I think this is true, it's not a gun law issue...it's a mental health issue. More has to be done to identify and treat/help the mentally ill.
Mental health crisis in America-
by moshe 67 Replies latest social current
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BizzyBee
moshe, thanks for posting that article. It really addresses an important aspect of this situation. Reminds me of a book written by a father (yes, a father!) called
Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness by Pete Earley
and it suggests that even with two engaged, well-meaning parents, with a severely mentally ill child, most people are in over their heads. Now, add to that if the child is an adult. You cannot force them to do anything and neither can the authorities.
The mother who wrote that article has 5 years before her disturbed son becomes 18 and she loses whatever control she now has over him.
As for the mother of the shooter in CT - what was she thinking having a bunch of guns in the house?
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Sapphy
I very much doubt that America has more mental health issues proportionally than the rest of the western world, but in terms of lone gunmen going on rampages the USA does seem to have the 'perfect storm' conditions.
Mental health issues + no universal healthcare = mental health issues untreated.
Gun ownership rate at 90 guns per 100 people.
Those two conditions alone will probably explain the massacres.
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moshe
I dated a lady that had a severly disturbed 12 yr old son- and I bailed after 4 months when I realized I was going to be in the middle of a big war- when he turned 16 he was in state care and she went to court to have him emancipated - why? she said he was not going to get well and he was very close to bankrupting over his illness. She wasn't going to lose her home and end up on the street with her daughter. He is 30 now and was living on the streets of LA- his facebook page has not updated in over a year, so I am pretty sure he is in jail again.
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MrFreeze
Most of the time I think its parents have the normal reaction of thinking "There's nothing wrong with my kid!" Then something like this happens.
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Satanus
Often, the parent(s) are already disfunctional. They contribute to the tragedy, iether through abuse or neglect. They are in no position to be able to stop anything.
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frankiespeakin
I think a restricting gun ban with the exception of 18th century style musket loader would bring a dramatic decrease in the type of slaughter such as has occured in Newton, CT .
This would still be within the meaning of the 2nd bill of rights technically.
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moshe
muskets? By the time you get it loaded, the criminal will already be pointing his gun at you- and you can't keep it loaded ahead of time-- damp powder, ya know, it won't fire and it's dangerous to keep a loaded black power weapon in the house. I think a bow and arrows would be safer for the homeowner, but a spear would be easier for everyone to operate. Actually, as I ponder this issue, spears, swords and arrows have sharp cutting edges- dangerous around kids. Let's just go with the sling and round rock for protection. That was good enough for David.
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glenster
"And then there are the video games."
Whoa. Ease up.
http://www.freewebs.com/glenster1/index.htmControversies over video games center on controversial content of video games
and effects that video games have on behavior.
Video games have been studied for links to addiction and aggression. Before
this[when?] meta-analyses were conflicting. A 2001 study found that exposure to
violent video games correlates with at least a temporary increase in aggression.
A decrease in prosocial behavior (caring about the welfare and rights of others)
was also noted. Another 2001 meta-analysis using similar methods and a
more recent 2009 study focusing specifically on serious aggressive behavior
concluded that video game violence is not related to serious aggressive behav-
ior in real life. Many potential positive effects have been proposed. Recent
research has suggested that some violent video games may actually have a pro-
social effect in some contexts, for example, team play.
It has been argued[by whom?] there is generally a lack of quality studies
which can be relied upon and that the video game industry has become an easy
target for the media to blame for many modern day problems.[ The most
recent large scale meta-analysis, examining 130 studies with over 130,000 sub-
jects worldwide, concluded that exposure to violent video games causes both
short term and long term aggression in players and decreases empathy and pro-
social behavior. However, this meta-analysis was severely criticized in the
same issue of the same journal for a number of methodological flaws, including
failure to distinguish clinically valid from unstandardized aggression measures
and for failing to solicit studies from researchers who have questioned whether
causal links exist, thus biasing the sample of included studies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversies -
LisaRose
My daughter suffered from mental illness as a teen. She attempted suicide twice, and was hospitalized twice. The first hospitalization occurred when she became upset in school and used a screw to rip up her arm. The hospitalization was $6,000 per week twenty years ago. They did not diagnose her correctly and did no meaningful treatment. She began therapy, but a year later she attempted suicide and was hospitalized again. By then I knew it was pointless, but she was deemed a danger to herself and my choice was the county lockup or a private hospital. They kept her at county while I made arrangements. They locked her in the bathroom overnight, as she was so young and small and they couldn't protect her from the other patients. The second hospital was no better than the first.
She finally got better because I was lucky, wouldn't give up and had the insurance and money to pursue five years of therapy. Imagine if a family didn't have that, how it would turn out. She was eventually diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. I do feel she could have killed someone under the right circumstances, she tried to choke me once. This experience gave me a unique insright into the mental health industry. For every school shooter, there are probably thousands who committ suicide, or become drug addicted, the most likely outcome for those with my daughter's diagnosis. There are not a lot of options out there for parents with mentally ill children, many hospitals are run for profit, not for the patient, and good therapists are expensive and hard to find. I am sure many children fall through the cracks.