Illness

The lack of mental health resources in the United States has contributed to a significant increase in visits to the emergency department ("How to care for mentally ill people?" Jan. 8). Psychiatric emergencies grew by 131 percent between 2000 and 2007, according to a recent study. Psychiatric patients often "board" in the hallways of emergency department for several days, waiting for inpatient psychiatric services. This contributes to overcrowding which harms everyone. Emergency physicians are dedicated to providing a medical home for any patient who can't access medical care including people with health insurance who are unable to get timely appointments with their primary care physicians.

Your editorial urging families and friends of people suffering from mental illness to help them get treatment before a tragedy occurs was spot on, but it's something that often is easier said than done ("Unquiet minds," Dec. 27). Fortunately, there is help available to families who are struggling to access care for loved ones who are exhibiting signs of mental illness. Both Baltimore City and Baltimore County have 24/7 crisis hotlines, which can be reached by calling 410-433-5175 and 410-931-2214, respectively.

A state task force studying gun access laws for people with mental illnesses has proposed authorizing police to seize firearms from individuals deemed a credible threat to themselves or others. Such seizures, the panel said Wednesday, would take place after law enforcement "substantiated" reports from mental health providers, social workers and other professionals. The proposal is among nine recommendations by a task force convened months before December's mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that sparked a nationwide debate on gun control and access to mental health services.

Last week's tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., has the country asking itself: What has happened to our society? Is it lax gun control laws? Underfunding for treatment of the seriously mentally ill? The breakdown of the nuclear family? Violent video games? All of the above? Although much remains unknown about the shooter's mental state, it appears he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which typically is not associated with violent behavior. But one aspect of the shooter's emerging profile is that he was socially isolated.

Horrific as the crime was, the fact that a Baltimore judge last week accepted Alexander Kinyua's plea of "guilty but not criminally responsible" in connection with the brutal beating of a classmate last May doesn't come completely as a surprise. Although successful insanity pleas are rare, Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin said she accepted Mr. Kinyua's after finding "overwhelming" evidence he was suffering from a serious mental illness at the time of his offense. What the judge's ruling did not resolve, however, was why no one else seemed to notice Mr. Kinyua was going off the rails, or if they did, why they apparently did not get him help or warn others.

After 31 years in local law enforcement, I'd often tell myself that I had seen and experienced every act of cruelty man can inflict. In light of the despicable act of violence this month in Newtown, Conn., I was clearly wrong. We are learning more, day by agonizing day, of the details of the crime, the history of Adam Lanza, the heroism of the school staff, and the stolen wonder of 20 beautiful little children. An incredible and horrible tragedy - but one that perhaps could have been averted had we reacted to the outrages of the past.

I am grateful to Mark Komrad for his expert commentary related to persuading a troubled loved one or friend into professional mental health treatment and The Sun for publishing it ("Helping them to get help," Dec. 19). I would like to emphasize a point Dr. Komrad made twice: Mental illness should not be equated with crime. Mistakenly, some of the public identify mass killers, as in Newtown, Conn., with all people with any mental illness. Consequently, the social stigma of mental illness is an added burden people with these illnesses must bear.

It is wonderful to have freedoms, but sometimes they are inappropriate: Someone who is having mental problems needs to have boundaries set by family or society ("In wake of Newtown shootings, Obama says nation must better protect children," Dec. 17). I know whereof I speak because when I was a child a member of my family became mentally ill. Fortunately, another family member had the ability to take necessary measures to see that person was treated at an institution where care and help were available.

Though none of us yet knows much of Adam Lanza's backstory, it doesn't take a mental health professional to suspect that a man who killed his mother before killing so many children and adults was likely suffering from a severe mental disorder. Although mental illness very rarely results in violence, let alone such heinous behavior, the fact is that so many of those who could benefit from state-of-the-art treatment do not receive it, for a variety of reasons. For example, some fear the implications of facing a condition that might limit the power of will to control thoughts, feelings or behaviors.

A junior at Glen Burnie High School in Anne Arundel County died Tuesday after becoming ill the day before with symptoms associated with bacterial meningitis, school officials said Wednesday. A letter was sent home to students' parents Wednesday outlining the girl's death and providing facts about bacterial meningitis, which is less contagious than viral meningitis but still deadly, said Bob Mosier, a school system spokesman. The girl's illness has not been confirmed by doctors or a medical examiner to have been from meningitis, but the school system - in consultation with the county health department - decided to move proactively to alert the school community in case meningitis is confirmed, Mosier said.