Last night, a controversial 60 Minutes piece by Steve Kroft titled ‘Imminent Danger’ aired that has elicited a storm of protest by mental health advocates across our nation.
The story (script can be found at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57605146/untreated-mental-illness-an-imminent-danger/ and the full video can be found at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50156091n).
Here’s an example of the strong backlash this story has elicited, at http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-500251_162-50155990.html?assetTypeId=58:
This is a disappointing report that rehashes the old story presenting one point of view.It’s true that many people diagnosed end up in prison and are not treated by the mental health system. There’s more than one opinion about whether schizophrenia deteriorates the brain physically, whether it is a brain disease, whether medications are a one size all solution. There’s no debate that some people with severe mental illnesses – recover; that mass shootings decline significantly when states adopt gun control; that mass shootings are caused by young men with personality disorders not psychiatric illnesses. Though your report included the fact that most people diagnosed with schizophrenia are not violent everything else in your report substantiated that idea. There’s debate here, and it’s interesting and important and you should present it in order to deepen our understanding not reinforce our misperceptions.
NYAPRS will be working with other groups to get 60 Minutes and the mainstream media to give the public a very different story than was aired last night. Stay tuned for more details.