The title of this article is as important as the particulars contained within. For those who would like to read the details, I made sure to fit where you can find it – in the pic.
This comes off the heels of a post talking about a serviceman being denied treatment at the VA. It comes off the heels (24 hours ago) of a report indicating that authorities couldn’t find a motive in the Vegas mass shooting.
It also comes off the heels of a number of posts I shared, when these shootings happened, that guns and gun laws ALONE are not going to be the way we solve these mass shooting issues we have. Are amended gun laws part of the equation? Sure. However it is NOT the only issue that needs addressing.
Bottom line, mental health complications often can come with: strong thoughts of self-harm, and strong thought of harm to others. Why can’t we find motives in some cases? Bc not every act of violence is as simple as: they hurt me, so I’m gonna hurt them back. Does this mean everyone who has a mental health complication has these thoughts? No. Does this mean that everyone who does have these thoughts, acts on them? Nope. Does this remove guilt from a perpetrator? Not at all. However – in the cases where these atrocities happen, we MUST acknowledge that mental health is part of the equation.
This means we must: provide help at schools, VA’s, all other institutions where ppl are asking for it, and not just brush it off. We must also have politicians who acknowledge gun laws AND mental health together, as to how we get to the bottom of this so that no more innocent lives are lost, as opposed to pandering to the least common denominator of “gun laws for votes.” And as always stated, this is an issue on both sides of the aisle. This is not about political sides.
Mental health needs to be taken more seriously. There needs to be more of a systematic approach. More resources must be appropriated. And those with a voice (media and ppl w platforms) must be more responsible and talk about ALL the factors.
