Virginia Tech Case Reveals Flaws in Mental Health System

SUSAN DENTZER, NewsHour Health Correspondent:

Behind the slaughter at Virginia Tech last April was the troubled history of the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho. As with one-in-five Americans, he had a mental disorder such as depression. And like one in 20, he may have had a serious mental illness, like schizophrenia.

Of course, only a tiny minority of people with mental illness become violent. All the same, the tragic shootings reflect a major problem, says David Shern. He's president and CEO of the nonprofit group Mental Health America.z

DAVID SHERN, CEO, Mental Health America:

We don't have a system of mental health in this country. It's a series of disjointed efforts that sometimes tragically fail.

SUSAN DENTZER:

Cho's problems most likely began years earlier, mental health experts say. And they say the absence of effective mental health interventions during his lifetime is a symptom of pervasive problems.

DAVID SHERN:

Well, it's really a case study, I think, in missed opportunities, some horribly missed opportunities, both to intervene effectively early, in terms of promoting healthy behaviors and preventing the development of difficult behaviors.

SUSAN DENTZER:

Dr. Bela Sood is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Virginia Commonwealth University and a member of a state review panel investigating the shootings.

DR. BELA SOOD, Virginia Commonwealth University:

There are many complicated kind of reasons why this young man sort of slipped through the cracks, but this is a major societal problem for us: stigma, access to care, workforce shortage issues, poor funding of mental health.

SUSAN DENTZER:

Sood and other mental health experts say Cho apparently fell through the cracks in various ways, beginning in his troubled childhood.

DR. BELA SOOD:

Certainly, the media talks about this young man being very withdrawn, very isolated, extremely and painfully shy as he was growing up. Shyness by itself, what we call introversion, is not a sign of mental illness. It is really a combination of that, along with other symptoms, which sort of come together as a constellation of mental illness.

SUSAN DENTZER:

Although Cho's mother reportedly spoke with relatives back in South Korea about her son's problems, there's no sign the family sought treatment. Sood says that's hardly surprising, given his parents' socioeconomic status and their immigrant backgrounds.

DR. BELA SOOD:

We know, within mainstream culture, mental health carries with it a great deal of stigma and that it is seen as a personal failure of probably a much higher magnitude in the Eastern culture.