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From the Desk of the CEO - February 2013
Rachel R. Gillis, LCSW, BCD
It Ain't the Gun, Son
I was raised in a household with my father wearing a gun on his hip everyday (he was a law enforcement officer). My husband and I have always had guns in our house while our daughters were growing up. Our three oldest grandsons have been going to the "shooting house" or tree stand almost since they were old enough to walk. Recently my oldest grandson's father missed shooting a deer, and apparently attributed the “miss” to the gun. Later in the day, our oldest grandson used that same rifle and killed two deer. Clearly the gun was not the reason his dad missed the deer. Hunters are competitive and they tend to tease one another when they miss a shot. One of the hunters that day said to my grandson's father "it ain't the gun, son"......
The knee jerk response from our political leaders and those who have the illusion more gun laws will prevent another mass casualty are merely trying to take the fastest and easiest way out of this extremely complex social mire. How many times have we said to our clients that their lives did not get into chaos overnight and it cannot be repaired overnight? We have enough laws that address gun controls. Laws really are for law abiding citizens. Those individuals who believe rules do not apply to them will be creative and find ways around them regardless of how many laws there are passed. Then there is the question; what exactly is an assault weapon? A good gunsmith can make most any weapon into a killing instrument. If our Congressional leaders want to appease their conscience and say they did the most they could and pass a law all they are doing is dodging the real problem. The real problem is the constant chopping away of the funding of the mental health system in America and in the State of Florida. The lack of consideration of those with mental illness until something happens is shameful. When it gets to the critical mass, as we are looking at now, we hear from those who make the money decision “where do you start? It will cost so much”. How do you pay for it? Let’s look at some possibilities. There is funding for many things by collecting small percentages of sales taxes of certain items; cigarettes, sale of firearms, liquor, and beer to name a few. Then we have fine and forfeiture for DUI, and court costs for domestic violence charges, etc. There are many offenses that we treat people for that part of their fine goes to fund other agencies within our county. Why not use a very small portion of those funds to help fund our budgets? It’s done every day. It’s time for the mentally ill and substance abuse clients to receive some of this revenue if the local legislatures say they cannot fund us, let us be funded by a user fee.
Because we know passing another law to have someone violate, be prosecuted and jailed for is not the answer. Because we all really know “It ain’t the gun son.”
Rachel R. Gillis
Recovery is Possible
What would it feel like to live life in fear? Fear of being rejected by folks you meet on the street and in the grocery store or your own family is afraid of you – and if that was not bad enough, you have these pesky voices running loose in your head day after day. Fear that your disability causes others to discount your ability to be a productive part of the community. Many people with mental illness struggle with these types of fears every day. Mental illnesses affect ONE in FOUR of us at some point in our lives. This means we have at least one relative, friend, neighbor or co-worker living with a mental illness and it is just as common as heart disease.
Like President Bush said, “Americans must understand and send this message: mental disability is not a scandal – it is an illness. And like physical illness, it is treatable.” No one is “immune” from mental illness no matter your age, race, religion, income or education level, but if you have a mental illness you can recover. Recovery is possible. Only half of people treated for heart disease recover, where 8 out of 10 of folks treated for depression recover. As a community we need to come together to get rid of this notion that you can’t recover from depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, obsessions, phobias or other mental illnesses. We believe you can recover from alcoholism or diabetes, but fail to give someone with a mental illness the same hope?
Just like treatment for any physical illnesses or addiction, there are medications to take, activities to avoid and steps to take toward recovery and resiliency. For Example, if you are diabetic you may find it hard to stay away from sweets, but this is a life change you must make in order to recover. Whether you have a physical illness or a mental illness all you want is to get well. The first step is for our community to make mental health a priority by changing our own personal attitudes, dispelling myths about mental illness, and making mental wellness, along with physical wellness, a part of our every day lives.
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