Mental Illness and Mass Shootings
One thing that continues to strike me in the wake of the latest horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas is the near complete blackout of any media coverage around mental illness. The vast majority of the focus (which I imagine will continue to be the case) is on the gun debate (which is reasonable to have), but one common thread that ties all mass shootings together is that the perpetrator is a mentally ill man and is either untreated, or their treatment protocol is inaccurate for what they're needing.
Consider other recent mass shootings (ht: http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/mass-shooting):
September 10th, 2017: http://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-gunman-who-killed-8-first-looked-for-wife-at-her-work
"Friends say he had grown despondent as his marriage dissolved and was drinking heavily."
June 5th, 2017: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/fiamma-shooter-legally-intoxicated-when-he-killed-5-coworkers-autopsy-shows
"The man who shot and killed five of his former Fiamma Inc. coworkers before turning the gun on himself was legally intoxicated."
May 27th, 2017: http://wjtv.com/2017/05/28/developing-learning-more-about-the-8-victims-killed-in-lincoln-county-shooting-spree/
"Some people we spoke with called Godbolt a “bully”, and “a ticking time bomb.”"
April 30th, 2017: http://cjonline.com/news/local/crime-courts/2017-05-02/days-killings-friend-says-josh-gueary-was-paranoid-bought-gun
"“He wasn’t with it,” Fletcher said. “He was paranoid all the time.”"
I don't pretend to know what mental health care these men were receiving at the time they snapped, but it would be a reasonable guess that possibly none of them were receiving any mental health care at all. In my own experience, there is still a significant stigma for men in particular to accept and be proactive about going to see a medical professional for anything, but particularly for mental health care. I believe this must necessarily change in order for our society to meaningfully limit/eliminate these disturbingly increasing instances of mass killings.
I would encourage everyone to consider making a donation of time and/or funds to NAMI:
https://www.nami.org/
Would also love to hear comments/discussion around ways we can get men to be more connected and proactive in taking care of their mental health.
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