As reported in the New Orleans Advocate, a 24 year old Harahan man, “…whose behavior was consistent with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia…” was released from a mental facility and committed suicide. His father rightly thought he was not ready cope with his life.
I have bipolar disorder and am quite healthy, perhaps a beacon for those who are struggling with the disorder. I have had suicidal thoughts three times in my life. Suicidal thoughts are usually—as they were with me—accompanied by a deep sense of sadness, depression and lack of hope. A person with such thoughts can be violent to others, but the statistics show by far that these troubled souls are a much greater danger to themselves than to others.
We can and do build all sorts of prisons. Why can’t we build and maintain adequate mental facilities to avoid these deaths, deaths that are far too often young people who are inwardly crying out for help, purpose and meaning in their life? It is not only in the psychiatrist, psychologist or other therapist offices that we can prevent these suicides and violent acts. We need a long-term program in loving spiritual entities, schools which teach wisdom values, families with those same values and kindness from people to people everywhere. The good news is that medical science is learning more and more about the brain, psychiatry, and psychology and how the mind, body and what I call a “little piece of God” works.
Say a prayer for Matthew Milam and one for others who are at risk in the future.
