Tuesday, April 24, 2007

"Bedlam Revisited"

See this informative piece from Opinion Journal which addresses the question of "why the Virginia Tech shooter was not committed." (The comments to this article are also interesting.)

2 comments:

Kellsey said...

Very interesting article, Paul. Thanks for linking to it. I think this man has some great insights, and having worked as a counselor (albeit for a very short time), I can attest to the fact that there are definitely people out there who cannot make wise decisions about self-care who will not show up consistently for counseling appointments who are in fact paranoid and completely delusional as they attempt to interpret the world around them. It was disturbing to me then, and it is even more disturbing to me now as I think about this in light of Virginia Tech and in light of the growing number of homeless who are in fact schizophrenic or dealing with some other mind fracturing mental disease.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for those comments, Kellsey. Our office is in the downtown area of Miami, and there are many human derelicts who make it their home. Apart from the way their presence makes it a less happy place than it would be, it is a terrible shame that so many are there not out of an informed and competent choice but beause they are mentally deranged. Yes, it would be costly to house them properly, and our "fiscal conservatives" would rather not bear that cost in the form of hospitals and asylums. But we pay the cost of their presence in other ways, in terms of property values, crime, and in an erosion of the idea that each life is precious and valuable.