For years I have been hearing the argument "It's not a gun problem, its definitely a mental health issue!" And when you first hear it, your quick judgement is always "Yep, those people are crazy that do this stuff" which makes that argument sound correct. And even down the road it still sounds like a pretty obvious answer to the issue. But when you really research it, you find out its just a small part of the much larger problem.
Other countries have mentally ill people that live amongst them and their statistics of gun issues is almost non-existent. So how is it a mental health issue? Because we make it one. Mental health experts say media reports of shootings by mentally psychotic people increase public attention and reinforce the idea that severe mental issues leads to brutality. But various studies over the past few years show that the high majority of people with severe mental illnesses, such as OCD, bipolar disorder or severe mental depression/exhuastion are never violent toward others.
So why do we like to throw these things out there in the media and through conversation as a "be all end all" explanation to the issue? Most likely because things are easier to deal with brushed under a rug rather than directly dealt with. We as a society have regressed over the past few decades. We have become desensitized to the violence and social media has brought the world view into our island we call the USA. Now we see it daily through the internet, but still want to pretend it doesn't happen here, only in those thrid world type nations. Through that desentizing, we have become more and more brutish and bitter cause we have nothing to fight for anymore. Nothing to occupy our minds anymore. So we lash out at each other. Sometimes for the litttlest and most inconsequential stuff. But since we are not used to dealing with heightened emotions like this, we go overboard. And when we go overboard you get situations like Alton Sterling or Philando Castile.
So I beg to differ. It's not a mental health issue solely. There are reasons beyond that are just as much apart of the situation and need to be dealt with. Gun access in the USA is ridiculous. I am not proposing banning any weapons at all...but...there needs to be more legislation to stop gap the people falling through the net and getting access. But more importantly than that is what we as neighbors and family members can do to really put these normal people in their place. We have to put their attitudes and stress in check for them. We have to let them know its okay to "use your words" to relieve the stress and anger. We also must realize once you are born on this planet, theres no taking you or anyone else out of life with murdering them. So instead of looking for reasons to attack each other, how about we find unique ways to live with each other and respect the cultural and social differences that all of us bring to the table.
I understand that there is always going to be a section of society that is just bad apples. It comes with the territory of living in the world. Some people don't care what I or you say and they will play to the beat of their own drummer regardless. Fine. Those people are a lot less common than you think and even though they rear their ugly heads, they can't stop us a culture and worldwide society.
Other countries have mentally ill people that live amongst them and their statistics of gun issues is almost non-existent. So how is it a mental health issue? Because we make it one. Mental health experts say media reports of shootings by mentally psychotic people increase public attention and reinforce the idea that severe mental issues leads to brutality. But various studies over the past few years show that the high majority of people with severe mental illnesses, such as OCD, bipolar disorder or severe mental depression/exhuastion are never violent toward others.
So why do we like to throw these things out there in the media and through conversation as a "be all end all" explanation to the issue? Most likely because things are easier to deal with brushed under a rug rather than directly dealt with. We as a society have regressed over the past few decades. We have become desensitized to the violence and social media has brought the world view into our island we call the USA. Now we see it daily through the internet, but still want to pretend it doesn't happen here, only in those thrid world type nations. Through that desentizing, we have become more and more brutish and bitter cause we have nothing to fight for anymore. Nothing to occupy our minds anymore. So we lash out at each other. Sometimes for the litttlest and most inconsequential stuff. But since we are not used to dealing with heightened emotions like this, we go overboard. And when we go overboard you get situations like Alton Sterling or Philando Castile.
So I beg to differ. It's not a mental health issue solely. There are reasons beyond that are just as much apart of the situation and need to be dealt with. Gun access in the USA is ridiculous. I am not proposing banning any weapons at all...but...there needs to be more legislation to stop gap the people falling through the net and getting access. But more importantly than that is what we as neighbors and family members can do to really put these normal people in their place. We have to put their attitudes and stress in check for them. We have to let them know its okay to "use your words" to relieve the stress and anger. We also must realize once you are born on this planet, theres no taking you or anyone else out of life with murdering them. So instead of looking for reasons to attack each other, how about we find unique ways to live with each other and respect the cultural and social differences that all of us bring to the table.
I understand that there is always going to be a section of society that is just bad apples. It comes with the territory of living in the world. Some people don't care what I or you say and they will play to the beat of their own drummer regardless. Fine. Those people are a lot less common than you think and even though they rear their ugly heads, they can't stop us a culture and worldwide society.
