Mental health reform and guns - the link you can't ignore
I know the country is involved in a very heated gun debate and mental health reform. I think the nation agrees our mental health system is in crisis.
NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre said it many times that guns aren’t the problem and fixing our broken mental health system in this country is what we need to be the number one priority.
Wayne and I definitely don’t agree on the first part, but we do agree on the 2nd part.
There was a report released from the Committee on Population that compared US life expectancy rates to those of other similar nations. We ranked #16 in life expectancy versus other similar nations.
From the Committee on Population: The result is that the life expectancy for men in the United States ranked the lowest among the 17 countries reviewed, at 75.6 years, while the life expectancy for US women ranked second lowest at 80.7 years. The countries reviewed included Canada, Japan, Australia, and much of Western Europe.
What is interesting in this report is injuries - specifically intentional injuries were listed as a reason for our decreased ranking and dropping male life expectancy rate - a.k.a. suicide.
The number one way that men commit suicide - GUNS - handguns to be specific.
Now we will never know if the men who committed mass shootings were suicidal and decided to kill innocent lives as part of their suicidal mission, but what we do know is that suicide in this country is reducing our male life expectancy and this is part of our mental health crisis that can’t be ignored.
We do know that men are four times more likely than women to have successful suicide attempts. We do know that handguns play a major role in suicide. We also know that in domestic violence deaths can be linked to homicide of the victim and suicide of the murderer.
To ignore these statistics is to be irresponsible to the commitment to “overhaul our mental health system”. Diagnosing our mentally ill, finding what their triggers are, getting them adequate counseling and monitor their medication to prevent further tragedies is an extremely difficult task that our society has little control over.
What we do have control over is reducing the number of guns that get into the hands of people with mental illness. We can do this with increased background checks and no more gun shows.
Will my suggestions solve all suicides and mass shootings? Absolutely not, but maybe some thinking like this will get this conversation started.
Millions of lives depend on solutions like these -the ones who are victims of the mass shootings and the ones who are victims of their own mental illness and end their own lives with a gun.
Greg McFarland
4 months, 1 week agoOne more item to note, studies have shown that reduced access to guns does not reduce the overall suicide rate. They just find another means. I agree with you otherwise. Why are our suicide rate and mental health problems do big?
Phil Cardarella
4 months, 1 week agoFrankly, this a red herring — not unlike violent video games.
Sure we should improve mental health treatment. But, most folks with diagnosed mental health issues are NOT dangerous to themselves or others. Denying firearms to all of them would be like denying firearms to all folks with blue eyes — or brown eyes — depending on the shooter of the day. A prohibition broad enough to be effective would be too broad to be accepted — and would actually discourage guys from seeking help.
And, men are more successful at suicide because more of the men who try it actually want to die, and accept doing it violently. More men hang themselves or throw themselves off bridges or in fromt of trains, too. Rightly or wrongly, they are not crying for help. They are seeking death.
And, while it is possible (as Australia has shown) to remove weapons of mass destruction and reduce the body count, we cannot reasonably expect to eliminate mental illness as a factor of violence.
We cannot diagnose and identify every potential killer — and if we could, we cannot keep him from getting a gun in our gun-glutted society. But we CAN reduce both access and body count — just like the Aussies did — by banning assault weaponry.
It is simple math: A psycho with six bullets is less dangerous that a psycho with 30 or 100.
Robert Copher
4 months, 1 week agoI think the more we force people to trust that they are being defended the less they will. Just let them defend themselves until they trust again. If we just act like decent people instead of self-reightous snobs and quit encouraging the Middle East type conflict in America. Are you claiming that could never happen again?
Greg McFarland
4 months, 1 week agoPhil, in Australia, the murder rate has gone down a bit (like 50 fewer) but violent crime has spiked. Is saving 60 lives worth a few thousand more rapes, many thousand more assaults, many thousand more burglaries, etc?
Phil Cardarella
4 months, 1 week agoActually, Aussies have the same guns we do — minus the assault-types. So, it is not entirely remarkable that they would still have non-European murder rates. But, NO mass murders. ZERO.
And, again, I question the source for these massive increases in violent crime that have gone unremarked in most media. But, if you are correct, do you seriously think we need such heavy weaponry to discourage potential criminal attackers?
In one way, the media are to blame. Crime is entertaining. Watching TV, you would see as many guys killed in New York or LA in an evening as are actually killed in New York or LA in a month — or year, if it is a good movie night! Heck, watch PBS and more folks are murdered in Oxford in a season then are actually murdered in Oxford in a decade! In the real world, New York has the same murder rate as BOISE! But folks are frightened into feeling far more vulnerable than they really are. And, while you may be safe and rational with guns, most guys (say, me) would be far more likely to injure themselves than any burglar.
Greg McFarland
4 months, 1 week agoPhil, Most of the guns we are have are restricted in Australia. Not that Wiki is the best source but it notes that pump action and semi-auto rifles and shotguns are heavily restricted. Handguns are generally limited to .38 and 9mm so they seem close (other than a 10 round magazine limit).
I took my data from http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics.html
It was also interesting that wiki had several references to the analysis of Australia’s gun control and the effects. I came away with these studies again show little or no effect on crime.
Greg McFarland
4 months, 1 week agoAnd regarding the Boise to NYC comparison:
http://boise.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Boise&s1=ID&c2=new+york&s2=NY
Hopefully the graph shows. Boise better in some NYC better in others but Boise has less than half the murder rate but way more rape. Anyway, for comparison.
Robert Copher
4 months agoNobody has trashed the government or made an atacking remark yet, in order to speak their position. As a frequesnt reader, thanks.