Virginia Tech massacre spotlights mental illness

By JACK Z. SMITH
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Many questions remain about Cho Seung Hui, who dubbed himself "Question Mark."
The biggest question is what drove him to kill 32 Virginia Tech students and teachers before taking his own life. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.
One thing appears clear to me: Cho was a loner and exceptionally angry young man probably suffering from major depression, a form of mental illness that affects about 15 million Americans, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. In 2005, an initial evaluation of Cho showed he was potentially a danger to himself or others as a result of his mental illness, according to an Associated Press report.
If anything good comes from last Monday's tragedy, perhaps it will be a heightened awareness of the need to get professional help for mentally ill persons -- even in some cases when it's against their will -- before they do serious harm to themselves or others.
That's the hope of veteran author Pete Earley, whose superb book on mental illness, "Crazy" (subtitled "A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness"), was a finalist in the Pulitzer Prize nonfiction competition for which winners were announced Monday.
Backlash
But Earley, a Fairfax, Va., resident who has a stepson at Virginia Tech, is fearful that the massacre at the school could negatively affect efforts to secure better and more humane treatment for the mentally ill.
"I think it's going to scare people," he said. "It's going to increase the stigma about people with mental illness." It could cause some Americans "to want to lock up everybody" who is mentally ill, he said.
Earley, a longtime friend of mine, felt compelled to write "Crazy" after a son began suffering from bipolar disorder and faced criminal charges resulting from breaking into and vandalizing a home during a psychotic episode.
After a frustrating and lengthy ordeal, Earley prevailed in securing treatment for his son's mental illness and helping avert a felony conviction that could have ruined his prospects for work.
As Earley wrote in his book, America's jails are much more likely than state mental hospitals to house persons with serious mental illness.
Fewer than 55,000 receive treatment in state mental hospitals, but nearly 300,000 are in jails and prisons.
"The largest public mental health facility in America is not a hospital. It's the Los Angeles County Jail. On any given day, it houses 3,000 mentally disturbed inmates," Earley wrote.
Increased government funding and better health insurance coverage are needed for treating the mentally ill. Many community mental health centers are overwhelmed, particularly when it comes to giving people with severe mental illness the help they desperately need.
Linda Ragsdale, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Tarrant County, Texas, stresses that mental illness is, in most cases, "very treatable." Someone such as Cho, 23, the Virginia Tech senior who went on the shooting rampage, is clearly an extreme case.
Ideally, the shootings should offer an opportunity to educate the public about mental health issues and encourage mentally ill people to get help, Ragsdale said.
Mental hospitals
Many of America's state mental hospitals were shut down after revelations that they simply warehoused people under often horrible conditions. But there weren't adequate community facilities in place to help those streaming from the hospitals.
I still remember the terrible sadness I felt when visiting my mother at a dreary state mental hospital when I was a fifth grader. A bright Baylor University graduate, she suffered from schizophrenia beginning in her late 20s. It contributed greatly to my parents' divorce and ensuing financial difficulties.
Most mentally ill people can benefit greatly from medication and psychotherapy. Many can hold jobs and lead near-normal lives.
Extreme cases such as Cho are more difficult to deal with. But we must keep trying to reach even those like him, lest they destroy themselves and others.
Smith is an editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune.