This post was originally posted on my Facebook page Mental Health Moments on December 10, 2017
My heart was in my throat as I digested the reality of how close my own granddaughter came to his bullets. She goes to school there and was inside one of those locked classrooms. I’m so thankful she was safe in her seat that day. So sad for the families of those who lost children. Two vibrant, young people who had their lives ahead of them and one very troubled young man whose life had stalled.
All have grieving parents and family members today. Sadness prevails no matter the method of exit from this travesty! I am a parent too and I love all of my children no matter what they do.
My heart is heavy as I am sad for the loss of life. I always ponder the mental health aspect and how much was known. I cannot point fingers at the shooters parents and condemn them although I am troubled with the news he crossed paths with the FBI in recent history. Bitterness solves nothing and we must work towards a resolution.
We cannot know what wanders the halls of the human mind. What drives a madman to still the scream within his own head by wreaking havoc on another human being? My own journey into madness turned out quite differently. Less than five percent of persons with a mental illness actually pick up a weapon and harm another human being. The rest of us scream for answers. Our world is not conducive to allowing those answers to be heard nor is it conducive to those questions to even be asked. Mental illness is shunned to a dark corner and the fear continues to grow.
It’s ok to take medication because you are depressed! It’s ok to talk to a therapist about the problems within your home. It’s ok to talk to your therapist about the late night sneaky uncle and it’s ok to turn that late night sneaky uncle in to the authorities if he is doing things to you and touching you where he shouldn’t be! It’s time to stop hiding the secrets and share them appropriately. Not all over Facebook! Share them with your therapist! Talk about it! Go see a good doctor and take the hurt and leave it on the psychiatrist couch so you can walk out of there with a calmer mind, body and soul. Because we are only as sick as our secrets! Secrets kill people and sick people pick up a weapon and hurt other people, innocent people. It’s time to stop the bloodshed and be honest about where the drama starts with mental illness. Before it gets to someone picking up a weapon.
I don’t know the shooter from Aztec High school and I don’t know his history. But I have studied this type of behavior and I know what caused my own mental breakdown in 1995. I did not pick up a weapon I internalized most of my rage or took it out on my family by being angry, acting out with credit cards and other ways of being irresponsible. Mental illness destroys families. Get help before picking up a weapon and killing another person please!
If you or someone you love has a mental illness I have some answers. I just published my third book Bipolar Disorder Doesn’t Have to be Depressing. I have two websites and am available to come talk about my own journey from mad woman to functional adult.
(C)copyright 2017
Danni Andrew
Danni Andrew
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