Tag Archives: gun violence

Something to Blame: The Latest on Gun Violence

16 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in bipolar, caregivers, mental illness, schizophrenia, Uncategorized

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I’m exhausted, simply exhausted with all the talk about mental health and mental illness after the latest school shooting. I had to say something. I posted this on Facebook yesterday:

I know they need something to blame. It is easy to make monsters out of the marginalized because Hollywood has been doing it without consequence for years. It is easier to point the finger at the most vulnerable than to accept the real issue.

Everyone would agree that a mass shooter is a monster but monster is not equal to mentally ill, and it’s time to stop trying to make people believe that it is, because that it is such an easy, quick, acceptable answer to so many.

Once again, the unspeakable has happened, this time, it was children, at school. It has been children at school before. It has also been a movie theater, concerts, nightclubs. Mass shootings, it is one of the most terrifying, heart-wrenching, dark sides of American culture.

All morning I have listened to politicians (including the President), sheriffs, governors, and governor-hopefuls, talk about mental illness. If only we could keep the mentally ill from getting guns. If only we could keep guns out of the wrong hands.

One in four Americans has a mental illness at some point in their lifetime. If we are going to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, then one out of four Americans would be unable to purchase a firearm. Keeping guns out of that many people’s hands doesn’t bother me in the least. That would be a good choice, but it still won’t end mass shootings, because mental illness isn’t what ties most of these shootings to one another.

What do most of the shooters have in common? They are men. They are white. They have a history of violence (not necessarily a mental illness). And some of the most recent have ties to white supremacy. How do we keep guns from their hands?

I would gladly give up my right to own a gun, that doesn’t bother me at all, but equating mental illness to monsters is a cliché that is going to end in more deaths because it’s the plot of a horror movie and not the cause of what is killing Americans.

 

The Power Is Yours

03 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in hope, Uncategorized, writing

≈ 19 Comments

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There are times in our lives when we have to stop and look outside of ourselves. We have to put down our morning coffee and say, “I am tired of the status quo. I want to make a difference in this world. Things have to change.”

Today is one of those days. I am sure it is one of those days for many Americans. This year alone there have been 355 mass shootings in our schools, theaters, streets, and homes. I used to be afraid to go to Mexico because of the violence there, now I question getting on a bus or going to the zoo. Our streets have become a war zone and the casualties are mounting every day. If today is like most days this year, there will be another shooting today with more innocent lives brutally taken.

It is easy to put back in our earbuds and play our favorite music. It is easy to get out our cellphone and take a selfie on our way to work or to meet a friend. It is easy to close our eyes and think there is nothing I can do about this. It is easy to say, “I am helpless.”

The truth is you are not helpless. Changing this violence takes a few minutes of your time. There are things you can do to make a difference. Pick up the phone and call your local representative today. Pick up the phone and call your senators today. Tell them all that you want a sensible and immediate response to gun violence (the most obvious is background checks). Did you know even people that are on our “Don’t Fly” list in the United States can easily buy guns online and from gun shows? It is true and it is outrageous.

The other thing you can do is register to vote, and actually do it. Get out there and vote for someone who promises to address this issue. This is a time in your life that you can actually do something.

I have learned in this life that I am not powerless. I have money to spend (did you know every dollar you spend is a vote for something? If you buy it, that tells corporations, that you are okay with the place it is made, the way the workers are treated, the resources that were used to create it, etc. Money is a powerful vote). I also have a telephone and e-mail and write and call my elected officials regularly. (Does this make a difference? Yes, it does). I have a vote in every election and I get to the polls and I cast it.

There are other ways that I am powerful too. If I say that I care about climate change, then it is up to me to change my life – eat less meat, use public transportation, buy local, recycle, etc.

Our daily choices make so much more difference than we can ever imagine. Our daily choices impact corporations, politicians, the environment, and in this case, our action can be the voice of all those innocent lives. Those people who died deserve our voice and deserve our time.

How often in our lives do we get to say, “I did something that actually saved people’s lives?”

Here is a link to find the numbers for your senators and here is the link to find the number for your representatives. A few phone calls, a few e-mails – change is ours to help create.  No more status quo – today is one of those days.

 

Exchanging Schizophrenia For Autism

15 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, writing

≈ 9 Comments

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I recently read an article about autism and mass shootings. The article was in the New York Times. In my opinion this article is great, it points out that people who have autism are being scapegoated by the media and by people who want an explanation for the violence. If you read the article, you can easily substitute the word schizophrenia for autism. Because before this new scapegoat was discovered and targeted, it was almost always schizophrenia that was to blame for mass shootings.

As a society we have allowed one group of people who have long been scapegoated for gun violence and crime to be exchanged for another group. Each of these groups consists of some extremely vulnerable people in our society. Both groups of people (those with schizophrenia and those with autism) are far more likely to be victims of crime than to be perpetrators of a crime.

The best article I read for explaining mass shootings is in Slate. In the article, mass shooting are blamed not on the mentally ill (you can add autism to the article) but on people’s anger.

Of course, there is occasionally going to be someone with schizophrenia, or someone with autism that also has a problem with anger. The very number of people who have a mental illness or the diagnosis of autism, make it statistically impossible not to have some people in these two groups who possess problems that are not associated with their diagnosis (like anger).

It is easier to point to people with schizophrenia or people with autism and scapegoat them as the cause of gun violence than to accept anger as a cause. Why? Because people can point to people with a diagnosis as being “other” “them” “one of those” but the same is not true of anger.

Anger is a part of all of us. We all have anger. There is no pointing fingers and saying “Those people are dangerous.” Anger is dangerous in anyone. Road rage is the perfect example. Where I live many people are severely injured and even killed in incidents of road rage. It is absurd to think that accidentally cutting someone off on the freeway may very well end your life in an act of violence, but it happens.

There are many angry people walking among us. There are people who don’t handle the stress of a job loss, or rejections by others, the break-up of a relationship, or an error in traffic, etc. in a resilient manner. Most of us can cry, feel badly for a while, talk to friends, mourn, take action, something – our coping techniques kick in for our very survival. This isn’t true of everyone. Some people act out in violence and rage.

I hope other people will step up and speak out about the claims that mass shootings are tied to autism. Even if people with schizophrenia are not in the spot light right now, they could easily be again. I don’t accept scapegoating any group of people.

Let’s start a dialogue about how to identify the kind of anger that leads to violence. Let’s stop wasting time pointing fingers in the wrong direction. Let’s do something that doesn’t scapegoat people and actually saves lives –innocent lives.

Gun Violence, Stigma and Mental Health

21 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by in mental illness

≈ 10 Comments

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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.