Health Experts Ask for New Funds for Mental Health Programs

December 21, 2012

It's not yet known if the 20-year-old man who murdered his mother, then gunned down 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school was suffering from mental illness, but the tragic incident has sparked a national debate over the quality of psychiatric care in the United States. A coalition of prominent mental health experts is asking President Obama and members of Congress to take immediate action to support nationwide improvements in mental health programs.

In recent years, the U.S. has been racked by a number of mass shootings.

In Tuscon in 2011, Jared Loughner opened fire outside a grocery store, killing six people, injuring 13. Then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was among the injured.

Last July, 12 people were shot and killed in a Colorado movie theater. Dozens were wounded.

Mass killings have taken place in California, Wisconsin, Washington state and Minnesota. After each shooting, those who knew the killers spoke about their expressions of anger, their feelings of isolation, strange behavior or mental illness.

But after the murder of six- and seven-year-olds in Connecticut, many Americans, including President Obama, have called for a review of the U.S. mental health system.

A coalition of mental health and substance abuse experts has written a letter to the president and Congress requesting immediate health policy reforms and new safeguards against random acts of violence.