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Shooting a reminder of mental health month

Mesabi Daily News - 5/28/2018

Once again, I am deeply saddened by yet another school shooting. This time it was in Texas. The perpetrator eventually gave himself up to the police, which is a good thing, at least he stuck around to face the consequences of his horrible actions.

How fitting it is that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Surely the 17-year-old boy will have an undiagnosed mental illness, misdiagnosed illness or has sought help in the past, but gave up trying to get well. Or, people will say that he snapped and went postal, another teen with a mental health condition that just fell through the cracks of our broken down mental health care system.

There is still a negative stigma attached to those who have a mental illness, myself included. I've experienced it with extended former in-laws and believe you me, it was tough to listen to and not speak up. I have come a very long way since then and I am proud of myself for having the courage to stand up and defend my own honor.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I urge you to look closer at the people who have a mental illness and how they are taking the depression bull by the horn and getting treatment at RMHC, for example, And are on meds and stable and have been for years. These individuals are not the crazy ones.