What if gun control is not the answer?
By Holly A. Bell
I’m deeply saddened by the events unfolding in Connecticut today and the loss of so many innocent lives. I’m also disturbed by the culture of violence that seems to permeate the U.S. As you might expect the usual rallying cry to ban automatic weapons or guns in general has permeated social media today. This concerns me as well, not because I wouldn’t be willing to give up my guns if I thought that would end violence, but because we are attempting to treat a symptom rather than the actual problem.
While we don’t know much about the accused in this case as I write this, quite often there are signs that the individuals who commit these types of crimes were experiencing some type of mental or emotional issue prior to the event. So my question is this: Do we have a gun problem in this country, or are we failing to prevent these types of crimes by not caring for the mental well being of our citizens? While we are quick to withdraw the rights of gun owners, we seem to protect the rights of those with emotional or mental illnesses to a fault.
I understand the history here and the widespread mistreatment of individuals with these types of problems. However, we are mistreating them as much today as we were then, only in a different way. By not providing services to those who need it, including residential treatment for individuals who are unable to manage their conditions or medications on their own, we are harming them and society.
So please, let’s set aside the gun control debate for just a moment and let’s focus on the wellness of individuals. This is something we have never done particularly well as a society.
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gun control image courtesy of Ambro
Dear Holly,
There was a time in our society, albeit it was before you were born, when we did manage mental illness in a far more humane way than is the case now. I highly endorse your professional approach and solution to the issue as you have so well analyzed it in this short but very well thought out article.
In the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and until 1971 the United States had a most modern and humane approach to the management of mental illness. The most highly competent psychiatrists ran the mental health facilities and they were model institutions throughout our nation.
What brought about the demise of this system was the abandonment of our honest money system that funded and cared for the mentally disadvantaged. The solution imposed by our enlightened politicians of the day was funded by two factions. The desire of the legal profession to use mental illness as a means of enriching themselves by cycling some of the mentally ill through the penal system, and the desire of the politicians to use the money allocated to mental health care in other ways.
The mental health facilities were either closed, abandoned, or reduced in scope. The mentally ill wound up as “homeless”, “prisoners of the legal system”, or were thrust out on society without proper supervision from anyone.
As a result the majority of society now suffers from repeated catastrophic events because psychopaths, pedophiles, and others wander through our culture without proper mechansims to look after this most volitile and predictably destructive part of humanity.
Thank you for your eloquent analysis and most positive approach to a problem that can be solved by each State again creating the model mental health facilities that once were the pride of our nation.
Sincerely,
Eldon E. Bell, M.D., M.P.H.
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