My Mad Word by Imei Hsu, RN, LMHC, Artist
It’s a Friday morning, and I am sitting at my computer, mind humming along at 500mph, yet I feel paralyzed. I typically like to write about subjects I feel well-versed in, and murder isn’t one of them. Yesterday, I convinced myself I am in the perfect position to write about the shooting in Seattle that took place on Wednesday May 30 2012 which claimed the lives of six seven people, including two musicians known to the tight community of performance artists among whom I rub shoulders. But the reality of my position as a therapist is really no different than the shock and loss that seems palpable among 600,000 who were alerted that a shooter had claimed the lives of innocent people and then turned the gun on himself. Perhaps the only difference is how the Internet has helped elucidate a community’s concerns and fear not just about the increase in violence but about mental healthcare in our state in our mad, mad world.
What Goes Wrong
This morning, I saw this tweet on my feed:
@Kirotvsouth: Mason sheriff confirms murder suicide in Potlatch near Shelton.
Woman shot her boyfriend then herself. She was having mental health issues.