Arizona Shooting Tragedy: What People Need to Know About Mental Illness

Last Updated on Thursday, 13 October 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Thursday, 13 October 2011 04:21

Health Information about Arizona Shooting Tragedy: What People Need to Know About Mental Illness

I want to express my heartfelt sympathy to Rep. Giffords, her staff, and the citizens of Arizona who were killed or injured in the senseless tragedy on January 8.

While much has been made about the mental state of the accused killer, no one yet knows what drove the young man to engage in such a violent act. Even so, it should be stressed that a person with a mental health condition is no more likely to be violent than any other person.

Often after incidents like this, people who knew the accused ask themselves what they could have done to prevent the tragedy. No one knows what, if anything, could have been done to change the course of events, but now there is a way for people to take action and possibly prevent such tragedies from happening.

A novel, evidence-based public education program exists that teaches average people how to assess a situation, select and implement appropriate interventions, and help a person in crisis or developing the signs and symptoms of mental illness. This groundbreaking training equips people to provide initial help until appropriate professional, peer, or family support can be engaged. Participants also learn about the risk factors and warning signs of specific illnesses such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addiction.

The training has also done much to expand peoples knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments, and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by helping people understand and accept mental illness as a medical condition. Training courses are offered around the country, allowing as many people as possible to take advantage of this program. The locations for these courses can be found on the sites of participating national mental health care organizations.

We also know that after highly publicized tragedies like this, people may be seeking mental health counseling. To find a provider, we suggest that they use search tools that can also be found on the sites of national mental health care organizations.

We, of course, understand that no amount of training can guarantee these horrific acts wont recur, but we do encourage that people get trained and be better informed in the hope that they may be able to help and intervene early.

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