News Clips
Screening of Documentary Featuring Sue Klebold
August 16, 2019
A local screening of “American Tragedy: Love is Not Enough,” a new documentary that follows Sue Klebold’s journey from realizing her son was one of the Columbine shooters to her becoming a mental health advocate, is scheduled August 30.
Read the full article on the Denver Post website.
Guns, Hate And Mental Health: Where Do They Intersect? And How Should We Move Forward?
By: Ryan Warner
August 15, 2019
Hundreds of questions swirl around after a mass shooting. Many of them start with the word "should."
Should the United States pass stricter gun control laws? Should the country improve its mental health system? Should more people be armed with guns? How should we address extremism?
"So many people have been killed or hurt or injured from these shootings," said Olivia Lien of Littleton. A friend of Lien's was at the Century 16 multiplex in Aurora on July 20, 2012.
"I really wish that we could just wave a magic wand and fix it ...
Coloradans React to ‘Red Flag’ Law
By: SACHA PFEIFFER
August 10, 2019
Listen to the full story on NPR
After 31 people were killed in mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Trump expressed support this week for what's known as a red flag law. It's legislation that allows guns to be temporarily removed from people in crisis.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms and that if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process.
PFEIFFER: Red flag laws are ...
OPINION: Don’t Blame Mental Health Issues for Mass Murder
By: Aubree Hughes
August 9, 2019
Yesterday, Mental Health Colorado issued the following statement:
“These are heartbreaking times for our country. Mental Health Colorado shares in our country’s collective sorrow, worry, and insistence on meaningful change.
“In the wake of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, our country’s leadership called for reform to mental health laws while suggesting ‘mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.’
“We cannot continue to blame mental health for situations like this. The ...
The Connection Between Mental Illness & Violence Is Not A Given
After a mass shooting, there are words that come up time and again: "mental illness," "crazy," "monster." Words we want to reflect on with Moe Keller, the policy director for Mental Health Colorado. Listen now.
Coloradans living with mental illness say comments after El Paso, Dayton mass shootings further stigmatize
By: Jessica Seaman
August 8, 2019
Once again, as the nation reels in the aftermath of back-to-back mass shootings, mental health is a focus of discussion, with President Donald Trump on Wednesday saying of the perpetrators: “These are people that are really mentally ill, mentally disturbed.”
“It’s a mental problem,” Trump said — echoing comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others — before flying to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, cities where gunmen killed 31 people and injured dozens more in two separate shooting sprees over the weekend.
But ...
Coloradans living with mental illness say comments after El Paso, Dayton mass shootings further stigmatize
By: Jessica Seaman
August 8, 2019
Once again, as the nation reels in the aftermath of back-to-back mass shootings, mental health is a focus of discussion, with President Donald Trump on Wednesday saying of the perpetrators: “These are people that are really mentally ill, mentally disturbed.”
“It’s a mental problem,” Trump said — echoing comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others — before flying to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, cities where gunmen killed 31 people and injured dozens more in two separate shooting sprees over the weekend.
But ...
Colorado counties with highest suicide rates are most opposed to ‘red flag’ law
By: Rob Low
August 6, 2019
DENVER -- Supporters of Colorado's "red flag" law say the measure is more likely to prevent suicides than mass shootings, even though it's the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that led President Donald Trump to embrace red flag laws as a way to reduce gun violence.
In Colorado, more than half of the state's 64 counties have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries opposed to the the red flag law. Many of those counties have the state's highest gun suicide rates, according to statistics provided to FOX31 ...
Colorado’s New Psychiatric Advance Directive Process Goes Into Effect Aug. 2, 2019
July 31, 2019
Effective Aug. 2, 2019, Colorado law pertaining to behavioral health-related advance directives is changing. Under current law, an adult may establish advance medical orders for scope of treatment, allowing an adult to establish directives for the administration of medical treatment in the event the adult later lacks decisional capacity to provide informed consent to, withdraw from, or refuse medical treatment. However, Colorado House Bill 19-1044 will create a new “behavioral health order form” so that an adult may communicate his or her behavioral ...
Mental Health Colorado names new president, CEO
Staff Report
July 29, 2019
A new president and chief executive officer has been selected to lead Mental Health Colorado, an advocacy organization for mental health and substance use.
Vincent Atchity will provide strategic leadership to help Mental Health Colorado achieve its mission of promoting mental wellness, ending stigma, and ensuring equitable access to mental health and substance use services, according to a news release.
Atchity served as executive director of The Equitas Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to disentangle mental health and ...
