As the nation mourns and reflects on the latest mass shootings, Not Dead Yet joins other national disability rights groups in condemning President Trump and others for blaming gun violence and mass shootings on mental health.
September is suicide prevention month. Scapegoating people with mental health disabilities, especially after a crisis such as a mass shooting, only adds to the stigma and shame that keeps people who are hurting from seeking help.
Blaming mass shootings on mental health issues also puts those living with mental health conditions at risk of harm caused by discrimination, bullying and unnecessary institutionalization.
As the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law stated this week:
Reflexively blaming gun violence on people with mental illness is unhelpful and unsupported by evidence. Less than five percent of gun violence is attributable to mental illness. Having a mental health diagnosis is not a predictor of violence, and people with serious mental illnesses are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators of it. Casting all mass gun violence as “a mental health issue” is not only unfounded, but distracts from efforts to address the true causes of gun violence. It serves only to promote fear and prejudice against individuals with mental health needs. As the American Psychological Association’s president observed, it is important to focus on evidence-based solutions rather than “routinely blaming mass shootings on mental illness.”
The American Psychiatric Association has also issued a statement disputing the link between gun violence and mental illness. A MedPage article provided a detailed analysis and related links in Mass Shootings and Mental Illness: A Teaching Moment? – “Looking for a piece of hay in a haystack” .
We stand in solidarity with statements issued by Bazelon and other disabilities organizations:
- ADAPT
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network
- Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
- National Council on Independent Living
Not Dead Yet urges an immediate stop to the misguided practice of blaming gun violence and mass shootings on mental health. Public officials who have engaged in such harmful scapegoating should promptly issue a public apology and commit to working with lawmakers to create sensible, effective gun control laws that do not discriminate against people with disabilities or other communities.