In the wake of countless tragic shootings,Congress finally came up with a solution to end the spread of gun violence and other forms of mass terror: reforming the mental health care system.
Shootings are a familiar tragedy in American history. Each time, Republicans rally around the belief mental illness is to blame, not gun owners. The threat of deadly mass shootings put intense pressure on legislators to pass mental health legislation.
The “Mental Health Reform Act of 2015,” introduced by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Rep. Tim Murphy’s “Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act,” demonstrate a bipartisan coalition formed to improve mental health care nationwide.
The media consistently correlates gun violence with mental illnesses, but are the two inextricably linked? Dr. Jeffrey Swanson of Duke University School of Medicine examined the connection between mass shootings and mental health.
Those with mental disorders have a slightly higher risk of committing violence, but they most often cause harm to themselves. According to Swanson, “the vast majority of people with mental illness are not violent and never will be,” indicating the high-profile cases we see with a shooter struggling with mental illness are the exception rather than the norm.
Swanson suggests we should place more focus on “behavioral indicators of risk,” rather than mental illness as a classification. Therefore, a history of violent behavior is more likely to be a red flag for violence later in life than bearing the label “mentally ill.”
Other studies, such as one published by the American Journal of Public Health, find between three and five percent of U.S. crimes involve a person struggling with mental illness, confirming Swanson’s claim. How do we help these people?
The Cassidy-Murphy Mental Health Act seeks to integrate mental and physical health, with states being eligible for $2 million in grants over five years to treat individuals with low incomes, chronic conditions or serious mental illness. The bill will also establish new grant programs to promote early intervention and detection for mental illness.
The proposal aims to strengthen transparency and enforcement of mental health parity. The bill will also improve mental health services within Medicare and Medicaid, allowing patients to receive mental health care with primary care at the same location.
The mental health care system needs revamping, but not to shift blame from gun control to mental health as a way to keep supporters of guns and the NRA happy.
Solving our mental health problem will not put an end to firearm violence. Even with a perfect mental health care system, gun violence would not end. Mass violence stems from many other problems, including environmental and societal issues.
Although many shooters are mentally ill, not all mentally ill people are prone to gun violence. Another common trend in recent shootings dictates many of these shooters purchased guns illegally.
Most people with mental illness are perfectly capable of living healthy, nonviolent lives. The negative stigma attached to mental illness allows for politicians to use it as a means to shift the conversation away from gun control.
On the flip side, politicians are finally paying attention to mental illness, but this only contributes to the negativity concerning mental illness. We changed the mentality of “guns don’t kill people — people do,” to “guns don’t kill people — the mentally ill do.” This needs to change, and it can as we increase awareness about mental illness and create a dialogue where mental health discussed openly and without judgement.
Mariah Manuel is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Lake Charles, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @mariah_manuel.