Pete Earley

I would never wish a serious mental illness on anyone, but I do wonder how our elected officials’ perspectives might change if someone close to them became seriously ill.

Consider Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, the prosecutor who declared that the only acceptable sentence in the horrific Aurora, Colorado, mass murder shooting was death for James Eagan Holmes, a 25 year-old student who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“You can bring justice to this act and to him,” Brauchler said during his closing arguments in the case, pointing at Holmes. “And for James Egan Holmes, justice is death.”

“Justice is death” had become Brauchler’s mantra from the beginning of the movie shooting tragedy.

No one can discount the savagery of Holmes’ actions. He murdered 12 people, including a 6 year-old child – and injured 70 others. As The Washington Post reported, the stories of these victims moved jurors to tears. All of us feel empathy for the victims. The survivors’ pain and suffering is difficult to imagine.

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I will be appearing on NPR’s nationally syndicated Diane Rehm Show on Tuesday, August 4th, discussing innovative ways to divert individuals with mental illnesses from jails and prisons into treatment.  Check local listings for broadcast times and please call her show to add your voice to those in support of mental health courts and other jail diversion efforts.

Also at noon on Tuesday, Senators Scott Chris Murphy  (D-CT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will introduce their bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. This bill is similar, but different from Rep. Tim Murphy’s House version, the Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act, that failed to make it out of committee last session but was re-introduced and has 100 sponsors. I will be posting a comparison after the Murphy/Cassidy bill is introduced. I am a fan of both Senators, especially Senator Cassidy, who I’ve spoken to several times and is a medical doctor. He understands first-hand why reforms are necessary.

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Dear Pete,

Our son became homeless at age 22. During the 18 years since then, there have been multiple hospitalizations, a myriad of letters written to psychiatrists begging for treatment, and correspondence with judges seeking support for his grave disability. All written to no avail.

On many occasions our son would return home. During this time we would be able to provide him some respite and warmth. We could nurse his bug bitten legs and feed his thin frame. I could wash his filthy clothing and buy him a sleeping bag that wouldn’t smell of urine.

But we could only take care of him for brief periods of time because the voices he heard eventually told him we were the enemy. His mania would take over and our opportunity to help care for him would evaporate with the need to call 911.

Our son was clearly gravely disabled and as a result of his distorted and paranoid thinking he was homeless. Yet no judge or treatment facility would help him long enough to make a difference. The horror stories we told of his bizarre beliefs or behaviors did not seem to matter.

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From My Files Friday: The shootings at a movie theater in Louisiana by a man with a history of mental illness reminded me of an editorial that I published in 2013 after a gunman murdered twelve people at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. As in the Navy Yard shooting case, there were ample warnings in Louisiana that the shooter was severely mentally ill.

Getting the Mentally Ill the Treatment They Need

By Pete Earley for The Washington Post  September 27, 2013 

When should society intervene if a person shows signs of mental illness?

As with the shooters at Virginia Tech, in Tucson and in Aurora, Colo., there were ample warnings that Aaron Alexis was experiencing mental distress before he killed 12 people at Washington’s Navy Yard. Police in Newport, R.I., did nothing to help Alexis when he complained about hearing voices and being zapped by skin-vibrating microwaves.

They were not legally obligated to.

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The call from my wife’s doctor came after a routine check-up. A tiny speck of blood in her urine. The doctor sent Patti to a urologist. He suggested a CT scan of her kidneys.

In the past decade, Patti’s two younger sisters have died from cancer. Her mother is currently in stage four. Would you be afraid?

The scan revealed two lesions, one hardly noticeable. Both less than 1 cm. Some of us never learned metrics. It is 0.39 inch.

A biopsy was ordered. Worries before the needle went in. What would it show?

Whew! Relief. High fives! Smiles. It’s benign. No cancer.

Just the same, Patti said, “I want it out.”

Our insurance company asked why? Said it wasn’t necessary. The biopsy showed no cancer. Leave it alone. Live with it.

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