Mass Shootings & Mental Illness: Sloppy Reporting Paints False Connection

There’s an unfortunate confusion that exists when talking about mass shootings in America. This confusion is reinforced by politicians and the media, each pushing their own agendas and biases. Some have erroneously claimed it’s a mental illness issue. I’m not being pedantic when I say we should not confuse mental illness with other, related concerns, such as psychological distress. The two are very different things. A person can be under psychological distress and still not have a mental illness. Here’s why the distinction is important and why sloppy reporting by both journalists and law enforcement paint a false connection between mental illness and mass shootings. Mental illness is something that approximately 1 in 5 Americans suffer. So you can understand the concern when politicians, law enforcement, and other well-meaning pundits suggest we need to be more careful in allowing people with mental illness to purchase guns (infringing on their Second Amendment Constitutional rights). What some don’t understand is that the data are not at all clear or consistent when it comes to a mass shooting perpetrator’s mental illness status. Some point to data like Mother Jones’ mass shootings database, that purportedly shows that in the mass shooting incidents they examined, the perpetrator had “mental health issues” 61 percent of the time. Well, we’ve all had mental health “issues” from time to time. That’s...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Brain and Behavior General Minding the Media Research Violence and Aggression Mass Shootings Mental Illness Source Type: blogs