The man who occupies the
White House as president has once again presented a mistaken premise, backed by
no factual evidence, to mislead his followers and anyone else who might be
persuaded by bumper sticker mentality.
Following the two horrific
mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH, Donald Trump spoke on Monday,
August 5, 2019 from the White House during which he declared “mental
illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.” Although earlier in the day he had mentioned (in
a tweet) a need for “background checks,” in this speech, he described the
shooters as “mentally ill monsters.” And,
this wasn’t the first time he made such a statement. Trump also suggested that mental illness was
to blame for the killings that happened at the First Baptist Church of
Sutherland Springs in Texas in November 2017. He continued to press this theme
at his most recent rallies.
Definitions
matter. And so does Trump’s
Rhetoric.
“’Mental illness’ is a disease
that causes mild to severe disturbances in thought and/or behavior, resulting
in an inability to cope with life’s ordinary demands and routines.”
There are more than 200
classified forms of mental illness. Some of the more common disorders are
depression, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia and anxiety
disorders. Symptoms may include changes in mood, personality, personal
habits and/or social withdrawal.
“Mental health problems may
be related to excessive stress due to a particular situation or series of
events … mental illnesses are often physical as well as emotional and
psychological. Mental illnesses may be caused by a reaction to environmental
stresses, genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, or a combination of these.
With proper care and treatment many individuals learn to cope or recover from a
mental illness or emotional disorder.”
(http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/recognizing-warning-signs)
Basic questions that Trump
needs to answer, based on his own words:
1.
how do you define
“mental illness” and what proof (documentation) do you have that it “causes” the
trigger-pulling?
2.
are guns
protected by the 2nd Amendment or is the peoples’ right to own and
bear arms the subject of 2nd Amendment protection? Are you asking us
to accept all guns (and gun manufacture) as constitutionally protected, even though
these are potentially lethal weapons and killing machines sold for profit? Strange, since potentially lethal (and even faulty)
products -- like certain drugs, foods, toys, autos & trucks -- are
generally well-regulated to assure people’s safety and tranquility!
3.
are you equating
those who are mentally ill with being monsters?
are you saying that all persons who are shooters are mentally ill? or are you saying that all mass shooters must
be mentally ill and are therefore also monsters? do you even know what you are
saying?
4.
was the NRA
consulted in any way about this speech (and more recent rantings)? After all, it is NRA propaganda that insists
that guns are not any kind of problem, but that mass shooters who pull the
trigger are mentally ill and that anything (like background checks) that
restricts gun ownership (sales?) is a “slippery slope” toward confiscation of
guns
5.
if hatred is part
of the problem with these shooters, what actions are incumbent upon you to
assure that hate speech and hateful behavior are curtailed?
MENTAL ILLNESS is NOT
the main reason why mass shootings and domestic terrorism are increasing in
this nation. That is a figment in the
imagination of a deficient president and his equally deficient conspiracy-prone
followers. Perhaps more relevant to the
situation is a current atmosphere of violence as acceptable behavior
contributed to by the following:
§
a history of
violence toward people of color (from slavery to Jim Crow to white nationalism or
white supremacy to immigration restrictions
§ election of a racist to the presidency with his vile
language and behavior toward ‘others’ like immigrants, Muslims, Mexicans, Africans, etc.
§ a president who signals his approval and empathy with violent
hate groups like Nazis, white nationalists and the KKK
§ a president whose intent is to destroy democratic
values and replace them with:
o
absolute loyalty to him as leader (‘Fuhrer’ in
German),
o
a constant din
that government is the problem,
o
laws made useful
for self-advancement; and,
o
violence and
revenge seen as necessary in a war against people who disagree or criticize the
Leader
§ the glorification of guns and easy access to them
§ protection of potentially lethal products by the NRA
(for profit)
§ using violence as a means of control over others
Some responses to Trump
comments on Mental Illness:
“Aug. 6, 2019 --
"…the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) quickly issued a statement saying the
"overwhelming majority" of people with mental illness are more
likely to be victims of violent crime than to carry it out.
APA President Rosie Phillips
Davis, PhD, added these thoughts:
“As our nation tries to
process the unthinkable yet again, it is clearer than ever that we are
facing a public health crisis of gun violence fueled by racism, bigotry and
hatred. The combination of easy access to assault weapons and hateful rhetoric
is toxic.
