Ms, give this a reasonable, logical, not emotional thought.
Not emotional, ok.

Say you belong to a group that collects and celebrates women's fashion, in particular designer pumps. They can be expensive and dangerous literally in many ways. You are a responsible adult, your salary provides for you and your family and as a professional woman you feel they help convey your professionalism (as part of your professional wardrobe). You feel different when you wear them, empowered.
Despite all of this your friends and family just can't understand. They send you pictures of women who have fallen down stairs, broken limbs, had car accidents.... because they were wearing heels. It happens, they do actually care about your wellbeing and don't want to see you hurt. Some committee takes a few higher profile examples of how heels have injured women wearing them or been used as weapons in gruesome acts of violence (possibly self defense). Instead of showing what lead up to cases where heels were used as weapons said committee shows pictures of the shoes themselves next to those wounded by them. Now said committee brings this to your local and State legislature and proposes that heels shouldbe banned and any woman or (sick) man wearing them be fined or jailed.

Would that be a fair and logical assessment of high heel shoes and what your gov't could or should be doing with/about them and their owners/wearers?

Logic and reason only.

The 'article' is a conflation of mental illness and gun control. However after reading the article there is very little little mentality, illness, mental illness, or actual fact given as evidence of the titled claim.
This lady was in and out of mental hospitals, had xyz medications in large dosages, she smoked meth and hocked her kids life savings.....nothing. I know how you FEEL, I know it's plastered all over ever type of media there is which is exactly why you need to start asking Critical Thinking questions. Don't accept prewritten talking points at face value.

I wonder how those with loved ones and friends who are emotionally or mentally ill handle it?

I believe it would be dangerous to give others the authority to force people into care

I hear stories like the following and wonder if there may have been some way to prevent it

what are the options to help the ill if they dont want help before they harm others?

Msharmony.....I understand your question and my answer is I DON'T KNOW

Mental illness has many, many forms and is tremendously misunderstood in most cases.

I personally encountered this type of situation in my own family and neighborhood.
http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#

He had a severe history of manic depression, bipolar disorder. His brother and mother were poor and didn't have access to any kind of mental health treatment. His mother (my aunt) and my mother (his aunt), called police/ambulance several times in the months leading up to this tragedy to try to get him some help. A year before, the police and hospital managed to get him into a treatment facility. He was there long enough to get the correct meds, start feeling better and was released. He was "normal" as long as he was medicated correctly, however being poor he eventually stopped taking the meds due to cost and time away from his job to meet dr appointments. (it's a vicious circle as we all know)

We simply NEED some kind of public/social medical attention to help diagnose, treat and followup with these kind of cases.
I don't have a clue how to go about this, but it needs to happen.

OT....yes, he used a gun but that is absolutely not relevant to what this topic is about. Msharmony addressed that when she stated "I would feel the same and have the same pondering about people walking around with such illness if she had chosen to lock her kids in a car and drown them,,,or stab them in their sleep," .....remember Susan Smith?

The best they can.


I think before we start limiting freedoms to people with mental illness there "should" be mandatory testing for anyone applying for or running for political office or any government position whatsoever.

Not to mention constant peer review and general voting to determine the mental illness levels of the people and processes determining the mental illness of others.

Do you know the people or tests that determined the 42 year old woman was "mentally ill?"
Not really in the linked story. And I've never met her or them.


IMO this is focusing on too small a problem asking for too large a stick.
IMO first stop gang violence.
First stop war.
Government is just a big stick. You use big sticks on big problems.

On individual problems, like one crazy lady killed her two daughters, you focus on small sticks. Like family and community.

IMO that's a huge problem with the whole "think globally, act locally" movement.
You fix global problems with big sticks.
You fix local problems by your own actions.
When you keep reading small local problems happening all over the place you start seeing global problems and want a big stick to solve any, absolutely, that may possibly pop up since you think you see a global cause.

When really, for crap like this all you can really do is "what am I going to do to keep from losing it and harming people, how do I spot this problem in the people I know, what am I willing to take personal responsibility for."

Also

People cause harm to others all the time.
Mental, emotional, physical, social, spiritual, accidental, indirect.

Is everyone that causes harm mentally ill?
Is it taken for granted that it's the mental illness that is leading to causing harm?
IMO for all anyone knows mental illness is what keeps people from harming others it's just not strong enough sometimes, where if they were more mentally ill then they'd be less prone or susceptible to harming others..

IMO the way the sentence is written could be considered offensive by a lot of people.
I mean it could just as easily read "what are the options to help the blacks if they don't want help before they harm others?"

I wonder how those with loved ones and friends who are emotionally or mentally ill handle it?

I believe it would be dangerous to give others the authority to force people into care.

Its really kind of funny how mental illness doesn't cause mass shootings in most countries where there is strong gun laws.

The gun sickness in the United States shames us everyday. Thinking a person needs a gun is the start of gun sickness and it just goes on from there.

Four children were fatally stabbed in

Its really kind of funny how mental illness doesn't cause mass shootings in most countries where there is strong gun laws.

The gun sickness in the United States shames us everyday. Thinking a person needs a gun is the start of gun sickness and it just goes on from there.

harm here is used in the context of the example of the story

PHYSICAL,,,,


and no,, I am asking specifically about those who physically harm others AND are suffering from mental illness

not stating that anyone harming others is suffering mental illness

I see a difference here, because mentally ill implies a potential incapacity to cope or resolve problems

'black' denotes no such potential, and requires noones 'help' as it is not a condition that anyone can do anything about,its just a racial description,

Msharmony.....I understand your question and my answer is I DON'T KNOW

Mental illness has many, many forms and is tremendously misunderstood in most cases.

I personally encountered this type of situation in my own family and neighborhood.
http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#

He had a severe history of manic depression, bipolar disorder. His brother and mother were poor and didn't have access to any kind of mental health treatment. His mother (my aunt) and my mother (his aunt), called police/ambulance several times in the months leading up to this tragedy to try to get him some help. A year before, the police and hospital managed to get him into a treatment facility. He was there long enough to get the correct meds, start feeling better and was released. He was "normal" as long as he was medicated correctly, however being poor he eventually stopped taking the meds due to cost and time away from his job to meet dr appointments. (it's a vicious circle as we all know)

We simply NEED some kind of public/social medical attention to help diagnose, treat and followup with these kind of cases.
I don't have a clue how to go about this, but it needs to happen.

OT....yes, he used a gun but that is absolutely not relevant to what this topic is about. Msharmony addressed that when she stated "I would feel the same and have the same pondering about people walking around with such illness if she had chosen to lock her kids in a car and drown them,,,or stab them in their sleep," .....remember Susan Smith?