[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. While the Senate argues about gun issues 
and talking about what is in the hands of those perpetrators who commit 
heinous crimes, I want to talk about America's shameful secret that 
people don't want to be talking about, and that is our willful ignoring 
of dealing with mental illness. We have to start talking about not what 
is in people's hands, but what is in their hearts and minds.
  Approximately 5 percent of individuals with schizophrenia will die by 
suicide during their lifetime, a rate 50-fold greater than the general 
population. Keep in mind now suicide has overtaken all other areas of 
accidental deaths. It is now the leading cause of death by injury, 
about 38,000 per year.
  We understand that mental disorders are brain disorders with specific 
systems that are rooted in abnormal patterns of brain activity. Many of 
those with psychosis show up between ages 14 and 25 when there are 
changes occurring in the branching and pruning of brain cells. Yet, 
there is a delay between the first episode of psychosis and the onset 
of treatment with an average of 110 weeks before someone gets care. 
There are 100,000 young Americans who will have a first episode of 
psychosis this year and will join over 2 million others with 
schizophrenia.
  Look at this: one-sixth of murderers in prison are mentally ill. Here 
are some other quick facts. The number of murders in the U.S. in 2011 
committed with rifles: 323. In 2011, more murders were committed with 
knives: 1,694; hands, fist and feet: 728; and blunt weapons such as 
clubs and hammers: 496, according to FBI data.
  A while ago I sent a letter to Secretary Sebelius, the Secretary of 
HHS, seeking clarification of the laws of confidentiality known as 
HIPAA, specifically asking why we have not loaded 1.5 million more 
records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System so 
that these people cannot purchase guns. I hope the Secretary will 
respond soon.
  Recently, I also handed a note to the President of the United States 
and will continue to pursue questions with the Government 
Accountability Office, asking where are we spending our money and is it 
effective in going to help those with mental illness and severe mental 
illness. We simply don't know.
  In the United States, an estimated 11.4 million Americans, or about 
4.4 percent of all adults, suffer from serious mental illness. What 
happens is that States in many cases do not submit those records to the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System. There are many 
States that haven't submitted any at all, and this is a problem because 
people who should not be purchasing weapons are.
  But underlying all of this, we had better take off our blinders and 
deal with the underlying root cause of mass violence: untreated mental 
illness. Look at yesterday in the news when a man went on a campus and 
attacked people with a knife. Look at the other shootings that have 
taken place by people with untreated or undertreated mental illness. 
Why aren't we talking about our action on those?
  Our current system is especially falling short for those with a 
serious mental disorder who deny they're ill. Half of those persons 
with severe psychosis don't even understand they have mental illness. 
They refuse their medication or simply cannot function in a community 
setting. So what have we done historically in this country? We've 
burned them as witches, we imprison them as dangerous. We still have 
not dealt with the underlying needs.
  There were 500,000 psychiatric beds in 1955. There are 40,000 now. We 
have a lack of long-term treatment options. There are gaps in the care 
for young adults. There are artificial limits and barriers to care 
under insurance. Four years ago plus we passed a mental health parity 
law, and we still do not have the regulations for that.
  Parents who are not informed and cannot get their children help or 
treatment is another problem with HIPAA laws and the Family Educational 
Rights and Privacy Act, which creates barriers between parents knowing 
what is going on with their children in school when they have a severe 
mental illness. Of course, there is the stigma of acknowledging there 
is a problem or getting treatment.
  Politicians refer to those committing these murders as evil, as 
monsters. Television shows where there's tragedy or comedy mock them. 
This is not the way to deal with the underlying problem. We have a 
shortage of psychologists and psychiatrists throughout this country and 
in the military as well, where suicides have overtaken combat as the 
number one cause of death.
  I am asking for an audit from the Government Accountability Office of 
every single penny spent on mental illness diagnosis, research, and 
treatment throughout our government, through HHS, through the 
judiciary, through Labor, every branch. We need to know these answers. 
It is a shameful secret in this country that we still refuse to deal 
with mental illness. And if we do not, shame on us.

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