“A small percentage of
violent acts are committed by people who are diagnosed with, or in treatment
for, mental illness. The rates of mental illness are roughly the same around
the world, yet other countries are not experiencing these traumatic events as
often as we face them. One critical factor is access to, and the lethality
of, the weapons that are being used in these crimes. Adding racism, intolerance
and bigotry to the mix is a recipe for disaster.”
Renee Binder, MD, a professor
and director of the Psychiatry and Law Program at the University of California,
San Francisco, says these types of shooters are "highly disturbed in some
way or another," but there is not a strong connection
between mental illness and violence. In
addition, using the term "monsters" to describe people who have
mental illness "does a lot of harm," she says. "There's already
so much stigma against people who have a diagnosis of mental illness."”
(https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20190806/experts-slam-trump-for-post-shooting-comments#1)
Research strongly
suggests that Mental-health issues are not necessarily predictive of violent
outbursts.
v Although as many as one in five people in the US experience mental illness every year, people with serious mental-health problems account
for just 3% of all violent crime.
v Psychiatrists and psychologists have been looking at
the data on this for a long time, and there's just no evidence of a (direct) connection
between mental illness and violence. Instead, researchers have discovered that
people with major mental illnesses are 2.5 times more likely to be the victims
of violent outbursts than the general public. (Business Insider)
v According to the National Center for Health Statistics, less than 5% of the 120,000 gun-related killings in
the US between 2001 and 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental
illness.
v “If we want to address the gun violence that is
tearing our country apart, we must keep our focus on finding evidence-based
solutions. This includes restricting access to guns for people who are at risk
for violence and working with psychologists and other experts to find solutions
to the intolerance that is infecting our nation and the public dialogue.” (APA
President)
Scientists say the real problem is that violent, impulsive, and
angry men are (easily) getting their hands on guns. There
is…a well-established pattern among mass shootings: They're typically perpetrated
by angry young men.
A 2017 report from the Department of Homeland Security on "mass attacks" in public spaces found
similarly that "almost half" of the attackers studied that year were
motivated by personal grievances, retaliating for various perceived slights,
including being bullied, disliked, or wronged by peers or family members. It's
a phenomenon that other researchers have noticed, too.
"Most mass murders are
planned well in advance of the outburst, usually as acts of revenge or
retribution for perceived slights and wrongs," psychiatrist Michael Stone
noted in a 2015 report on "mass murder, mental illness, and men."
The forensic psychiatrist
Liza Gold teaches at Georgetown and edited the book "Gun Violence and Mental Illness." She told Business Insider in 2017 that mass shooters
tend to be "impulsive and angry about a lot of different things" and
said many have a history with law enforcement or violence, especially around
domestic violence.
“Domestic violence can be physical or
psychological, and it can affect anyone of any age, gender, race, or sexual orientation. While every relationship is different,
domestic violence generally involves an unequal power dynamic in which one
partner tries to assert control over the other in a variety of ways. Some perpetrators may even use children… or
other family members as emotional leverage...”
One of the outcomes of
domestic violence for children involved can be the disorder called ’Intermittent
Explosive disorder’ which appears to result from a combination of
biological and environmental factors. Most people with the disorder grew up in
families where explosive behavior and verbal and physical abuse were common.
Being exposed to such violence at an early age makes it more likely
for children to develop the same traits as they mature. There may
also be a genetic component through which the susceptibility to the disorder is
passed from parents to
children. The majority of cases occur in persons younger than 35 years of age. The disorder is probably more common than
realized and may be an important cause of violent behavior. Some studies have
found that intermittent explosive disorder is more common in men.” (Psychology
Today, August 12, 2019)
This brings us to a point
that does not receive enough attention. Yes,
mental illness may be behind the actions of mass shooters, but not just any
form of mental disorder and certainly not mental illness that is being
successfully treated. What may be more
accurate is that a disposition toward violence is behind these killings. That violence may find its origin in mental
disorder of one or another kind that has gone undiscovered, unreported,
undiagnosed and untreated. And
therein may lie more truth than fiction.
One writer describes the duplicitous
approach of the psychological community and the media toward protecting those
with mental illness from further stigma while also acknowledging that some untreated
or uncured mental disorders do involve a tendency to the violence behind
these shootings. Her work “as a writer, trainer, and coach focuses
on educating the world to the true nature of what it's like to have bipolar
disorder and/or a form of schizophrenia” as she does.
