CRIMINALIZING MENTAL ILLNESS: THE SAD CASE OF JIHAD JANE

Recently, our cables news stations sensationalized the story of Colleen LaRose, now infamously known as Jihad Jane. What disturbs me are superficial reports by our mainstream media that refuse to tell the story inside the story. According to the indictment against Ms. LaRose, she allegedly "recruited men on the internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad."  End of story. Arrested, tried in the court of shallow journalism, and condemned … all within 30 seconds on the nightly news.

There is, however, is another side to Jihad Jane that has been ignored by our vaunted MSM (source):

LaRose's ex-boyfriend, Kurt Gorman, 47, with whom she lived in Pennsburg, remained mystified yesterday about how the 5-foot-2 woman with dirty-blonde hair turned into an alleged terror conspirator from a person who cared for his frail mother until her death, and for his father, who died last summer.

(…)

The apparent suicide attempt occurred on May 21, 2005, according to a report by Upper Perkiomen police, about a month after her father's death, which had come on the heels of her brother's death.

Upper Perkiomen Police Officer Michael Devlin was summoned to Gorman's Pennsburg apartment by LaRose's worried mother and sister, in Ferris, Texas, who said that Colleen had called them, drinking and brooding about her dad, and had told them that she had taken eight to 10 prescription pills.

Devlin said he told Gorman that LaRose should get counseling.

There was a time not long ago when the First Amendment protected the rights of people who spoke truth or lies in any measure … and protected the rights of our mentally ill population including those who heard voices in their heads.

In an age of fear and paranoia, it seems, our mentally ill population is the first to have their rights violated.  Too bad we still regard mental illness with superstition and suspicion.  A disturbed person who self-medicates with a cocktail of drugs and alcohol should first be treated for substance abuse and then the underlying disorder.

Deaths in a family can trigger an adjustment disorder. Over time, an untreated adjustment disorder can lead to further decompensation, including disorganized or delusional thinking. There are case files rife with stories of persons suffering from bipolar disorder that remained undiagnosed until the subject ran afoul of the criminal justice system. Clearly, Jihad Jane falls within range of these diagnostic possibilities.

Too bad our law enforcement officials waste their time (and taxpayer resources) on disturbed persons when there are far more dangerous terrorists loosed upon the world.  Too bad our healthcare system is inadequate to the task of early intervention and treatment of mental illness. Too bad there are folks like Jihad Jane who enter the criminal justice system where punishment takes precedence over treatment.

Delusional thinking? Voices in the head? It makes one wonder: On which side of law enforcement are the real zealots and crazies?

H/T to our esteemed colleague, Robert Stein of Connecting the Dots, whose original post inspired this response.