We need to stop having people fall through the cracks of the mental health system
It was the spring of 2015. I had been working with my therapist for about two years. We started out slow, but we eventually built a close rapport. I looked forward to our weekly Monday morning sessions; more importantly, I received the help I needed at that time.
At one session, she mentioned that her clinic had taken a huge monetary hit due to government cutbacks. Their patients were now limited to a certain amount of sessions. My time was coming to an end. I started to protest, but she stopped me and said, “Look, we’ve made much progress here. We both know you’re close to being able to do this on your own. We’ve even talked about it. I’m not worried about you. I have other patients that will be out on the street. I’m worried that they’ll fall through the cracks.”
It wasn’t the first time I had heard that saying, but it was the first time it was used in reference to me. Recently, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about people who have fallen through the cracks of the mental health system.
Last month, legendary drummer Jim Gordon died at age seventy-seven. He passed away at a medical and psychiatric prison, where he had been incarcerated for almost forty years. As far back as the 1970s, Gordon showed signs of violence and mental health issues. He had told people that he heard voices in his head. Gordon also punched his then-girlfriend singer Rita Coolidge in the face, which ended their relationship. His then bandmates, including Eric Clapton, thought his behavior was due to alcohol and drug problems.
It wasn’t until after he killed his mother, after being told by those same voices to do so, that he was finally diagnosed as schizophrenic. By then it was too late. Jim Gordon was a prime example of falling through the cracks of the mental health system.
In the last two weeks, we’ve seen two prime examples of this. There have been mass shootings in Tennessee and Kentucky. Both shooters had a history of mental health issues. The gunman in Louisville had so many concussions as a youth that he was forced to wear a helmet while playing high school basketball. Neither of them received the help that they needed to become functioning human beings in our society. Both of them fell through the cracks.
We can’t continue to let this happen. We need massive improvements in this area. We have to quit closing mental health facilities. We have to stop making government cuts on mental health. We have to stop the stigma that still exists for people who acknowledge they have mental health issues. And, if you’re a person who thinks that mass shootings in America are because of mental health and not guns, stop talking and actually do something about it.
We have to do better. We have to do a lot better. We have to stop having people fall through the cracks.