The Traverse City Walmart Attack & America's Failing Mental Health Care System: An Opinion
- diaryofafloppingfi
- Jul 31, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 22
Traverse City Walmart Stabbing: Could This Attack Have Been Prevented?
Michigan is reeling from an attack at the Traverse City, Michigan, Walmart on July 26, 2025, where a 42-year-old man “allegedly” stabbed 11 people at random with a folding knife. Luckily, though there were serious injuries, none of the stabbings were fatal, and bystanders helped to bring the “alleged” attacker under control until police were able to intervene.
Though this is a tragedy, it is also very apparent that it could have been avoided if authorities listened to pleas from the family to permanently house the “alleged” attacker in a facility. In this article, I am going to take a look at America's failing mental health care system, and if this tragedy could have been prevented.
Family Tried for Years to Get Mental Health Help Before Walmart Attack
Last night, Click on Detroit aired an interview with Shane, the brother of Bradford Gille, who is accused of committing these 11 crimes. In the short clip aired, it is brought to light that the family was aware of the suspect’s mental health struggles but was unable to get him the help he needed for years.
Shane describes his brother’s struggle with disillusioned thoughts, paranoia, unstable housing, and trouble with the law. They were only able to find temporary placement for him in treatment facilities where he would be treated, stabilized, and then released. Upon release, he would discontinue his medication, and the cycle would repeat. While they were inclined to believe that someday something serious would happen, they had no way of knowing this incident would occur.
Why America’s Failing Mental Health Care System Fails Families in Crisis
Many relatives of those suffering from severe mental illness likely experience the same thing. In the past, after there has been a terrible event such as this, those close to the suspect have always lamented about how they should have known or done something to stop it.
Bystanders or family and friends of the victim lament that there must have been red flags, but wonder why nothing was done. An unfortunate truth of the mental healthcare system in America is that there is often no long-term help for those with severe mental illness, and they are the most likely to become homeless, and attempt to self-medicate with alcohol and other substances.
There is a “chicken or the egg” question here, because having to live in survival mode and suffering the tragedies that occur to one who is homeless is also not good for a person’s mental health. Regardless of which occurred first, continuing to live on the streets with poor nutrition, sleep, and medical treatment is certainly not going to cure anyone’s mental illness.
However, that is exactly where our society forces those in need to, and then we cry as a country when something bad happens. If there is no change in how mental illness is handled, viewed, and treated in this country, tragedies such as this will continue to happen.
How Mental Illness Leads to Homelessness: The Social Drift Theory
Psychology has developed a theory called “Social Drift Theory,” where the link between the rates of homelessness and symptoms of schizophrenia is explained as being due to the symptoms of schizophrenia making it impossible for the individual to maintain employment and housing. They gradually sink lower on the socioeconomic ladder until eventual homelessness.
Many psychotropic drugs work to relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia and make it possible for a person to function in society and maintain order in their lives. However, these drugs also have terrible side effects that can range from emotional blunting to tardive dyskinesia. Those who take the drugs often complain that they do not feel like themselves and quickly stop taking the medication if left unsupervised.
From the articles and news stories I have read, it sounds like this is what occurred with Bradford Gille repeatedly over the years. I want to make it explicitly clear that I do not think Gille, or his family are to blame for his mental state. Likely, Gille was not able to make rational decisions, like taking his medication continually, for himself.
It is also clear that his family tried repeatedly to get him the help he needed by staying in a long-term care facility specializing in treating schizophrenia. If an individual is unable to maintain themselves and continually take medication that would make them not a danger to society or themselves, then shouldn’t professionals step in to provide that care for them?
Why Can’t We Get Long-Term Mental Health Care? The Real Problem
The Historical Context of Mental Health Treatment
Psychology is all the rage these days, but we often forget that it is a very new field of study. Even though studying thought and the mind goes all the way back to Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato, psychology as we know it today was not invented until Sigmund Freud in the late 1800’s.
Before psychology became a scientific study, people suffering from mental illness were thought to be possessed, influenced by bad spirits, etc. Those suffering were hidden away from the public eye due to shame or driven out of town.
Eventually, institutions were created to house the “mentally insane”, but they were quickly overcrowded, understaffed, and underfunded. Medical professionals struggled to diagnose and treat mental illness, and often the treatments they used would be seen as inhumane or barbaric today.
One large problem was determining if a mental state was due to a disease or if it was psychological. To this end, many mistakes were made, such as lobotomies, where a steel pick and hammer were used to damage the brain through the eye sockets. Lobotomies never improved a patient but typically left them in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives, if it didn’t kill them due to brain damage or infection.
Why Mental Health Institutions Were Shut Down
The harsh conditions and treatment inside asylums were controversial. In 1887, a journalist named Nellie Bly pretended to be insane and was admitted to The Women’s Lunatic Asylum located on what is now Roosevelt Island. She wrote a book called 10 Days In A Mad House about her experience, thus increasing the controversy surrounding treatment in a madhouse.
Another unfortunate incident occurred when Dr. Henry Cotton was the director of the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, until 1930. He was touted as being a revolutionary psychiatrist with his work of removing “diseased” parts of psychiatric patients, as he believed that mental illness was because of malfunctioning or diseased parts of the body. There was very little evidence to justify the torture he put patients through, and a very high mortality rate for his patients, leading to his eventual downfall.
Closing Mental Hospitals: How the 1960s Created Today’s Crisis
In the 1950’s, psychotropic drugs were developed that helped to control symptoms of many psychiatric disorders that previously required permanent hospitalization, including schizophrenia. With the development of new drugs and controversy around the inhumane treatment in asylums, the deinstitutionalization movement took hold. Starting in the 1960’s, thousands of patients were released from mental hospitals, and hospitals began to be closed.
In the news report mentioned previously, Gille’s brother reported that they could not find a long-term placement for his brother, and instead, he was in a cycle of being forced to take medication, being released, stopping medication, having trouble with the law, which led to involuntary hospitalization, and the cycle repeated over again. This is due to institutions being closed, but not enough resources being put in place to help the mentally ill.
Unfortunately, if a person will not continue to take medication and will subsequently be a danger to society, then perhaps they cannot live without constant supervision. If resources were available, it is possible that mental health professionals would have made the right choice for Mr. Gille, his family, and the people who have now been hurt due to the inaction of medical professionals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to express my deepest condolences to the people who have been impacted by this incident, but also to the family of Bradford Gille, who had to watch their loved one descend into madness, knowing it was a matter of time before something terrible happened.
Millions of Americans are watching their loved ones suffer in similar ways, and no pounding at the door of psychiatric professionals seems to alleviate the problem. We cannot continue to scream about mental health awareness and not take any action to improve the care and access to mental health care. After all, doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, is the definition of insanity.
A quick note: I use the terms “allegedly” and “suspect” in this article because in the United States, all citizens are granted the right of due process, which means everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I added quotes around my use because all of these incidents are recorded on video camera, making the term inaccurate and confusing unless it is considered from the legal standpoint.
References
https ://neurolaunch.com/why-were-mental-hospitals-closed/
https: //www.psychologs.com/social-drift-hypothesis/
The Diary Of A Flopping Fish and any posts or articles published on Diaryofafloppingfish.com are not reviewed by a therapist or medical or mental health professional. Resources are cited, and opinion is opinion. No advice or opinions in any articles replace professional advice from a doctor, therapist, or any other kind of health professional. The author is not a licensed professional of any kind.
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