[Vision2020] Today's Daily News HER VIEW: Don't confuse mentalillness with criminality

[deb]

Thanks for posting this, Saundra. She has said it very well.
Debi R-S

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at roadrunner.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 12:42 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] Today's Daily News HER VIEW: Don't confuse 
mentalillness with criminality


> Visionaries:
>
> Below please see an *excellent* column that appears in today's Daily News.
> I'm very grateful to see this distinction made between mental
> illness/psychiatric disorders and personality disorders.  Let's hope the
> media -- and all of us -- learn this important distinction.
>
> "HER VIEW: Don't confuse mental illness with criminality
> By Elise Augenstein
> June 1, 2007
>
> I would like to discuss the meaning of the word "insane." Since the Moscow
> shootings of May 19, many people, including University of Idaho President
> Timothy White, editorial writers of the Lewiston Tribune, and contributors
> to the Daily News, have labeled Jason Hamilton as "insane" or as "mentally
> ill."
>
> There are two reasons I can think of why one might call Hamilton "insane."
> The first would be purely by virtue of his actions, that is, "He must be
> insane to do something like that."
>
> The second would be because he has a history of mental illness. By all
> accounts I have heard his entire history of "mental illness" was an
> evaluation at St. Joseph's Medical Center after a suicide attempt in
> February and an order by the court for him to get counseling, which he
> ignored. By those accounts, all other aspects of his history are purely
> criminal. According to newspaper stories, he killed and tortured animals. 
> He
> also tried to strangle his girlfriend and was subsequently convicted of
> assault.
>
> Let's discuss the definition of mental illness. Since I am a board 
> certified
> medical psychiatrist, I believe I have good knowledge of this subject.
>
> Psychiatrists divide medical diagnoses into different "axes." Axis I
> consists of psychiatric disorders such as major depression, bipolar
> disorder, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. These disorders have a
> genetic and biochemical basis and can usually be treated very successfully
> with medication and/or psychotherapy.
>
> Axis II is reserved largely for those phenomena known as "personality
> disorders." By definition, a personality disorder is "an enduring pattern 
> of
> inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations
> of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in
> adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress
> or impairment." (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
> fourth edition.) The "distress or impairment" caused by a personality
> disorder can sometimes be treated, but the individual's personality and
> behavior can be extremely difficult to treat, especially since such
> individuals are often uncooperative with treatment.
>
> Based on the evidence I have, I would strongly suggest Hamilton's major
> psychiatric problem was an Axis II disorder. Many criminals have 
> antisocial
> personalities and reports of his past actions certainly fit the antisocial
> personality type. His crime has sparked discussion of the inadequacy of 
> the
> Idaho and United States mental health system, which is a good thing.
> Insurance coverage for mental illness is often pitifully inadequate and
> treatment options in this area are limited. However, to link his criminal
> behavior with mental illness in general is a huge slap in the face to all 
> of
> the many kind, sane, law-abiding citizens whom I treat every day in my
> practice.
>
> By our best estimates, one in 40 adults in the United States suffers from
> bipolar disorder, more than 1 percent struggles with schizophrenia, and
> about one in 10 adolescents and adults will wrestle with serious 
> depression.
> Fifty percent of the American public will need mental health treatment at
> some point in their lives. These people are as common in academia as
> everywhere else, so you can assume (and I know firsthand) that
> demographically peculiar college towns like Moscow and Pullman have as 
> many
> people with mental illness as any other place. They are your colleagues at
> work, your neighbor, your teacher and your friend. For all of our sakes, 
> we
> all need to educate ourselves about mental illness.
>
> Let's not confuse mental illness with criminality. That would be insane.
>
> Elise Augenstein is a medical psychiatrist. She was trained at the Mayo
> Clinic and at Vanderbilt University and was previously a faculty member at
> the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She has a part-time practice at
> Palouse Psychiatry in Moscow."
>
>
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