Mental Health Issues

It does not take a scientist, a psychic or rocket scientist to know that mental health problems plague America. Our nation is most likely not alone in this quagmire, either. A look at other nations and their outbursts of domestic mayhem, points to similar pains America also suffers.

In New Jersey, a 16-year old on New Year’s Eve kills his mother, father, sister, and girlfriend of his grandfather. The grandfather and brother escape to tell the story. No known motive yet.

A lesbian couple with two of their children are bound and gagged and then their throats were slashed. This occurred before Christmas in Troy, New York (Albany/Schenectady/Troy capitol region). No known motive yet. An older son was not home at the time and his life is spared.

A young man in Colorado early on New Year’s Eve creates a disturbance; police arrive and they are ambushed by the man; five police officers are shot; one dies. No motive yet known.

These events are domestic. They are citizens killing citizens. This is not an international conspiracy or a political act. It is pure derangement of solo souls compelled to act out a drama only they can see. The rest of us observe and process. We attempt to make sense of the nonsensical. It is and remains a mystery, until…

Yes, until. One day we begin to realize the complex story behind each act. One day we capture the essence of what must have been going through the mind of the perpetrator of the horror. And we are led reluctantly to the conclusion that a deranged personality is and was at work.

We can seek other answers but few fall into our hands. For me the complexity has one simple reality – life became so overwhelmingly complex that the inner soul snaps and strikes out at anything resembling order and cause of personal pain. Mental breakdown is as good a term as any.

I will leave the psychiatrists and behaviorists to parse out more exact causes. However, clearly the person could no longer retain personal control over his or her life. They snapped and they did the unthinkable. It is what it is and the rest of us should ponder how things became so complicated.

What can we do to lessen the stress these people feel? Do we even see the stress building in them? Can we take steps to help them ease their predicament before the horror event occurs? What can you and I do to keep our community whole and healthy?

Something is wrong; we need to understand it. Then we need to fix it as best we can.

But can we? I don’t know but I want to fix it. How and with what tools can this be accomplished? And who has the skills to do this?

Good questions, all. Where are the answers?

January 3, 2017