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

[Andreas Schou]

I'd also like to note, for those wringing their hands about Jason
Hamilton's rejection by the mental health system, that he was rejected
for treatment by Weeks and Vietri because they were uncertified to
perform the treatment he was court-ordered to participate in. He was
ordered to batterers' treatment, and, I suspect he -- like most
batterers -- did not want to partipate in batterers' treatment.
Rather, I suspect he wanted to whine to a therapist about his
victimization by the system.

He never once made an appointment with the only professional in the
area certified to treat batterers: George Langfield at Wilson
Psychological Associates.

-- ACS

On 6/1/07, Saundra Lund <sslund at roadrunner.com> wrote:
> 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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