Here & Now

Mental Health Advocate: "So Much More Needs To Be Done"

Frederica Freyberg:

Seventeen dead, 14 wounded. Grim numbers in the aftermath of the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday. President Trump spoke to the tragedy on Thursday.

Donald Trump:

To every parent, teacher and child who is hurting so badly, we are here for you. Whatever you need. Whatever we can do to ease your pain. We are all joined together as one American family. And your suffering is our burden, also. No child, no teacher, should ever be in danger in an American school.

Frederica Freyberg:

Here’s what Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators had to say about the Parkland school shooting, starting with Democrat Tammy Baldwin, who said, “My heart breaks for the victims of senseless gun violence in Broward County. This is yet another school shooting and another tragedy our nation must confront.” Republican Ron Johnson tweeted, “Horrified by the senseless act of violence in Florida today. My prayers go out to all the families affected.”

In the aftermath of this week’s shooting in Florida, the debate over guns arose again, as it does with each successive mass shooting and loss of life. Many politicians pivoted however to the role of mental health in such crimes. In tonight’s closer look, we talk about mental health and whether there are gaps in funding or access. We are joined by Nate Schorr, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Wisconsin. Thank you for being here.

Nate Schorr:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

It was politicians including President Trump, Governor Walker and Senator Ryan talking about the need to address mental health in response and reaction to this school shooting in particular. How does Wisconsin fare in terms of its funding for mental health?

Nate Schorr:

Well, it’s a complicated question which will have sort of a complicated answer. And I think that mental health is something that there’s no one treatment or there’s no one specific thing that we’re pushing for that’s going to make the people of Wisconsin that are affected by mental illness, that’s going to solve that for them. So I think that there are certainly things that Wisconsin is doing well. And there’s certainly things that Wisconsin does allocate money toward that does make a huge difference for the people of Wisconsin that are affected by mental illness. But I think what it really comes down to is ultimately there’s so much more that needs to be done. And there’s so much more that we do want to focus on and allocate money towards and time and energy and also just reshape people’s perspective of what it means to be affected by mental illness.

Frederica Freyberg:

I've read that Florida in particular has a real funding gap in terms of spending for mental health initiatives. Do you have any idea how Wisconsin compares?

Nate Schorr:

I don’t have as much of a perspective — I'm obviously a little bit more focused on what’s going on here in Wisconsin. When I do speak to colleagues in other states, I know that there are certain things that Wisconsin is definitely a leader in. There are certain things that Wisconsin doesn’t do as well. But I think that, you know, a lot of mental health advocacy was really championed here in Wisconsin. My organization, NAMI, was founded here in Madison 40 years ago. When you compare to that other state organizations within NAMI, I think you’ll see in general NAMI-Wisconsin really benefits from a community that at least in some ways comparatively is invested in the mental health of its community.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know that recent state budgets have increased funding for mental health, but where would you regard this kind of funding is needed most in Wisconsin?

Nate Schorr:

Yeah. And there’s a lot of different directions that you could go with that. There’s a lot of things that Wisconsin has been doing really well. One thing in particular that we’re only going to see more and more investment in and I think that is certainly important for us is crisis intervention training, which is a 40-hour, week-long training for law enforcement officers to better understand how to interact and work with people that are experiencing some sort of mental health crisis or some sort of mental health episode.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know that the sheriff in Broward County was quoted as saying it’s a pretty good assumption that the shooter had unspecified mental health issues. How could mental health treatment help prevent what happened in Florida?

Nate Schorr:

I think an important way for us to maybe frame that conversation or look at that conversation is that people with mental illness are no more likely to perpetrate violent crimes than the general population. And in fact people with mental illness are more likely, significantly more likely to be victims of violent crimes, and particularly with gun violence as it relates to suicide attempts. And so I think when it comes to a situation like what just happened, these are terrible events, but what a lot of people try to do is to try to make sense of the situation, you try to look for — to put people in a box and try to put things in a way that makes sense to them, when it’s obviously a lot more complicated than a specific person’s diagnosis. So I think that it’s important to frame the conversation in a way that isn’t demonizing people with mental illness.

Frederica Freyberg:

Sure, but there were red flags in terms of behavior that are learned in hindsight in this kind of situation as in Florida.

Nate Schorr:

Right.

Frederica Freyberg:

So who is it incumbent upon to get someone help before that kind of thing happens?

Nate Schorr:

And, again, there’s a lot that goes into that question. I think that one of the things that we’re trying to do here in Wisconsin is there is a huge push for early intervention with people that are experiencing mental health. There is a lot of money in our — an increase in funding in our most recent state budget that was allocated toward mental health intervention and screening in schools, which is very important. I think that there’s a lot of people that–a lot of young children, a lot of youth and a lot of people in the state of Wisconsin as a whole that are affected by mental illness that aren’t getting access to the treatment that they need when they are certainly experiencing some sort of, you know, mental health condition.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We leave it there. Difficult discussions. Nate Schorr, thanks very much.

Nate Schorr:

Hey, thank you so much for having me.