There are often warning signs that indicate an adolescent may be headed for a mental health crisis.

The first step in such situations is always to eliminate access to a weapon.

Psychiatric interventions can best ensure an individual in crisis receives the help they require.

On September 4, 2024, ninth-grader Colt Gray used a rifle gifted to him by his father, Colin Gray, to kill four people and injure nine others at his Georgia high school. In a development that echoes the 2021 tragedy in Michigan that saw a school shooter’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, charged with involuntary manslaughter, Colin Gray has been found guilty of more than two dozen charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. He faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence.

While no parent has a crystal ball that predicts what challenges their child will experience, there are often warning signs that indicate an adolescent may be headed for a mental health crisis. The Crumbley and Gray families’ legal cases illustrate the moral imperative for parents to seek professional help on behalf of suffering children, as well as the extreme legal necessity to pursue proactive mental health care. Willful blindness, and putting a weapon in the hands of their child, now constitute a........

© Psychology Today