A version of this letter appeared in print on January 21, 2011, on page A26 of the New York edition.
To the Editor: Re “Getting Someone to Psychiatric Treatment Can Be Difficult and Inconclusive” (news article, Jan. 19), about an issue that has been much discussed after the shooting in Tucson: If it’s difficult to recognize mental illness, find treatment, keep the treatment going and see any conclusive results from it, why not put more emphasis on prevention? For example, this would include checking our children’s mental health, the same way we check their physical health (with established relationships to trusted doctors, yearly physicals and trips to the doctor, as needed, for concerns). June Thiemann Minneapolis, Jan. 20, 2011