General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This time the right guy had a gun, and stopped more carnage. [View all]JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Don't Blame Mental Illness for Mass Shootings
As family physicians, we are no strangers to mental health care. In fact, my most common diagnoses (after "health maintenance" are anxiety and depression. Every day, I see patients who are struggling with sleep, appetite, concentration and energy. These are hallmarks of mental health issues. Committing a mass shooting is not.
That's why it's important for family physicians to combat the persistent myth that mental illness is a leading factor in mass shootings. This is unsupported by evidence.
Study(psychiatryonline.org) after study(www.sciencedirect.com) has demonstrated that people with mental health issues commit only a miniscule percentage of mass shootings and account for less than 1% of annual gun homicides. According to a study based on Swedish data published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, only 3%-5% of violent crimes are perpetrated by someone with a mental illness.(ajp.psychiatryonline.org) In fact, people with serious mental illnesses are more likely to be the victims of violence.(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) And the vast majority of gun deaths in America are from suicide, meaning those with mental illness are far more likely to harm themselves than others.
Blaming mental illness only serves to further stigmatize patients who have mental health issues as inherently dangerous. And it deflects attention from a real predictor of mass shootings: easy access to guns.
By blaming mental illness or video games (which, it should be noted, are also not proven influencers in mass shootings(www.vox.com)), politicians beholden to gun lobby groups avoid a discussion about gun reform.
https://www.aafp.org/news/blogs/freshperspectives/entry/20190918fp-massshootings.html
The OP complains about ban all guns "hysterics" but I think blaming gun violence on mentally ill is even more stupid.