Uyesugi was percolating and he didn't want to get treatment. People in treatment are in fact less likely to act out, Inouye said. Medications have improved and therapy solutions, which don't involve medication, have become successful options, she said. Insurance companies are paying for more mental health treatment. The state Legislature two years ago doubled counseling visits covered by insurance from 12 to 24 annually, Farstrup said.
Mental health is a continuum like physical health.
When the public focuses on the most serious mental illness and heinous acts that occur, it perpetuates the stigma, Wylie said. Although the public believes mental illness and violence are connected, doctors insist the two are at most coincidental and not related. Delusional people are most in denial of having a mental illness because the disorder removes them from reality, Inouye said. Common delusions suffered by people include feeling paranoid, like they are being followed or loved at a distance, Inouye said. Violence among people with delusional disorders is even more rare, he said.