Republicans cruel attacks on the President's son Hunter Biden have backfired!

 Echo opinion letters published in the New York Times

Republicans created a wrong minded brouhaha about Hunter Biden who is recovering from addiction illness and not running for- and never has run for- any political office.

Dear Editor:  President Biden lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident. He lost his son Beau to brain cancer. Hunter Biden, his other son, has just been found guilty of felony charges involving gun possession related to his addiction illness and he is in recovery.

We live in a painfully polarized time. But I would argue that, regardless of party affiliation, compassion and empathy are warranted in acknowledging our shared humanity. While pundits will no doubt turn their focus to political fallout, we should not lose sight of the big picture: These are real people, with real lives, and real suffering.

From Larry S. Sandberg, New York The writer is a psychiatrist.

Dear Editor:  Addiction is a disease, and neither intelligence, education or great family support can prevent it. Such things also do not prevent cancer, mental illness, Parkinson’s or any other disease.

Hunter Biden fell prey to addiction, and as a result made bad choices that got him into trouble and have troubled his loving family to this day, even though he has been sober for a while. 

Hopefully Hunter Biden will continue to be recovering— although prison is not a good environment for an addict trying to stay sober!

If Hunter Biden weren’t the president’s son, he likely would not have even been on trial for something he did that thousands of addicts do in our gun-loving society, and get away with.

From Manuela Bonnet-Buxton, in Cornelius, Oregon

Hypocrisy on steroids! Maine's Former Republican Governor Paul LePage calls for mental health reform?

Under the title "You cannot make this stuff  up!" Echo opinion letter published in Central Maine.com

It is great 😒that former Maine governor Paul LePage is fundraising for the victims of the shootings where 18 innocent people were gunned down in Lewiston, Maine. 

But when asked how we should move forward to prevent such events he said, “We have to deal with mental illness.”

What hypocrisy 😬from the man who vetoed legislation to expand MaineCare services to more Mainers — care that would have given them access to mental health services. 

Former Governor LePage is the man who cut the eligibility of many Mainers to obtain mental health services, and who rejected federal funds for youth with mental illness issues❗

LePage is man who vetoed legislation to increase wages at Maine’s mental health institutions. And the man who vetoed Maine’s red flag law.  

From Roy Miller, M.D. in Somerville, a town of 600 people in Maine

Mourning the death of Robin Williams

Robin Williams 1951-2014

August 11, 2014 is the day when comedy was stopped by the startling suicide death of the talented actor and comedian Robin Williams. Perhaps it's an over reaction to his suicide on my part, but I find the endless video clips of Williams causing uncontrolled hilarity, postmortem, to be over the top.  Williams died by suicide because he was the victim of mental illness and that's absolutely nothing to laugh about.

Some rare people seem like they're so charismatic and talented that they'll live forever.  Robin Williams was a personality with boundless energy, like he could live forever on sheer adrenalin. 

Unfortunately, Williams also, apparently, lived on the edge of a proverbial "black hole" in his universe of fame, because on August 11, 2014, he fell victim to a negative energy and he killed himself leaving a world of mourners.

Robin Williams in skits causing non-stop hilarity on stage, TV and movie screens is absolutely not the way the talented actor and comedian ended his life.  His tragic suicide on August 11, 2014 in California was a final, and definitive statement about the seriousness of his mental illness and despair.

Neverhteless, the enormous out pouring of love and support from a universe of fans somehow just wasn't enough to raise Williams out of the darkness of intense depression. As a nurse who has cared for the mentally ill, it's my opinion that this final deadly act by Williams was, more than likely ,not his first suicidal attempt. Certainly, he exhibited suicidal ideation in the past because, clinically, these horrible deaths seldom happen without some previous history.

Consequently, it's beyond sad to hear Williams being mourned via endless comedy clips from his performances.

In fact, what we know is that Robin Williams had a clinical disease named clinical depression.  

This disease is sad and not a subject for comedy.

Although our instincts react to Williams untimely death by remembering him as a talented and creative comedian, the fact is, his life ended in an extraordinary act of desperately deadly depression.

We should not remember Williams in endless comedy clips. Rather, let us honor his creative life by providing support for the treatment and care for people with mental illness.

Belgian children are now the victims of the slippery slope predicted by the right to life advocates

Belgium lawmakers vote for children's right to die law. This is horrible because children are frequently the beneficiaries of spontaneous remissions. Of course, some children have difficult developmental difficulties from which they may never recover. Nevertheless, children should be the recipients of boundless hope. Anyone who puts out the option of death to a child for any reason has, truly, lost their own humanity. 

