Sandy Hook Plus One Year: Any Mental Health Lessons?

Making changes:
The unchanged way in which we deal with mental health has continued to create a larger black hole where the mentally ill, families, friends and anyone's child (who may be attending school) can be assaulted or shot to death for no good reason.
These are the profoundly painful repercussions due to social neglect of a very vulnerable sick population of citizens that this nation currently treats like pariahs. We are so fearful of our own unpleasant feelings and thoughts that we lack compassion for ourselves. We must become more self-aware, so we can face another's darkest fear that they have lost control of their mind and life.
Social services for mental health is the way to cushion the blow of illness; no longer ignoring the feelings, fears, people and issues that come with it.
Participate in real solutions.
Artist Studio Cafe Foundation Mental Health Grant (Foundation Donation Website http://www.razoo.com/br/causes/Artist-For-Mental-Health-By-Maasai-Rees-Tabari) awards is a grant up to $1500 a year for individuals who are uninsured and under insured.
The organization will advocate for mental health and approach mental illness from the patients point of view and provide individual medical grants that the state and government isn't providing. The grant will fund the costs for medication, therapy, and psychiatry. The cafe retail environment will be a community forum in artistic venue to approach the facts of mental illness.
Too many lives are already lost while waiting for funding, social and political change in action and attitudes towards those suffering from mental illness.
Services must begin today - please participate in a real answer to what's needed!!!

I'm sorry. I must correct my comment about Nancy Lanza. It is apparent from this post that I am mistaken. She simply did not know how to handle the situation. I agree that prevention should be shared by many. Going back to the Columbine tragedy, the shooters' parents did not recognize the signs of their sons' condition as well and were villified by the press. Parent Together sounds like a very positive campaign and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
Thank you for this discussion.

I don't know. The mother theory appears to easily apply to Lanza's mother because, yes, he lived with her. But it also appears she was a bit of a gun nut and too dysfunctional to be a frontline of defense. I have no doubt that she loved him, but probably was unable to convert it into protection.
I am leery of pointing the finger at one person as a general rule - that somehow mothers are to blame for all the ills their children do.
Besides, there may be others around who may know the individual who can make a phone call. If you suspected something was up, wouldn't you? Well, apparently, this is not the way it seems to work. It seems when tragic situations like this happen, there is usually a chain along the path where multiple parties could have done something. Unfortunately, this is only recognized in hindsight. Take the Columbine tradegy - there is an interesting article in USAToday that dispels some of the myths manufactured by the media (i.e. they were loners bullied into retaliation). It also mentions that not only did some of the other students and friends know about the plan, they even egged them on. Any one of these kids could have talked to a teacher or called the police themselves, but failed to do so for whatever reason.
So, therein lies the complexity. The failure to act is shared by many. It is simply easier to blame the mother.

Judy, I agree with you. The problem is complex, yet for me it comes down to what a mother will do to protect her child. If her child's life is endangered, she will do ANYTHING to protect it. That's the fire I'd like to see lit in the face of the shame, stigma and the not-helpful suggestions that come from others (i.e., the story you shared about the woman who was told to quell her symptoms by praying). I know it's painful. I know it might be the hardest thing a mother will ever have to do. But dear God, if she won't do it, who will?

We can look at all the things that are wrong, and by searching we can attribute the blame and responsibility to a specific person, but as Randy points out, there is much more to family intervention - the need for information and resources that families can use to help their loved ones must be available, as well as society's acceptance that mental illness is a real medical issue.
For the most part, the decision not to intervene is due to many things - shame, fear, religion, etc. I am reminded of a story about a woman who was suffering from hallucinations and her husband, pastor and all her friends told her that she simply needed to pray to make the demons go away. This ended tragically.
So you see, the problem is much more complex if looked at in a broader sense.

Wow. What a great comment. When I speak about this issue, this is indeed part of the message: families need support, education and resources so that we can be a part of prevention and recovery. Too often families are left to their own devices to ”figure it out". Why? Budget cuts, stigma, heads in the sand.
Thanks to much for writing.

There is no question that Lanza was mentally ill and that his mother chose to minimize or justify his bizarre behavior. Unfortunately, she paid for that with her life. I spent the last year writing the true story of another tragedy where a young man with no history of violence suddenly murdered six members of his family because voices told him to do so. There had been plenty of signs, but the family -- even though they had sought help -- did not act upon them in any meaningful way. They, too, paid for their inaction with their lives. http://amzn.to/1hnlnB5 In my research of similar stories, I am finding a disturbing trend -- that of mothers who wait too long or never do seek help, often with disastrous consequences. Are mothers the new frontline for action in this war on senseless violence? I think so, I hope so. If they can convert their love for their children into mental health intervention instead of sheltering them from it, we might avert some future tragedies. Parenting together is a great concept and I believe moms have to lead the way. -- Janice Holly Booth