Political Quotes

“The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act reforms our broken and harmful mental health system. Here are some reasons why we need it. For some who are experiencing the most serious mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, they don't think their hallucinations are real; they know they are real. Their illness affects their brains in such a way that they are certain, beyond all doubt, their delusions are real. It is not an attitude or denial. It is a very real brain condition. With that understanding, we are left with a series of questions: Do these individuals have a right to be sick, or do they have a right to treatment? Do they have a right to live as victims on the streets, or do they have a right to get better? Do they have a right to be disabled and unemployed, or do they have a right to recover and get back to work? I believe these individuals and their families have the right to heal and lead healthy lives. But they are sometimes blinded by a symptom called anosognosia, a neurological condition of the frontal lobe which renders the individual incapable of understanding that they are ill. Every single day, millions of families struggle to help a loved one with serious mental illness who won't seek treatment. Many knew that Aaron Alexis, James Holmes, Jared Loughner, Adam Lanza, and Elliot Rodgers needed help. Their families tried, but the individual's illness caused them to believe nothing was wrong, and they fought against the help.…”