The use of the term "mental illness" serves to separate people who do horrible things from "the rest of us". They want to paint people, especially White men who engage in extreme violence as an aberration, which is actually true. The vast majority of people in general do not commit violent acts, especially at the level of the mass shooters.
The problem is not that they have a major mental illness like Schizophrenia, Bi-polar Disorder, or Major Depression (though you may find that some will have some manifestation of those conditions). The problem is variable and unfortunately, the culture and society are some of the primary factors in facilitating the development of those tendencies to commit extreme violence. It is not an internal psychiatric problem faced by the individual, it is a systemic problem with the messaging that is being given by society.
These are typically people just like us, who for some reason are more susceptible and make decisions that take them down a path where they see their options as committing a violent act or living in quiet desperation until they die. Young White men have been told by society, that they are special, that they are owed respect and success. When they fail to achieve they are told that it is a result of minorities, women, and immigrants being given special advantages that they cannot have. They start trying to verify this message and are taken in by a whole media system that takes them further and further into extremism. Fox News is a gateway that can lead to much more radical media. Once they are fully engaged in this radical messaging, it is easy for them to gain access to firearms that will allow them to inflict a great deal of damage. All of us are told that redemptive violence is okay. We see it all the time in our movies and media. For the vast majority of us, we can shrug it off or ignore it. We counteract the messaging with other anti-violence learning passed on by our families, communities, and social networks.
They are not "mentally ill" but they are responding in ways that are not typical to the functioning of the rest of the population. We need to explore and intervene in all of the factors that facilitate these situations, from mental health, to social messaging, to access to firearms, and anything else.
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