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4. How can we repair our mental health system?

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4. How can we repair our mental health system?

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Preventing those who are mentally ill from owning guns is not the way to solve the problem.  This act is only enhancing the stigma of violence associated with mental illness.  It is more important to provide the funding, awareness, and treatment of mental illness to prevent those people from engaging in violent acts.  The best solution is to increase the availability of services, raise awareness, and provide funding for treatment of mental illness.  The current system does not support those who suffer from a mental illness and who are in need of treatment.  Revoking their access to guns as a method of decreasing violence will not solve the issue, since most violent acts are done by people who actually do not have any type of mental illness. The better solution is to increase the funding for mental health services so that those who are mental ill can have access to the treatment that they need.  Awareness of mental illness should also be raised so that people are familiar with the “red flags” of mental illness so that it can be detected as early as possible.  Instead of advocating for stricter gun laws targeted at the mentally ill, we must increase mental health funding to help them. The government should be helping these people, not against them.  With awareness and proper funding for mental health, the only problem left to solve is that of the mentally healthy shooters.

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Unfortunately, funding for mental health care has been cut by approximately $4.35 billion in just the past few years.  These budget cuts eliminate essential services to those with mental illness. It is important that we fix this flawed health system to make mental health services more available.  It is known that the recovery and treatment process must continue over the patient’s lifetime since there is no cure for mental illness. Simply removing guns from those who are mentally ill only reassures the stereotype of violence associated with mental illness, rather than giving them the support and treatment that they need.  Enough funding for proper treatment will function as means to help prevent these violent acts. State legislatures continue to pass gun control laws to remove guns from the mentally ill.  As a result, our nation’s mental health system is still weakening. Linking gun control laws with mental illness only makes people not want to seek treatment and enhances the false belief that mentally ill people are violent.

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The recent mass shootings have motivated the state governments to draft policies that would limit the gun rights of those with mental illness.  These incidents may have been prevented if the perpetrator had received timely treatment.
A. Sandy Hook
After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, New York Secure Ammunition Act (SAFE Act) was put in to place.  This law was intended to enhance public safety by preventing “the dangerously mentally ill” from purchasing a gun.  It also required that mental health professionals report any patient that seems dangerous to themselves or others.  This will take away the patient’s trust and could in turn cause them to be less open with their health professional, in fear of getting reported and having their rights taken away.  In the end, this will lead to insufficient treatment to those patients since they were not completely honest.
B. Illinois
Illinois also passed a law preventing those with mental illness from purchasing a gun.  The Firearm Concealed Carry Act requires a criminal as well as a mental health background check before purchasing a gun.  Research shows that Aaron Alexis was never convicted of a crime nor was he diagnosed mentally ill.  For many years, he showed signs of mental illness, but did not receive the mental health services he needed for early detection and treatment.  Rather than keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill, we must increase funding and awareness of mental health issues so that we can identify and oversee the mentally ill.  This means greater possibility for treatment, recovery, and stability for those suffering from mental illness.
C. Virginia Tech
Lastly, we will discuss the horrific tragedy on the Virginia Tech Campus in 2007.  The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, was known to have a mental illness and struggled in school.  Students had made multiple complaints of him stalking them, and his professors were aware of his strange behavior in class; he refused to speak and frightened students and faculty with his writings.  Cho should have been identified as a risk of danger to himself or others due to all of these behaviors.  If he would have been receiving the proper treatment and mental health that he needed, this tragedy may have been prevented.  Reducing the availability of necessary programs and support services can worsen conditions and have an adverse effect on the mentally ill.

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While not all deviant are considered mentally ill, almost all mentally ill people are wrongly considered deviant.  People with mental illness continue to be labeled as violent and dangerous, causing them to unjustly have their second amendment right revoked.  Research shows that individuals who are mentally ill only account for a small fraction of all violent conduct.  These are not all dangerous people. Rather than treating all individuals with mental illness as dangerous, policymakers should focus on increasing the funding needed to provide adequate mental health services so that these people can get the treatment they need.