Mental Illness

What is mental illness? According to National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], (2007), "mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning." ( 1) Mental illness can affect anyone at anytime in his or her life and mental illness can cause a person to take his or her own life depending on which type of mental illness the person has developed. There are many people who could successfully be treated for his or her mental illness but the person refuse to seek help and this makes the person's situation worse. What are some of the different types of mental illness, which can cause a person to refuse help? Why it is so hard to obtain help for the mentally ill if there is obviously something wrong with the person? There have been several confrontations between police officers and a mentally ill person and a number of these confrontations have led to the death of the mentally ill person. What is the course of action that a family member or a friend must go through in order to obtain help a mentally ill person? There is help for a person that is mentally ill as long as the person asks for help but if the person does not believe there is something wrong with them then it is hard to obtain help for that person.

There are many different types of mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia, to name a few. Major depression can affect how a person deals with his or her daily functions. According to NAMI, Major Depression, (2006) "major depression is persistent and can significantly interfere with an individuals thoughts, behavior, mood, activity, and physical health. Among all medical illnesses, major depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and many other developed countries." ( 1)

"Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function." (National Institute of Mental Health, Bipolar [NIMH], 2007, 1) A person that has a bipolar disorder can manage an effective life as long as the person seeks treatment and sticks with the treatment plan but if the person does not seek help then his or her symptoms will become worse "over time." (NIMH, Bipolar, 2007) "Often people with bipolar disorder do not realize how impaired they are, or they blame their problems on some cause other than mental illness."(NIMH, Bipolar, 2007, 50) A person with a bipolar disorder that does not understand that he or she needs help will have to become a danger to society or his/her self in order for a family member or friend to obtain help for them. Why should a mentally ill person have to deteriorate this much before a family member or friend can obtain help for that person?

Schizophrenia is another form of mental illness that can affect how a person relates to their family members, friends, and society in general." People that have this mental illness often see or hear things that no one else can see or hear. A person with schizophrenia may imagine that their phone is tapped or that people are out to get them. These symptoms can cause a person to withdraw from society and to fear people or things. (NIMH, Schizophrenia, 2007) According to NIMH (2007), "people with schizophrenia often resist treatment, believing that their delusions or hallucinations are real and psychiatric help is not required."(p. 15) A person with schizophrenia that is refusing to admit that something is wrong may need a family member or friend to try to obtain help but it can be frustrating for the family member or friend since there are laws that protect the mentally ill from being committed against his or her will.

One of the reasons that it is so hard to obtain help for the mentally ill is that if a person does not realize that he or she is mentally ill or having a breakdown then that person does not ask for help. A family member or friend can obtain help for their loved one if the family member or friend is able to prove that the mentally ill person is a danger to his or her self or to society. If a person that is mentally ill tries to kill themselves then they will be placed in a mentally institution for a brief period and then released. A person can only be held for up to three days unless he or she has been ordered by a court of law to stay for a longer period. (Rights for Individuals, 2004)

There was an incident on July 11, 2001 involving police officer Norman Rickman and Larry Lambert, which had been in and out of the mental institutions for trying to commit suicide. Larry had tried to commit suicide previously by taking 100 valiums and rigging a gun to shoot after he passed out but his wife found him before he passed out and Larry was rushed to the emergency room and was in intensive care for several days for taking so many pills. After Larry could be released from the hospital, he was placed in a mental institution, treated for his mental illness, and then released. The family members tried in vain to acquire help for Larry before the confrontation with the police officer, but since he did not ask for help and since he was taking the medication for his mental illness, which was schizophrenia, he was not considered a danger to himself or society. The family members tried to warn police that Larry stated that if a police officer tried to take him in that he would shoot the police officer. On July 11, 2001, Larry pulled a gun on a police officer after the officer stopped him for a taillight being out. Larry shot the police officer and then after Larry had been shot several times by the police officers he turned the gun on himself and took his on life. If the family members could have had Larry committed before he had gotten this bad then this confrontation could possible have never happened and Larry might still be alive. Larry had not always had schizophrenia and he was never violent until that fatal day on July 11, 2001. Larry had a successful painting business and was a loving father and husband until he developed his mental illness (J. Sizemore, personal communication, December 5, 2007)

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center (2007),

On April 11, 2007, Luis Salinas, 23, was fatally shot by police after he ran over a pedestrian. Salinas drove a pickup truck erratically down Sepulveda Boulevard, striking several cars and a woman before a police officer shot and killed him after he fought with the officer, who was injured. His mother, Irene Salinas, said that hours before he was killed she pleaded with police to apprehend her son. Just a few weeks earlier, Salinas' mother said she called sheriff's deputies in Lancaster after her son was running in the street. (Record ID: 4468)

What is the process