MOTHER THROWS HER 3 CHILDREN INTO SAN FRANCISCO BAY

This story is very disturbing. After reading it, it should be obvious that this woman suffered from a severe mental illness. It is so important for the government and the medical field to take notice and consider this epidemic more seriously. There needs to be involvement to provide free or low-cost medical help for those without insurance. Most of those who do not have insurance do not have the resources or knowledge of how to get that treatment.

It is a fact that if a serious mental illness is not treated, a normal person can unconsciously sabotage their entire lives, affecting spouses, children and other family members. The rate of suicide is extremely high if not treated.

I am a huge advocate for educating America on mental illness, its negative stigmas, falsehoods, and reassuring those that there is hope for their lives to be normal.


By the way, did you know these things?

• More than 54 million Americans have a mental disorder in any given year, although fewer than 8 million seek treatment (SGRMH, 1999).

I do not agree with this statistic and think the number is much higher. Most of those with mental illness are not diagnosed or treated.

• Depression and anxiety disorders — the two most common mental illnesses — each affect 19 million American adults annually (NIMH, 1999).
  

• As many as one in every 33 children and one in eight adolescents may have depression (CMHS, 1998). One in five children have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. And up to one in 10 may suffer from a serious emotional disturbance. Seventy percent of children, however, do not receive mental health services (SGRMH, 1999).
  

• Teenage girls are more likely to develop depression than teenage boys (NIMH, 2000).

Again, I believe this number is much higher due to the older statistics.

• Approximately 12 million women in the United States experience depression every year — roughly twice the rate of men (NIMH, 1999).
  

• One percent of the population (more than 2.5 million Americans) has schizophrenia (Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1998).
  

• Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, affects more than 2 million Americans (NIMH, 2000).

Most people with bipolar disorder do not know they have the disorder and are not treated because it can only be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. You can't go to your family doctor for this, because the suicide rate of those with bipolar is astounding and family doctors are known to give medication to those who have serious negative reactions. (Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds and the 6th leading cause of death for 5- to 14-year-olds. The number of attempted suicides is even higher (AACAP, 1997).

Only a doctor in the field of psychiatry is qualified to administer medication and interpret each individual's diagnosis.

Most diagnoses of bipolar disorder are discovered through the patient's verbal accounts of past and present personal actions or suicide attempts. Aside from blood testing, which is not commonly used anymore, this is the only way for a psychiatrist to establish whether or not the patient is bipolar.

• Approximately 15 percent of all adults who have a mental illness in any given year also experience a co-occurring substance abuse disorder, which complicates treatment. The rate of illicit drug use is 10.6 percent among Native Americans, 7.7 percent among African Americans, 6.8 percent among Hispanics (all races), 6.6 percent among Caucasians, and 3.2 percent among Asian Americans (SAMHSA, 1999)
  

• Alcohol abuse and dependence is four times as prevalent among men over the age of 65 than among women in the same age group (SGRMH, 1999).
  

• Among middle- and high-school students, less than 20 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 report using alcohol in the previous month, and less than 4 percent report drinking heavily in the previous month (SAMHSA, 2000).
  

• Young people are beginning to drink at younger ages. This is troubling particularly because young people who begin drinking or using drugs before age 15 are four times more likely to become addicted than those who begin at age 21 (SAMHSA, 2000).

Again, this is extremely prevalent in those with bipolar disorder and depression.

• Misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment often occurs in minority communities. Factors that can contribute include a general mistrust of medical health professionals, cultural barriers, co-occurring disorders, socioeconomic factors, and primary reliance on family and the religious community during times of distress (NMHA, 2000).

Also consider the fact that many people with dual disorders (mental illness coupled with substance abuse) are in denial. Family or friends may chalk it up to, "Well, you know George...he's a crazy drunk and can get really moody, but that's just his personality...)

• Twenty percent of youths in juvenile justice facilities have a serious emotional disturbance and most have a diagnosable mental disorder. Up to an additional 30 percent of youth in these facilities have substance abuse disorders or co-occurring substance abuse disorders (OJJDP, 2000).

Maybe if these children were diagnosed and treated with medication on a continuous and monitored basis, there would be less adolescent crime; therefore lowering the chances of that individual to commit crimes in the future.

• For older Americans, late-life depression affects about 6 million adults, but only 10 percent ever receive treatment (NMHA, 1998).
  

• Older Americans are more likely to commit suicide than any other age group. Although they constitute only 13 percent of the U.S. population, individuals age 65 and older account for 20 percent of all suicides (NIMH, 2000).

NOW READ THE SAD STORY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN EASILY PREVENTED

SAN FRANCISCO - A woman who was hearing voices tossed her three young children off a pier into San Francisco Bay, authorities said. Rescuers had found one body, and the two other children were feared dead.

Lashaun Harris, 23, of Oakland, was booked on three counts of murder, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in Thursday's editions. Her children were identified as Trayshaun Harris, 6, Travante Greely, 3, and Joshua Harris, 1.

A child's body was found about four hours after a witness reported seeing a woman drop the children into the bay Wednesday near Pier 7, said Jonathan Guerra of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The San Francisco Examiner reported Thursday that the body was that of the 3-year-old.

While rescuers searched for the children, an empty stroller was visible on the pier. A small inflatable Coast Guard boat hugged the water front as rescuers used hand-held flashlights to search under the pier. Larger Coast Guard and San Francisco police boats searched the water with high-powered flashlights.

Mayor Gavin Newsom came to the scene to get briefed by authorities, telling reporters, "I'm sick to my stomach," before leaving.

Lashaun Harris told authorities that voices had told her to throw her children into the water, the Chronicle reported. It was not immediately known whether she had an attorney. Police contacted Thursday by The Associated Press declined to confirm the report. The department's spokeswoman, Maria Oropeza, did not immediately returned a message.

She had been staying with her children at a Salvation Army shelter in Oakland, the Chronicle reported.

"I just talked to her yesterday," Mary Ann Ramirez, the shelter's social services manager, told the newspaper Wednesday. "We had our usual how are you doing, how's the kids. I would never have guessed in a million years that today she would do that."

The pier is in the Embarcadero area, which draws tourists to the historic Ferry Building within view of Coit Tower and the landmark Transamerica pyramid. It's about a mile from Fishermen's Wharf.

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