Viewer worried that we continue to reject a new mental health facility
"The idea that mental health facilities are inherently dangerous is rooted in stigma, not reality."
CHATTANOOGA (ANONYMOUS) – Bradley County became the latest local community to reject building a new mental health hospital in their neighborhood.
The background is that Tennessee has agreed to replace the Moccasin Bend facility with a new one in a new location.
You can see Nick Hill’s story on the Bradley County decision.
But a viewer sent us this email (she wanted to remain anonymous) about what she considered a disturbing trend.
And we’re sharing it with you in its entirety.
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Every time a tragedy makes the news, we hear the same refrain: “We need better mental health care.” The calls are loud, urgent, and unanimous. Yet when a mental health hospital or treatment center is proposed in a county or neighborhood, the response often changes to fear, resistance, and rejection.
“No one wants that here.”
This contradiction deserves honest reflection.
Mental health challenges are not something that exist somewhere else. They are not confined to distant cities or unfamiliar communities. Mental health is everywhere. It is in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our workplaces. It is standing next to us in the grocery store, passing us in the aisles at Walmart, sitting beside us at church, or living quietly next door. It may even be within our own families—or ourselves.
The idea that mental health facilities are inherently dangerous is rooted in stigma, not reality. The vast majority of individuals seeking mental health treatment are not violent. In fact, people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. Treatment does not create danger; it reduces it. Care, stability, and support save lives and strengthen communities.
When we oppose mental health services in our own communities, we send a painful message: that people struggling with mental illness are welcome only in theory, not in practice. We cannot demand solutions after tragedy while refusing to support the very systems designed to prevent them.
Mental health care is health care. Just as we accept hospitals for physical illness, we must accept facilities that treat depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, and severe mental illness. These are not moral failures or character flaws. They are medical conditions that deserve compassion, understanding, and access to care.
If we truly believe mental health matters, we must be willing to support it—not just in words after something goes wrong, but in real, tangible ways, even when it challenges our comfort.
The question is not whether mental health care is needed. The question is whether we are willing to stand by that belief when it matters most.
