Our Health Policy Matters

This is Mental Illness Awareness Week . But the sad tragedy of Miriam Carey is another reminder of how deeply unaware we are about mental illness in general and its relationship to violent behavior in particular. And how much we rely on myths to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. We all heard the news about Ms. Carey last week.  But we were not exactly informed by it.  Ms. Carey drove her car onto a White House driveway, hit some temporary fencing, backed up, and then pulled away . She was pursued toward the Capitol by law enforcement officers in what became a high-speed chase.  Ms. Carey was eventually cornered near Garfield Circle.  Six officers, with guns pulled, approached her car there.  She apparently panicked, scattering the officers as she drove away.  At least nine shots were fired at her as the chase began again.  She eventually got stuck on a median near a Capitol guard station, where she was shot to death by an officer. ...

This is Mental Illness Awareness Week . But the sad tragedy of Miriam Carey is another reminder of how deeply unaware we are about mental illness in general and its relationship to violent behavior in particular. And how much we rely on myths to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. We all heard the news about Ms. Carey last week.  But we were not exactly informed by it.  Ms. Carey drove her car onto a White House driveway, hit some temporary fencing, backed up, and then pulled away . She was pursued toward the Capitol by law enforcement officers in what became a high-speed chase.  Ms. Carey was eventually cornered near Garfield Circle.  Six officers, with guns pulled, approached her car there.  She apparently panicked, scattering the officers as she drove away.  At least nine shots were fired at her as the chase began again.  She eventually got stuck on a median near a Capitol guard station, where she was shot to death by an officer. ...