The horror of the killings at UCSB are still fresh on my mind. I am saddened for all the families whose children lost their lives. I am also saddened for the family of the shooter. Clearly, this is a family which has been impacted by mental illness. In a situation in which the shooter ended lives and destroyed the family members, I am haunted by the fact that his family did reach out. To the police. And the shooter somehow talked his way out of the very clear picture his videos painted of his intention to kill. Can you imagine being a parent in that position? Knowing that your child would likely go out and murder and you couldn't even get the police to deal with it?
Living with the mental illness of Maxine has educated me to the reality of living with a mentally ill family member. Thankfully, Maxine wasn't violent. She didn't have guns. Nobody's life was threatened. Yet, everyday we struggled to live in spite of her illness. Her anger and the name-calling cowed the whole family. Waking up to the prospect of watching my Mom's deterioration was painful. I also remember that at least from the viewpoint of a child, there was no help out there. Whenever my problems came to the attention of anybody with a modicum of a chance to perform the rescue our family needed, the focus was on me. Because my grades were bad. Or I was struggling socially. Any intervention was through the achool system. Maybe my memories are faulty. But I don't remember any meaningful intervention for the family as a whole. She denied. And in that day and age, we didn't know how to get help. Even though Maxine's difficulties were clearly in evidence in our suburban community through her unwashed state, strange behaviors, and hostility.
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Sometimes I thought it wasn't in evidence as much as I thought it should be. People didn't usually say much to me about it. Kind of like an elephant rampaging through my life. And nobody noticed. This was about fifty years ago. There wasn't as much knowledge about mental illness. We didn't have this pattern of serial killings connected to mental illness. Or the numbers of mentally ill that are untreated in spite of our increased knowledge. Haven't we learned anything in fifty years? Why wasn't the shooter treated in a more effective way? Especially after posting that video. Why did he have access to guns and ammunition making it even more likely that there would be a large body count?
I have been awed by the courage of Richard Martinez, the parent of one of the shooter's victims. His son, Chris Martinez, lost his life on that horrible day. Mr. Martinez has called for politicians to take control of the rampages that continue to take the lives of our children. We need treatment that reduces the probability that other shooters will fall through the cracks of a fractured mental health system. We need educated law enforcement. And we need reasonable and responsible gun control. #NotOneMore
Living with the mental illness of Maxine has educated me to the reality of living with a mentally ill family member. Thankfully, Maxine wasn't violent. She didn't have guns. Nobody's life was threatened. Yet, everyday we struggled to live in spite of her illness. Her anger and the name-calling cowed the whole family. Waking up to the prospect of watching my Mom's deterioration was painful. I also remember that at least from the viewpoint of a child, there was no help out there. Whenever my problems came to the attention of anybody with a modicum of a chance to perform the rescue our family needed, the focus was on me. Because my grades were bad. Or I was struggling socially. Any intervention was through the achool system. Maybe my memories are faulty. But I don't remember any meaningful intervention for the family as a whole. She denied. And in that day and age, we didn't know how to get help. Even though Maxine's difficulties were clearly in evidence in our suburban community through her unwashed state, strange behaviors, and hostility.
.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't in evidence as much as I thought it should be. People didn't usually say much to me about it. Kind of like an elephant rampaging through my life. And nobody noticed. This was about fifty years ago. There wasn't as much knowledge about mental illness. We didn't have this pattern of serial killings connected to mental illness. Or the numbers of mentally ill that are untreated in spite of our increased knowledge. Haven't we learned anything in fifty years? Why wasn't the shooter treated in a more effective way? Especially after posting that video. Why did he have access to guns and ammunition making it even more likely that there would be a large body count?
I have been awed by the courage of Richard Martinez, the parent of one of the shooter's victims. His son, Chris Martinez, lost his life on that horrible day. Mr. Martinez has called for politicians to take control of the rampages that continue to take the lives of our children. We need treatment that reduces the probability that other shooters will fall through the cracks of a fractured mental health system. We need educated law enforcement. And we need reasonable and responsible gun control. #NotOneMore
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