The incident in D.C. illustrates the need for better mental health options....
Actually, scratch that, I hate the term "mental health" it now seems to me to be a carry over of the stigma of people who exhibit unusual or rare behaviors that implies that the problem is something that is somehow their fault, i.e. you're just mental.
The issue is that the problem is in their heads, literally, most...behaviors we label as pathological are the result of physical damage to the brain, or chemical imbalances in the brain, or the way the brain is wired, in other words, its something physical and measurable, and ultimately, treatable.
The biggest issue is that there is still a big stigma attached to having any disorder of the brain, which creates a huge problem for the people that have these disorders, because, just when they need the most support, their support structure vanishes. The cultural attitudes surrounding this needs to change, and more understanding needs to be resolved, people who have clinical depression aren't just in a funk they can will themselves out of, bi-polar people aren't just having mood swings, schizophrenics don't always hear voices. Its shit like this that creates victims, rather than patients.
Even worse, the people who suffer such disorders, in many cases, believe it too, and then don't seek proper treatment.
On top of this are the ways we treat these disorders, now, I'm not going to say things are archaic, but its pretty damn close, though slightly better than 30 years ago. But we still have issues with the side effects of anti-psychotics and other powerful drugs that, while they help make people functional again, only barely just, and at huge cost to the patient, this also means many of them stop taking the medications because of the side effects.
A lot of people seem to think that taking these types of drugs is as much an inconvenience as them taking 80 mg aspirin for their heart. But imagine a 20 year old, recently diagnosed with one of these disorders, who has to take a drug that will dull the senses and basically prevent them from feeling much emotion(if at all), for the rest of their lives. Or medications that give you suicidal thoughts, or numerous other side effects that are just as horrible.
We need better public awareness of brain health, and not just those literal fish oil salespeople hawking Omega-3. We also need better research in both chemical and non-chemical means to treat such disorders, focusing on reducing or eliminating side affects as well as treatment.
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