..... I respect law enforcement and the dangerous job they do....
Unfortunately, in our society there are those of us who are mentally ill, have suffered many loses, like divorce, which makes us have issues of abandonment, death of a loved one, anxiety, depression, anger, paranoia, social isolation, panic, authority issues, loss of employment and thus ..loss of an income to survive, no way to access physical and mental healthcare, loss of a vehicle which further isolates, feelings of hopelessness and despair that may manifest itself into anger issues and a feeling of no way out, and or you could have a person who already has a mental health condition and is off their medications. Compound these issues with self medicating with drugs or alcohol and you have a dangerous combination...In my opinion...we need to be able as a social network identify those people who are at a great risk by having a broader program in Social Services or Social Workers to help these people access those mental and physical healthcare needs..I was a nurse for 30 years and have seen thousands of people in the course of my career who fall through the cracks. Many do not know that if they do not have health insurance you can still walk into any Emergency room anywhere..they can not turn you away even if you have no health insurance. By law, they have to treat you for what you are presenting yourself for. If you have to be hospitilized then the social worker gets involved and tries to get you qualified for Medicaid/Medicare to get the hospital bills paid and.. some hospitals if you are a danger to yourself or others can access grants to pay for your hospital bill. If any of you out there feel that your mental state is deteriorating..and you feel you are a danger to yourself or others..walk into an emergency room and tell them...a doctor will see you and access the mental health team and get you the help you need before something terrible happens to you or our community....When you are diagnosed with one of the mental health disorders such as clinical depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. , and can not work due to your diagnosis..most likely you will qualify for social security disability and medicare or medicaid...while you are in the process of recovering from your mental or physical illness. Unfortunately alot of people in any community do not know this and suffer alone and feel trapped in their isolation. Some take a violent measure that affects us all. So ..PLEASE...if you have any doubt in your mind about your mental state ...present yourself to an Emergency Room..and tell them you feel you are a danger to yourself or others...
