Gun Control or Mental Health Care? Aurora, Colorado

The shock of today's mass shooting in Aurora, CO has reignited the on again/off again debate about gun control. Apparently last year Aurora was listed as one of the safest places in our country to live.
Then this happens, and guns are the main topic of conversation.

Is it the correct conversation though?

Might I propose that a city is only as safe as it's most mentally unhealthy and untreated member?

Folks, the kid that did the shooting was described in numerous media outlets as a "normal" 24 year old who was active in his mainstream church. So far as we know, he wasn't into gangs, or drugs, or any other lifestyle that might endanger his stability.

If this man was as he is being described, then clearly there were mental health issues lurking.

Who knows, maybe he talked to a professional at some point about his inclinations, but my guess is he didn't. People in the psychiatry world would have to report someone who was a danger to himself or others.

If we start examining how mental health is treated in this country we will see a trend. Often times when those who need mental health support look into that support, they find pitfalls.

Insurance companies have largely avoided solidly covering mental health for years. At a higher co-pay, after the correct code is entered, if a patient is referred, records that are returned to the military... Pick a hoop to jump through.

Say the person decides help is worth all the struggle that is required by a company or policy---that person needing the help may receive four or six sessions with a professional. If they need more than that, most policies will re-evaluate from that point forward but there's no guarantee they won't cut a person off. Mental health isn't a broken ankle. Some people need a few sessions to help them through a tough situation, and others need long term care.

Why isn't there a huge unstoppable uproar when it comes to caring for these people? Why does the uproar only happen when someone doesn't get help and tragedy strikes?

The Affordable Care Act is taking a step by bringing parity between mental and physical health and that's great. We as a society need to go further though and stop vilifying the people who get help before a disaster occurs.

Personally, I would much rather demystify and de-shame the policy of going to a mental health professional than watch another shooting take place.

So sure, we can keep talking about guns and gun control. I 100% agree that the right to bear arms wasn't intended to include "oozies", but is that really the conversation this tragedy should spark?

Mental Health or Mental Illness?

Yesterday morning in Seattle a man shot and killed several people in two different locations. When he was found, several hours later, walking down the street and confronted by police, he then shot himself. According to ABC news, his brother was interviewed after the incident and said it was "no surprise" to his family and friends. Apparently the shooter was struggling with mental-health issues.

The reason I'm writing about this today is because I live in Seattle and yesterday was terrifying. No one knew where, or who this man was. They didn't know his motivation. They didn't know if there was more than one person involved. This was a completely random incident.

The question for me is if so many people were aware of this man struggling with mental health, what were the reasons behind him not getting the medical help he needed?

As a country we tend to brush off mental health issues. I don't know if it's because of shame, or societal expectations.  I don't know if it has gotten worse over the years, or if we just hear about it more now thanks to the media. What I do know is there are entirely too many people with mental illness who are not being treated.

The National Collation for the Homeless published a study showing mental illness in the top three causes for homelessness. I don't believe this particular shooter in Seattle was homeless. However, according to another story from Miami this week about a naked cannibal eating a man's face, that man was homeless and drug addicted which may mean he also was dealing with some mental illness. My point is, mental illness happens in every category of people, and not every category of people has the coverage to be treated for it.

Homeless people have little access to health care. Part time employees have little access to health care. Full time contractors, small business workers, some retail employees, all have little access to health care.  That's a problem.

Here's a bigger problem, most health insurance policies don't cover very well for mental health. Premium policies may have catastrophic coverage up to a million dollars if a person finds him or herself in a terrible accident. However, in the same policy they may only  cover (with a high co-pay) a few sessions of therapy for the mentally ill. Considering the cost of antipsychotic drugs, the policy's coverage might be lacking there as well.

My frustration is when a mentally ill person who has not been adequately treated, causes the catastrophic coverage to kick in for someone else.  Wouldn't it make more sense to not cut corners on mental health coverage and potentially avoid a catastrophic incident? Mental health is not separate from physical health and it should not be treated separately.

Cancerversary: Celebrating 5 years since rebirth

The first time I heard the word "cancerversary" I remember thinking it was so clever, albeit a little morbid. I was fairly certain no one celebrated having cancer. Why would anyone celebrate having cancer?

Once I was inducted into the cancer community though, the word made more sense to me. No one was celebrating cancer, they were celebrating life. Life with cancer, life without cancer, life in general.

Cancerversaries are sometimes set as when people finish their treatment, or eradicate their disease. 

For me,  I count my cancerversary as the day the doctor came into the hospital room and told me I have leukemia. Since my leukemia is chronic, I don't get to celebrate the day my cells went back to normal and the leukemia vanished from my body. 

I do however, have the opportunity to celebrate my rebirth. 

There was a jolt. I felt like my body and my spirit were separate. At one point, that night of diagnosis, I felt claustrophobic within myself. My spirit "I" was at odds with my physical "I." The spirit "I" didn't want to deal with the physical "I's"drama. 

In that moment, when I separated from myself, I could see things much more clearly than ever before. The love handles on my form that caused me to wear a larger size of jeans didn't matter. They hadn't mattered all along, my physical "I" just didn't know love handles didn't matter.

My conflicted relationships with others weren't conflicted at all. There were people I had to let go of, and there were people I had to pull closer. In that moment when I separated from myself, I knew exactly where each relationship fit.

Passion for music, love, creativity, spirituality, assisting a greater cause, and leaving a legacy far outweighed the amount of money I had squirreled away in the bank. 

I was clear. 

In this, my fifth year of cancerversaries, I am reminded of my rebirth.  The clarity of that first day isn't as searing now. However, the ability to prioritize, is still strong within me. 

I am celebrating today the love in my life, the passion in my words, the deeper understanding of self, and yes, five years of living with cancer.

Happy Cancerversary to me, and to anyone else who has been given the gift of deeply understanding the importance of living.