The Desperate Need for Mental Healthcare in Our Country

By Tracy McCoy

As of February 14th there have been 67 mass shootings in 2023. Does that take your breath away? It did mine. Frankly it made me sick. I am not talking about guns in this article, I want to talk about mental health. The most recent mass shooting as I write to you happened in my home state of Michigan at Michigan State University. Three students were killed and five others critically injured. The gunman, a 43 year old man died of a self inflicted gunshot as police closed in on him. They announced he had no connection to the university and no apparent motive. The man’s father told authorities that his son became mean and evil after the death of his mother two years earlier. A neighbor of the gunman said he lived with his father and frequently fired his gun out his back door into the back yard in the middle of the city. There were at least two people who knew this guy was dangerous and needed help.

Everyone from the White House down expressed their great sadness to the families of the young people who were murdered and those injured. The President, the Governor, the officials at the University all sent their condolences. They are going to send in counselors to help the students who were traumatized. This help is desperately needed for these students. It was just a few short months ago that there was a school shooting in nearby Oxford, Michigan. For one student it was the second deadly mass shooting she has survived. She was 11 years old when a gunman armed with an assault rifle gunned down 20 first graders and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in her hometown of Newtown, Connecticut.

Michigan’s governor had this to say, “It doesn’t have to be this way. This is a uniquely American problem. Too many of us scan rooms for exits when we enter them. We plan who that last text or call would go to. We should not, we cannot, accept living like this.” She is correct. America’s children are dying at the hands of men and women who are mentally ill. You can not walk into a school and shoot 20 first graders without being seriously mentally ill. Our country is suffering a devastating lack of mental health options for their citizens. We ignore it because it makes us uncomfortable. We hear there is a mass shooting and we all shake our heads and for a moment put ourselves in the place of those frantic parents who are driving to the schools, not knowing if their kids are alive or dead. Our Hearts go out to the families of the church members shot during worship services who never got to say goodbye. Then some other tragedy happens and we forget until the next time.

We build stadiums for football games, we build open air markets for events, we build parks and concert halls, yet mental healthcare is not available, underfunded or limited. Meanwhile, the sick self medicate with drugs and alcohol. Children are abused, spouses are abused, jobs are lost, suicides happen, jails are full and mass shooting happen. We call them evil, dark, crazy, but mental illness is a disease that can be treated with medications and therapy. According to the National Institutes of Health, scientists have long recognized that many psychiatric disorders tend to run in families, suggesting potential genetic roots. Perhaps or maybe trauma and abuse breed trauma and abuse. Depression and anxiety are rampant in our society and it is beginning earlier and earlier.

What is at the root of mental illness? According to Mind.org.uk is it potentially childhood abuse, trauma or neglect, social isolation or loneliness, poverty, bereavement, stress, longterm poor health, homelessness, drug and alcohol misuse, domestic violence, bullying and abuse. They acknowledge physical causes such as neurological conditions such as head injury or epilepsy can have an impact on behavior and mood. Our Veterans suffer from the trauma of war.

Why can’t we invest in affordable mental health care for our nation? The National Institutes of Health report that the United States has some of the worst mental health related outcomes, including the highest suicide rate and second highest drug related death rate. The Commonwealth Fund states, “The relatively high unmet mental health needs among U.S. adults may reflect a limited health system capacity to meet those needs. Compared to most other high-income countries, the U.S. has a smaller total supply of mental health workers, with an estimated 105 professionals per 100,000 people.” So it seems we know that there are millions who are in desperate need of help, yet we don’t address the need. Somewhere tonight a mother is planning her child’s funeral and I am left to wonder if it could have been prevented.