Virginia Tech A Focus on Healing and Prevention

With the beginning of the school year and the published report on the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech a key question is, ' Could anything have been done for Cho (the shooter) before his rampage.' He had all the mental health support possible while in high school and a minor.
However, what happens to a person with a serious mental illness when they become an adult? Issues of confidentially, institutional commitment and privacy have been debated by mental health professionals at least since the 1960's when the mental health laws were radically
changed. A person could no longer be commuted to an institution without their consent. Thus began a mass exodus of patients from the mental health system. Maybe this was a good idea without any foresight. Very few community supports and resources were put in place. Ever since a band aid and a 'finger in the dike' approach to mental health has existed'. The tragedy at Virginia Tech clearly shows the mental health system needs overhauled. Money needs to be behind any plan.

Some questions the Virginia Tech shootings and other recent failures of the system raises are:

• When should someone be involuntarily committed for mental health care? How long should the commitment be? Who decides?


• When should mental health records be shared? By whom, with whom? Where do privacy issues and confidentially enter the discussion? What about the person's consent?


• A person with a serious mental illness is best treated with talk therapy and medication , which may be for their life time? Who would follow this person's care? What would be done if the person is non-compliant?


• Should insurance companies pay for mental health care with the same guidelines as medical problems? Who pays for mental health services if a person cannot pay?

These are only a few of the questions and mental health issues once again brought to the light by a tragedy with lives lost and countless other lives affected.