who lost their loved ones and to those who found theirs injured, our thoughts and prayers are with them. We continue to pray for le Giffords, whose recovery thus far from a "bullet to the brain" is nothing short of miraculous. We should also convey our sympathy for the family of Loughner who may have seen the signs of his illness as illustrated in his delusional rants and nonsensical ramblings on the internet but like all who have tried to help loved ones, they may have found it to be disheartening and impossible until the critical breakdown of America's mental health care is addressed and the laws are changed to protect the victims and pro-actively treat the sick perpetrator.

There were many heroic efforts in Tucson of people helping to save

lives and comfort the afflicted as a result of this tragedy; hopefully these words from The Book of Job are an inspirational reminder during this time of deep sadness in Arizona and across America:

"When I smiled on them they were reassured; mourners took comfort

from my cheerful glance, I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces. Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; (Job 29:24-25,11-15)."

Noel Irwin Hentschel serves on the Board of Governors of

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles and is a former Advisory Board Member for Mental Health for the U.K. Royal Society of Medicine. She is Chair/CEO of Americantours International and The Noel Foundation based in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America and China and humanitarian programs in 70 countries. She specializes in World Religions and Global Ethics at the Franciscan School of Theology.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

------------------------------------