Mental Illness, Erasing the Stigma

The shooting in Connecticut has brought light to the issue of mental health.  Local health professionals say more needs to be done to address the stigma associated with mental illness.

WFFT spoke with a mental health counselor who has already seen several children affected by last Fridays shootings. 

"Mental illness is serious, it's real and it takes lives," said Stacie Kreiger, a mental health practitioner. 

It's unknown if Adam Lanza, the alleged Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter suffered from a mental illness, but he did have Aspergers syndrome, a developmental condition Stacie Kreiger says would not cause someone to commit a violent crime.

"I just feel like in order for something that horrific to happen there would have to be some underlying psychotic symptoms or signs," said Kreiger.   

The real problem Kreiger points to is an underlying stigma associated with mental illness.

"There are a lot of resources if we don't sweep them under the rug and think 'well my kid doesn't have that or for heaven sakes mental illness, we've got to be real," said Kreiger. 

Kreiger says she has already seen children negatively affected by the shooting, and expects to see more children over the holiday break.

"The separation anxiety is very high right now when leaving the parents. They are scared they aren't going to see them again.  The trigger is school that's where it happened," said Kreiger. 

As for identifying if a loved is suffering from a mental illness, Kreiger says confront the issue before it gets to a dangerous stage.     

"As soon as people can get on the same page and understand this is something just as serious as any other physical illness then we will make a great deal of progress," said Kreiger.