MHA Director's Blog: The Scapegoat

A MONTHLY BLOG FROM MHA DIRECTOR KATHY ROGERS

June Topic:

The Scapegoat

Once again, our nation is grieving, as we bury 19 children and two teachers from Uvalde, TX due to a mass shooting. This comes on the heels of those lost in Buffalo, NY. And, once again, mental illness is being used as a convenient scapegoat by many who want to avoid a conversation about guns and commonsense legislation that could save lives in the future.

Make no mistake, we need more mental health supports and access to mental health resources in our country. We need more conversation about mental health. We need more therapists. We need more school-based mental health. But to lay the issue of gun violence on mental health is to dismiss the facts and is harmful to those who are living with a mental health diagnosis and never engage in any violent acts. Facts consistently show that mental illness contributes to approximately 4% of all violence and the contribution to gun violence is even lower.

According to MHA’s national affiliate, “Mental illness is not a predictor of violence towards others, but it is a predictor of suicide. To say otherwise, is misleading and wrongfully points a finger at tens of millions of people who have experienced or are living with mental health conditions.” Evidence indicates that most individuals living with mental illness are not violent and that 95-97% of homicidal gun violence is NOT carried out by someone with a mental illness. Most death from firearms of individuals with a mental illness are a result of suicide. (Gun Deaths, Violence and Mental Health, Mental Health America)

Pointing the finger at mental illness every time our country faces yet another senseless mass shooting only further stigmatizes mental illness and discourages people to seek help and treatment. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) National Director of Advocacy and Public Policy Kimball Angela, said, “When people unfairly connect mass shooters with mental illness, it stigmatizes the millions of people living with mental health struggles who are not violent.” (The Truth About Mental Health and Gun Violence, NAMI)

MHA National notes that when ranked with other countries of similar economic growth, the U.S. does not have a significantly higher proportion of people with mental health conditions than other industrialized countries, but does have exponentially higher rates of gun ownership and gun violence. “It is critical that the public and policymakers stop responding to gun violence and mass shootings with statements that mental health conditions are the underlying cause. The claim is false and discriminatory.” (Gun Deaths, Violence and Mental Health, Mental Health America)

"The U.S. does not have a significantly higher proportion of people with mental health conditions than other industrialized countries, but does have exponentially higher rates of gun ownership and gun violence."

But let’s look at the issue of mental health and guns. If mental health is part of the issue, why not have a waiting period before someone can purchase a firearm, which could be helpful if someone is experiencing an episodic mental health concern, such as the loss of a job, a breakup, or other triggers? Why can’t we support red flag laws or Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) legislation to keep someone from having a gun without stigmatizing mental illness? Why not raise the age to be able to purchase a gun to 21? Why can’t we pass universal background checks? Why can’t we do something about the prevalence of gun violence in our country?

Listed below are proactive policies to protect the rights of everyone and reduce gun deaths:

Appropriate funding to research agencies to study 1) causes of violent ideation and 2) the best practices to prevent suicide and help individuals recover from trauma due to acts of gun violence in communities.
Ensure that procedures and restrictions related to legal firearm ownership do not depend on a history of mental illness as this will have no meaningful impact on public safety.
Provide training to gun shop and shooting range employees to identify at-risk persons whose sole intent in purchasing (or renting) a gun is to die by suicide.
Create a mechanism to allow persons with suicidal ideation or violent ideation to surrender their firearms voluntarily and temporarily until such ideation is resolved.
Provide public education on the importance of safe gun storage in the home, such as keeping firearms and ammunition stored separately.
Assure that all firearms, including long guns, have gun locks.
Enact Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO) legislation, that is time-limited and provides due process. Modeled on domestic violence restraining order laws, ERPO’s avoid stigmatizing persons with mental illnesses because they are not focused on mental illness but on the risk of gun violence. (Mental Health America)

Remember, individuals with mental illness are often the victims of violence rather than the perpetrators of violence on others. We need to have an open, honest and productive conversation about what causes such a high rate of gun violence in our country. We must come together to find meaningful solutions. We must not allow ourselves to become numb to children dying in classrooms, elderly citizens' lives cut short while grocery shopping, music lovers becoming victims to gun violence at a concert (the list goes on). And we must stop using mental illness as a scapegoat.

“We must come together to find meaningful solutions.

We must not allow ourselves to become numb to children dying in classrooms, elderly citizens' lives cut short while grocery shopping, music lovers becoming victims to gun violence at a concert (the list goes on). And we must stop using

mental illness as a scapegoat.”

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