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acitivist, advocacy, Advocate, bipolar, depression, gun violence, guns, huffington post, mass shootings, mental health, mental health reform, mental illness, mentally ill, police killings, prisons, psychiatry, psychology, schizophrenia, violence, writing
I may be able to say it with more emotion, but I can not say it with as much clarity, for all of you who are advocates, please read this article. It is so well done. Some people understand so clearly and are writing about it.
The article is about the truth behind why we are currently looking at changing mental health laws right now…basically, because the mentally ill are blamed for the gun violence in this country. The statistics don’t back this up. It is true a high number of mentally ill people are in prison, but most of them are there for non-violent crimes.
This article also points out that a mentally ill person is shot by police every 36 hours, and that after one of our recent tragedies with a mass shooter, the public said they didn’t want a mentally ill neighbor.
I encourage you to read it. It is so important.
Thank you for sharing this article.
Depending on the source, only anywhere from three to five percent of violent crimes committed in the U.S. are committed by someone who is mentally ill and a very high percentage of those committing the crimes are not receiving treatment.
The mentally ill who are untreated are nearly three times more likely to be victims of violent crime.
People with no mental disorder who abused alcohol or drugs were nearly seven times as likely as those without substance abuse to commit violent acts. Where is the outrage there?
I am a mother and caregiver for a daughter with severe mental illness and, while I am not worried about her committing a violent crime, I am very concerned about her being a victim of violent crime.
She is far less likely to be a victim of violent crime if her illness is properly managed/treated.
We need to realistically deal with this issue as we move forward.
Thank you again for sharing the article.
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Thank you for sharing the statistics and your story.
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By the way, I wish I could edit what I wrote as I didn’t want to shift blame to those struggling with substance abuse. It is another issue that requires education and treatment. It simply frustrates me that so much attention is focused on mental illness and violent crime. We’ve had one notable case of homicide in our community over the past few years that could be attributed to mental illness (a middle school student who had not yet been diagnosed…the illness was just presenting…he used a gun from his home that was not locked away and took his own life with the same gun as well). There were 20 other homicides that particular year and, as I reviewed them, they were related to substance abuse, a botched robbery and domestic violence. But we still hear about the middle school student two years later.
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It didn’t sound like you were shifting blame, but if you want me to delete your comment, I will. I’m so glad you are pointing this stuff out. I wasn’t even completely aware of the problem and I read about mental health issues all the time.
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Feel free to keep it posted since I was able to explain further in the reply. But thank you for offering to delete the reply.
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It seems to me the mentally ill are the scapegoats… Time to shout out, talk and great awareness for this nonsense… Barbara
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Yes, there is so much fear and misunderstanding.
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This is so very important, as you said. Thank you for sharing this.
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Thanks for taking the time to read it!!! 🙂
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