A Cry For Help

07/24/2007

Paul Munnis


If we had a mental health program in America that covered people who are exhibiting a desire to destroy themselves then we would come to see the behavior of Ms. Lindsay Lohan as a cry for help instead of as a litany of personal failings exploited by the news media.

Indeed something is very wrong with this young girl and she needs the best help that we can give her. If she were in our foster care we would be discussing sexual abuse symptoms with her case worker. We would also want to know if she is obsessive-compulsive or not; and if so, what is precipitating this self-destructive behavior.

We are thinking about her and the many like her who are on drugs and alcohol in an attempt to escape demons who haunt them and who are getting little help beyond an invitation to join AA and maybe some sequestered rehabilitation. The young lady needs constant supervision right now and the ankle bracelet is not a deterrent to her although it did its job and provided an alert. I am sure that her fans are devastated by her relapse and are hoping for her recovery.

We are no experts and we have never even met Ms. Lohan but we do know a cry for help when we hear it.

So does David Wellstone who is in Washington right now fighting to get a Bill together to allow mental health treatment coverage here in America. The need is strong, the victims are many, and the nation must act. David’s dad, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, had committed himself to get this Bill enacted before his untimely death in an airplane accident. He had a great deal of support but the legislation went into legislative limbo after his death. David is trying to work to get the legislation completed and he has a lot of support from Congressional people who have witnessed the impact of mental health problems on society and know that a caring hand must be extended.

We hope that the judge upon hearing of Ms. Lohan’s relapse will work to get her into a more robust and effective program. We hope that David Wellstone has great success in Washington. We pray that people living in America will soon come to receive needed help from a caring Congress.