Enough is enough
May is mental health awareness month and on May 25th — a day after 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered — mental health was at the forefront of conversation. This isn’t surprising as after each mass shooting, in an attempt to divert from the actual problem, politicians and layfolk assert the role mental illness played in these mass shootings. I want to be unequivocal in my assertion: a majority of mass shooters have no diagnosable mental health disorders or as put in a recent NBC news article by Lori Post, director of the Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, “while it is understandable that most people cannot fathom slaughtering small children and want to attribute it to mental health, it is very rare for a mass shooter have a diagnosed mental health condition”.
What’s worse — the same people who blame mental health disorders for mass shootings do nothing to address the lack of mental health services; instead they cut funding in mental health services, just like governor Abbott did this last year — cutting $211 million from the department that oversees mental health. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/abbott-calls-texas-school-shooting-mental-health-issue-cut-state-spend-rcna30557
The larger discussion point is what are we going to do about this? As a people of a country that has made it clear that it’s sole allegiance is to guns and the fallacy that the right to bear arms is a right above all else; that the right to bear arms comes before the freedom of citizens, to move in this country without fear of being slain by a war like weapon.
Uvalde isn’t the first but we can certainly ensure that this kind of event becomes an anomaly, just like other westernized countries. Mental health plagues people across the globe, with similar rates of mental illness around the globe. The difference is our unfeathered and unabashed allegiance to guns. Each time politicians do nothing they have blood on our hands. There is nothing more precious than a child’s life, yet there appears to be more concern for embryos than for those who are already living — let that sink in.
In true (almost) psychiatrist fashion I must leave you all with hope. Hope is the only thing that has kept me going the last two days. I see it in every tweet expressing frustration, disgust and disdain at yet another preventable, insensible mass shooting. We must continue to speak up and out against the complacency of those who swore to serve and protect their constituents. We must use our collective power to effect change; we must believe in the power that we have. Most importantly, we must resist the urge to accept this as normal — this is not normal. 90% of Americans want practical gun control laws — let’s ensure that we, the people, get what we want. There are literal lives at stake. This is a public health crisis and necessitates such a response. Seatbelts save lives; vaccinations save lives; and so will practical gun control laws.
It’s important in this time of collective grief to take care of yourself–whatever that might look like. Grief is a natural and expected emotional response, particularly when the grief is felt by a majority of Americans. Take time to check in with yourself, and if you have energy, check in on your loved ones.