There's absolutely no reason, whatsoever, under any circumstances, to offer euthanasia as an end of life option for a child. Children are incapable of making these decisions for themselves; therefore no one should be authorized to make these life ending decisions on their behalf, regardless of the intention. Never. 

Although evidence of loss of brain function over an extended period of time can require the removal of life support, this decision should not be  interpreted as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the intentional intervention at the end of life to bring about an unnatural and premature death. Children deserve hope, not death.

As a professional registered nurse, I've seen families bond and medical providers rally to save the lives of children. It's unethical to put families and medical care givers in a position of advocating for the right to die for children. Moreover, it's morally unconscionable to permit euthanasia for children, because they have a strong capacity to recover from illness and injury. Children often outlive their terminal illness diagnosis. 

How many times do we read about children who are the victims of drowning being revived with no apparent harm? This is particularly evident when children are the victims of hypothermia. Moreover, children respond favorably to life saving interventions like transplants and immune therapies to treat malignancies.

Nevertheless, you must listen to this. 

I've heard parents tell me how having a mentally ill child is more difficult to deal with than terminal illness.

Do blog readers need to read the above again?  

Parents have told me, as a nurse, how a mentally ill child is more difficult to deal with than terminal illness.

Treating children with mental illnesses are expensive and recoveries are rare.  

Treating children with life threatening illness like cancer or metabolic diseases can be successfully accomplished. Remissions are common.

Children, especially those in Belgium, are now the victims of the slippery slope predicted by the zealous right-to-life advocates. There's dwindling hope for anyone with terminal illnesses to live longer lives, if people are considering euthanasia for children.  

A society that voluntarily authorizes children to euthanize will also put at risk the end of life care for everyone else.  

Belgium has now validated the ugly outcome of the "slippery slope" argument. This euthanasia decision by Belgium lawmakers is unethical and it puts all people with terminal illnesses at risk for having caregivers abandon hope for remissions or extended life options - especially those with mental illnesses.

As a nurse, I firmly believe the above to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. My opinion is validated from experience. 

President Obama Focus on Mental Health Care

Mental Health care and Mental Illness, in the past, has been the high profile focus of First Spouses.  

Perhaps, as a result of the relationship between gun violence and mental illness, President Obama is now speaking about how to support people who are seeking mental health treatment.

The massacre at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, raised awareness about mental health issues. Although little is known about the state of mind of the shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who committed suicide, he was reported to have exhibited atypical social character traits.
Mental illness and treatment has received executive level attention from past first spouses:

Rosalynn Carter leads a foundation to support journalists who report about mental health care.

"Informed journalists can have a significant impact on public understanding of mental health issues as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey. They influence their peers and stimulate discussion among the general public, and an informed public can reduce stigma and discrimination." – Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Barbara Bush revealed her experience with emotional depression.

Barbara Bush was overcome by severe depression, but says she beat it in six months by losing herself in volunteer work, and it has never returned. "I would feel like crying a lot and I really painfully hurt," the first lady is quoted as saying .  "And I would think bad thoughts. . . . It was not nice." She added that the sickness came after a two-year stint in China by George Bush as U.S. liaison officer in Bejing, where the couple was together most of the time. That changed when he became CIA director back here. Bush said she went to work at Washington House, a center for the seriously ill, where she did jobs like changing bedclothes and washing patients' hair."

Tipper Gore, the wife of Vice-President Al Gore, spoke about mental illness.  "I believe every one of us — at every level of government and in every community — have an obligation to do our part to meet this challenge (to help more Americans with mental illness to reach their full potential)," she said in a 1999 speech at Dartmouth, in New Hampshire.

Nevertheless, prevention and treatment of mental illness continues to be the brunt of budget cuts, in large part due to the stigma associated with people who seek care.  Glenn Close, the actress. has been an outspoken advocate to improve mental health care.  "The truth is, the public perception of the (mental health) stigma has hardly budged," said Close, who has worked to reduce stereotypes.

Mental illness is simply not perceived the same way as other illnesses like cancer or bacterial infections.  

Unfortunately, people at risk for mental illness typically must exhibit symptoms before they reach out for help.  Ideally, those at risk for mental illness should access primary care and prevention before an exacerbation of symptoms, or after they're acutely ill.  

President Barack Obama is now on the record supporting access to mental health care.  He said Americans need to become more open about mental health issues, so that people struggling with problems are not ashamed to seek help.

More than 60 percent of Americans with mental illness do not receive treatment, many of them because they are embarrassed or afraid of being ostracized, Obama said, speaking at a White House conference on mental health.

"We wouldn't accept it if only 40 percent of Americans with cancers got treatment," Obama said. "So why should we accept it when it comes to mental health?"

Obama promised to start a "national conversation" on mental health after the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school last year, although he did not mention the tragedy in his remarks on Monday.

