Mental issues last great hurdle in medical care

Modern medicine can perform many miracles, from heart transplant to artificial joints, vision-restoring eye surgery and electronic implants. On the horizon are extraordinary developments such as artificially grown organs, exoskeletons to help the wheelchair bound to walk again and a wide range of developing technologies.

The brain has been the focus of many of these developments as well, but unfortunately, a mental illness is far more difficult to cure than a broken bone or a malfunctioning heart.

That shortcoming came into focus Thursday with the tragic death of Miriam Carey, 34, who was shot and killed after trying to drive through barricades at the White House and injuring a Secret Service officer and a capitol policeman in the resulting chase. After officers were forced to shoot and kill her, they discovered her 18-month-old child in the back seat of her car, uninjured.

Friends and relatives said Carey may have had post-partum depression, and a dentist who fired her last year as a hygienist said she was stressed over an unplanned pregnancy. Authorities say she may have believed President Barack Obama was stalking her.

Mental health issues are not confined to elsewhere, of course. A subject was taken into custody for mental health evaluation following a recent incident at Walmart, and recent years have seen many other cases where law enforcement had to intervene because of mental health issues.

Proponents of the Affordable Care Act say it will make mental health services available to more people, and if true, that couldn't come soon enough.

According to experts, some 54 million Americans suffer from some sort of mental disorder in any given year.

Family and friends are the first to notice something is wrong, of course, and the Mental Health America group offers the following signs to watch for :

In adults:

Confused thinking

Prolonged depression (sadness or irritability)

Feelings of extreme highs and lows

Excessive fears, worries and anxieties

Social withdrawal

Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits

Strong feelings of anger

Delusions or hallucinations

Growing inability to cope with daily problems and activities

Suicidal thoughts

Denial of obvious problems

Numerous unexplained physical ailments

Substance abuse

In older children and pre-adolescents:

Substance abuse

Inability to cope with problems and daily activities

Changes in sleeping and/or eating habits

Excessive complaints of physical ailments

Defiance of authority, truancy, theft, and/or vandalism

Intense fear of weight gain

Prolonged negative mood, often accompanied by poor appetite or thoughts of death

Frequent outbursts of anger

In younger children:

Changes in school performance

Poor grades despite strong efforts

Excessive worry or anxiety (i.e. refusing to go to bed or school)

Hyperactivity

Persistent nightmares

Persistent disobedience or aggression

Frequent temper tantrums

For information on mental health care services in Nebraska, visit:

http://1.usa.gov/1f5eyaD