Tragically another young person killed others and himself this week. But for the grace of God, I'm not the mother of a young man like him.

My son has a serious and persistent mental illness that, in the past, has sent him into violent rages and pushed him to attempts at ending his life. As a former Marine, he is well trained to use weapons. I'm a blessed mom in that, right now, our family has hope for his recovery. The parents of the young men in Omaha, Virginia Tech, and even Columbine no longer have that hope.

The media quickly passes blame around - the parents, the police, the drug-dealers, the schools - while at the same time refuse to look at themselves. Ignorant commentators quickly pass judgment.

It is clear that the young men in these tragedies suffered with mental illnesses - brain diseases that are misdiagnosed at best, ignored at worst. Plenty of blame can be passed around as to why they did not receive the type of care necessary to prevent such serious consequences of the illnesses.

Let's look for a moment at the institution that gets a bye -- the news media.

The ill 19-year-old in Omaha wrote "Just think tho I'm going to be (expletive) famous." Where did he get that idea -- to try and compensate for "being a constant disappointment" by being famous in his death? He knew when he walked into that mall, the nation would sit stunned in front of their tubes while media outlets vied for the biggest share of the viewer pie.

So, here's what happened -

I found out about the shootings when I turned on the John Gibson show on Fox News. For the next hour, Gibson and company fulfilled the young man's prophecy by devoting the entire hour to live "reports." Most of those reports were rumors or interviews with some lonely guy trying to get his 15 seconds of fame. (In the age of instant media, there is no longer time for 15 minutes of fame.)

As a former journalist, I looked at that and thought "So, what's the story here? What facts do we know?" A young man went into a mall, there was shooting, don't know if anyone is killed, don't know how extensive, the mall is locked down, the police are still trying to find the person responsible. Well, at that point, the story is "There has been a shooting at a mall in Omaha." Period. ### 30 - end of story.

Fox News, along with CNN, MSNBC, and all the rest couldn't just report the story. No they had to embellish, make-up, and sensationalize in hopes of having the highest ratings - translate, most advertising dollar.

The very next day John Gibson had the audacity to rant and rave against the shooter he helped create when he made the shooter famous. Gibson helped create the situation, but refuses to take any responsibility for it.

Gibson, like so many other commentators, doesn't know anything about mental illness and refuse to learn. They fan the flames of a sick person's delusions, then call judgment against them.

No one thinks about what this boy and his family have suffered because the irresponsible media is allowed to denigrate those who are afflicted with these serious brain diseases. Think about it -- what if Gibson and his friends said "I have no sympathy for that person because he has cancer (or diabetes or heart disease, pick your illness) and decided to kill others along with himself. He should rot in hell."

No, there would have been calls for helping those who have such horrible illnesses. Doctors would have been interviewed, congressional hearings would have been called, celebrities would have benefit concerts. Mental illness doesn't get that kind of consideration simply because of ignorance.

The suffering continues; the killings will continue, as long as false information and sensational yellow journalism continues.

My heart goes out to the parents of this young man who is not only suffering the loss of a child, but also being heaped with guilt over something they had not control over. But for the grace of God, go I.

Learn more about mental illness - www.nami.org