Obviously, with "stupid sequester" budget cuts already forcing layoffs in corporations, where federal funds are a primary source of support, even the President's call for improved access to mental health care may wither for lack of funding.

Perhaps the National Rifle Association (NRA) could help. This organization should support mental health prevention and treatment. After all, it's unfortunately evident that many people die in gun violence caused by people who somehow gain access to guns, while exhibiting untreated mental illness symptoms.  

Moreover, President Obama's call for gun controls hasn't saved any lives. Restrictions on guns have stalled in Congress, foiled by a tough fight from the overly powerful NRA and other groups defending Americans' Second Amendment constitutional right to own guns. 

Treatment for mental illness is as important to preventing gun violence as are weapons regulations. Nonetheless, access to mental health treatment too often occurs after deadly crimes occur.  

Support for gun regulations and mental health care deserve the very same attention.  

Mental illness is common in America. Indeed, as many as one in five children suffer from a disorder, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

High profile attention to mental illness has not improved access to care. In fact, as attention to mental health and illness improves, the budget to support these initiatives continue to be flat or cut.  

It's time we close the circle and fix all three stools on the mental health conundrum.  Americans need to perceive mental health like physical illness. Moreover, the US Congress must act humanly to improve gun ownership regulations. so mentally ill people don't have access to deadly weapons.  

Finally, funding for mental health prevention and care must receive insurance parity with all medical care.

President Obama is joining the high profile names who are helping Americans to learn about the essential balance between mental health, mental illness, physical illness and good public health care.

Hopefully, funding the high profile attention is forthcoming as well.

Mental Illness and Guns

It's entirely too simplistic to hear some people explain away the recent series of US school massacres by calling the perpetrators of the crimes "mentally ill". In fact, a the New York Times reports there's a misguided focus on guns and mental illness.

Of course, most people who commit heinous murder crimes are mentally ill, but their access to guns are the cause of the preventable casualties. 

Moreover, second amendment rights, allowing Americans to own guns, was never intended to provide easy access to weapons for people who intentionally want to harm children or innocent people. Mentally ill people are becoming innocent victims in these discussions, as though they're scapegoats for the problem of violence.  Mental illness has it's own set of issues, but gun violence is caused by too many guns! 

Meanwhile, trying to provide the mentally ill with treatment consistent with their acute and long term needs is more challenging than changing second amendment rights for the purpose of protecting innocent people from gun violence. Mentally ill individuals need support and monitoring for many years. Their care plans are expensive because there's no absolute "cure" for their illnesses. Often, the mentally ill learn to live with their symptoms by taking proper medication and living a healthy lifestyle. Nevertheless, in the absence of consistent follow up by community mental health workers, many fall off of their healing regimens.

In the recent Newtown Connecticut tragedies, the perpetrator of the crimes was called a "loner".

"The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, has been described as a loner who was intelligent and socially awkward. And while no official diagnosis has been made public, armchair diagnosticians have been quick to assert that keeping guns from getting into the hands of people with mental illness would help solve the problem of gun homicides." Indeed, "gun violence" is caused by access to guns!

Mentally ill people who want to be compliant with their recovery often find themselves without any care because insurance cuts them off as soon as they are perceived as being "stable".  Those who have a criminal history wind up back in jail when they're unable to find mental health care in the community.  People who need inpatient care because of exacerbation of mental illness are frequently unable to find a hospital with an open bed to admit them, because many acute care facilities have cut the size of their units.

It's clearly impossible to provide all the mental health care needed to support everyone with mental illness.  Yet, it is possible to create gun laws to protect innocent people from being killed by assault weapons because a mentally ill or otherwise unstable person gained easy access to deadly guns. Let's take assault weapons out of circulation- make it illegal to own them, along with the ammunition they use.  Anyone found owning an assault weapon will be fined $10,000 per weapon and be charged with a felony. 

Delusional gun zealots believe an assault weapons ban is an infringement on their second amendment rights, but they, themselves, may be victims of a mental illness called "paranoia".

Common sense should be the focus of gun control. Sadly, in the absence of common sense, far too many innocent people are murdered. A culture of fear has been crafted by the National Rifle Association, convincing right wing extremists to believe guns are the solution against a government that's out to get them.  Well, these delusional zealots now have something to really watch for, because, it's not the government that's out to get them. Rather, it's the innocent people who are in harms way, every day, because we simply don't know who is accessing guns or for what nefarious purpose.  It's government's role to protect innocent citizens from being shot to death in massacres.  Treating mental illness is important; but keeping assault weapons out of circulation is far more "sane" than making an assumption that gun violence is a direct link with people who are mentally ill.