Madness
Jan 28, 2014, 12:00 PM | Updated: 12:00 pm
Sunday, I felt madness in my life, the kind that comes from anger.
The anger came from the other kind of madness, the kind they were talking about on “60 Minutes”: Mental illness in America.
I really found it upsetting to be reminded by a Scott Pelley segment on the program that in this country, the United States of America, in the 21st century, remarkable breakthroughs in research are being made every day to control disease — to help the paralyzed walk and the blind to see — but if you have a person in your family who suffers from any kind of mental illness, you may be screwed.
“60 Minutes” interviewed an influential Virginia political leader whose bipolar son savagely attacked him and then shot himself. How did his condition get to that point?
Because there was nowhere to go for real treatment.
Scott Pelley asked a cross-section of mothers about the kind of help that their mentally ill — and often violent children — had available from insurance companies and hospitals.
The answer? Virtually non-existent.
You know what that’s called?
Madness!
I’m Pat McMahon.
