Physicians, psychiatrists and other leading experts told ABC News that it is inaccurate to assert that 'mental health issues' are solely or primarily responsible for the United States’ ongoing rash of gun violence.
"We have a problem with mental health illness in this community," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday.
“These events slap us in the face… This is a public health crisis, and we should think of it as a public health crisis," Dvoskin said in reference to the gun violence and Tuesday's tragedy in Uvalde. A memorial is seen surrounding the Robb Elementary School sign following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, May 26, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.National Alliance on Mental Illness
Those who live with mental illness are 10 times more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators, he added. "If mental illness were the simple cause, you'd see mass shootings happen all over the developed world," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week.Many politicians on the right, who are ardent defenders of gun rights, point to mental health as the principal issue at hand.
"Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun," Trump said in the days after two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in 2019. “It's very clear that something has changed during the pandemic that has led to an increase in mass shootings and the timing of the increase is timed, really at the start of the pandemic,” Jena said. “I feel pretty confident saying the increase in mass shootings that we've observed in the last year and a half two years is a result of changes that have occurred during the pandemic."
Public health experts say social disruption caused by the lockdown, and by all the changes in the way society operates, has affected everyone, regardless of race, gender or age. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 people reported that the pandemic had a significant impact on their mental health, including 45% of people with mental illness.
“We know that when we're in our deepest despair, with being isolated, [social media] makes it worse and it is a big risk factor. We're in for added trouble,” Brendel said.As officials look for answers, experts say there are no simple solutions to such complicated issues.
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