
A Misguided Focus on Mental Illness - sethbannon
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/health/a-misguided-focus-on-mental-illness-in-gun-control-debate.html
======
randy909
_"If we really want to stop young men like him from becoming mass murderers,
and prevent the small amount of violence attributable to mental illness, we
should invest our resources in better screening for, and treatment of,
psychiatric illness in young people."_

Isn't that focusing on mental illness? I thought that was misguided. Misguided
title I think.

------
dromidas
I guess I should add this to the list I compiled earlier, but which number?

Possible fallout from Sandy Hook that is far worse than the event:

5) We put metal detectors at all schools, not just the ones that make sense
because of racial stereotypes.

4) We create a new branch of government called SchoolLand Security that does
nothing but harrass people and make cameos in pop culture entertainment.

3) We force all students to wear GPS trackers and if they are not in the right
place before or during school hours we send the new SLS to investigate.

2) We rewrite the constitution and remove the right to bear arms, and a few
other inconsequential things like free speech.

1) We create a TSA/Air Warden mix official in each school that has carries the
1 gun allowed in school combined with the authority to cavity search your sons
and daughters at their own discretion.

~~~
jinushaun
Wouldn't racial stereotypes put metal detectors in predominantly white middle
class schools?

~~~
dromidas
I don't know. It depends which racial stereotypes you are acknowledging as
sarcastically valid in this hypothetical situation.

I can't honestly say I have ever looked up what schools have had more weapon
related violence. The small scale incidents never make news cause that
wouldn't sell papers, so other people never really bother me about it unlike
this particular incident.

------
naner
Accessible mental health care for everyone would make society better overall,
if not decrease the likelihood of these mass shootings. Yes, people with
mental problems are not going on shooting sprees en masse, but whenever
someone goes on a shooting spree I think by definition they aren't functioning
normally.

~~~
dfxm12
Not everyone who _needs_ mental health care knows they need it, nor might they
be willing to seek it, based on how we treat "mental patients" in our society.

I guess what I'm saying is that, you are right, attacks like this are few and
far between, and that's good. I'm not sure what we can do, _if anything_ , to
make them fewer and further between. At some point, this all becomes security
theater, that is doing something simply for the sake of "doing something",
regardless of it's actual efficacy. In fact, "mental illness" is becoming a
red herring to deflect discussion away from the harder topic of "gun control".

FWIW, I feel as safe sending my kids to school today as I did a month ago
(that is, I don't give it a second thought).

------
jack-r-abbit
_But there is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of
people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts._

But... but... but isn't there also overwhelming evidence that the vast
majority of people with guns do not commit violent acts? I personally know a
handful of people that currently own or have owned one or more guns. Not one
of them has ever shot anybody. Ever.

[Edit to remove irrelevant point.]

~~~
kevin_morrill
The whole point is that all of this is extremely uncommon.

To put this in context, there are about 10,000 people killed annually in the
U.S. That's 27 people every single day like clockwork, in often more violent
and horrific fashion--many of them teenagers and kids. I think the "active
shooter" stat is something like ~100 annually.

So if you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about drunk
drivers. Or the far more likely cause of your death: heart disease and cancer.

[http://www.centurycouncil.org/drunk-driving/drunk-driving-
fa...](http://www.centurycouncil.org/drunk-driving/drunk-driving-fatalities-
national-statistics)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate#United_States)

~~~
jack-r-abbit
Totally agree with you. I kind of think about it like Plane crashes v. Auto
crashes. Commercial Plane crashes are very rare but when they do happen 250
people die in one shot. Car crashes happen so much more frequently but each
only has a couple deaths. The grand scale of devastation of this one single
act, in one single location makes it far more emotional than 1 or 2 deaths
every hour 24/7 across the US. And when emotions are running wild... people
get all worked up.

------
001sky
_“What the more realistic discussion is, ‘How do we target people with mental
illness who use firearms?’ ”_

\-- This is not misguided. But criminals break laws, by definition.

------
001sky
Relevant> "Fear of being committed may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap"

[http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/fear-being-committed-
ma...](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/fear-being-committed-may-have-
caused-connecticut-madman-to-snap/)

