Congresswoman Johnson's and Congressman Murphy's Op-Ed On Their "Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act"

It is a cycle we all know too well: a breaking news alert of an incident of mass violence in a small town or on a college campus, closely followed by reports of the perpetrator's history of mental illness. Political leaders are quick to tweet prayers to the victims' families, and rail over laws on mental health or gun control. But no tangible commitments are made or action taken, and the legislative effort is soon forgotten. A month or two later, CNN cuts into programming to go live to the scene of another tragedy. In the meantime, American families wonder if their children are even safe - at school or in any other public place. They want to know why lawmakers aren't taking action.

While the vast majority of individuals with serious mental illness are non-violent, we have learned that many individuals who committed mass violence lacked the treatment they needed and deserved. In many instances, perpetrators of mass violence sought mental health treatment prior to turning to aggression. But oftentimes, because of federal barriers and archaic regulations, access was either denied or even unavailable, and their illness went untreated.

Federal policy is to blame for the shortage of psychiatric beds, leaving individuals with serious mental illness nowhere to go. These men and women in need of medical care are cast aside, left alone on a park bench, locked up in a jail cell or left in the shadows of a homeless shelter, where their illness only worsens.

Our mental health system is in crisis, and it has been for several decades. To say otherwise is offensive to the millions of American families and caregivers who have been trapped in a cruel system that shut them out as their loved ones deteriorate. While the federal government spends approximately $130 billion each year on mental health, basic services are not available for patients in need of care. Further, despite a decrease in the number of lives lost to HIV/AIDS, stroke, heart disease and cancer, suicides and suicide attempts are climbing.

Together, we have worked on a bipartisan crisis mental health bill to provide millions of Americans treatment before tragedy. As a psychologist in the Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps and a nonpracticing registered nurse who specialized in psychiatry, we have authored H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, a critical piece of legislation that reforms our broken mental health system so that our population with serious mental illness can access critical psychiatric care in a time of crisis. This bill would make the necessary criminal justice and health-care system reforms to enable these individuals to access treatment before they become violent.

The Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act empowers parents and caregivers to access care before a mental health condition becomes a mental health crisis; fixes shortages of inpatient beds; helps reach underserved and rural populations; expands the mental health workforce; drives evidence-based care; provides alternatives to institutionalization; integrates primary and behavior care; increases physician volunteerism; advances critical medical research; and puts teeth into the existing parity laws that require health insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse care in the way they cover physical health care.

Quite simply, this legislation provides us the needed tools to save lives. Every person has a right to treatment, and a right to be well. Our bill not only has widespread bipartisan support, it has also garnered endorsements from nearly every police and mental health organization in this country. Expressing our grief and condolences are important and should happen, but millions of Americans deserve more than these gestures. In moments like this, leaders take action. We urge every congressman and congresswoman to join us in supporting the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. The time is now.

Source: Houston Chronicle