Julie A. Fast, Take Charge of Bipolar
Disorder, Mental Illness, Violent Behavior, and Mass Shootings A balanced perspective.
Posted Aug 12, 2019 in
“Psychology Today”
“My approach is...I want the world to know that those
of us with serious mental illness absolutely can get better if we say ‘yes’ to
treatment when treatment is available. On the other hand, I feel the
ravages of my own mentally ill brain that has violent thoughts and leads me to
violent behaviors. This is reinforced by… clients who tell me
first-hand stories of mental illness and violence in their own homes.
“Research — the kind reported after there
is violence in a mass shooting—strongly points to people with untreated
mental illness as the perpetrators of the majority of mass shootings in the
U.S. In many cases, family members tried for years to get help for the child.”
Her conclusion is compelling:
“We need a balanced
discussion. The majority of people with mental health disorders
have depression and anxiety. They are not known to be violent. Those of us with
SMI or SPMI on the serious mental illness scale who have a form of bipolar or a
psychotic disorder-- We are the ones in jail and in hospitals. We
are on the streets. We are the one who needs a health check before buying a
gun. No, not all people with serious mental illness are violent, but
I can honestly say I have never met someone who is in a dysphoric manic
episode with psychosis who is not
violent to some extent.”
“The mom of one of the recent
shooters in El Paso tried to tell the police she was scared. They ignored her. "The kid is 21 and has a right
to have an AK47," the police said. The young man opened fire at
Walmart and killed innocent people. It is being called ‘domestic terrorism’ (which)
will fit the agenda that mentally ill people are not violent…
“We can't end stigma while simultaneously
giving the opposite message that none of us are violent. It sends a mixed
message and, in my opinion, will lead to more killings.”
So, how do we approach this
topic of gun violence. Probably not in
the way that Donald J. Trump has proposed: by considering all mass shooters as
mentally ill.
This stigmatizing error leads
to all kinds of abuses, some of which Trump has already hinted at; institutionalization
being the worst. The fight to rid
society of the scourge of incarceration (institutionalization) and non-human
and inhumane treatment and isolation from the world, has been too long and
arduous to return to that ignominious model of ‘treatment.’ Trump is a knee-jerk Regressive who has no
idea how stupid and dangerous this is. It reminds one of the Nazi’s solution to
mental deficiency which was to “lock ‘them’ up” and basically experiment on ‘them’
or let ‘them’ die.
On the other hand, the mental
health community, and our government leaders have failed to attend with money
and commitment to treatment of mental illness in its many forms. The worst has probably been the utter failure
to provide adequate public resources for the diagnosis and treatment of those
who suffer with mental disorders that may lead to violent outbursts. Our community mental health system was so
inadequate when de-institutionalization occurred that it could not provide adequate
support and treatment for all those placed in our communities, too many ending
up on the streets to become homeless or jailed.
Despite some improvements that have occurred, such as group residences
and clinics, we still have inadequate community resources for the treatment
needed by those experiencing mental illness or disorder.
The Trumpian solution for
resolving gun violence is to target those with mental illness: to deny them access
to guns, to lock them up in big buildings and to isolate them from the rest of
us. He has no idea what could or should
be done about community resources to treat mental illnesses; even though that would
cost less than building or re-furbishing all those institutions. Indeed, he can’t even deliver on “meaningful”
background checks for all gun purchases because he can’t stand up to the NRA (he
can’t risk losing their support!).
Once again – as with so many
of this nation’s social issues – Mr. Trump has little or no understanding of
the actual problems; and little regard or understanding for in-depth
solutions. He defines problems in terms
of conspiracies (mostly against him) or in terms of personal whims or fantasies
or prejudices; or simply in terms that someone else provides (like FOX News
personnel). As long as he remains in
office (along with ‘Moscow Mitch’ and his silent majority of GOP Senators),
solutions to gun violence and the tremendous need for effective treatment of
mental illnesses that lead to violent eruptions, have slim chance of being
undertaken.
THERE IS BUT ONE SOLUTION – IMPEACH
TRUMP NOW and VOTE Do-Nothing REPUBLICANS OUT IN 2020!
