TRUMP IS RIGHT
Breaking News: Cody Cofer Agrees with Donald Trump!
Dare I say it? That Donald Trump could possibly be right about even one thing? Well, he is right regarding our nation having a mental health problem not a gun problem. Today, Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo, “This isn’t a gun problem, this is a mental problem. It’s not a question of laws, it’s really the people.” Trump’s statement comes in response to the Wednesday shootings of two journalists live on television by what many are calling a mentally ill man who later took his own life. Trump says that he is opposed to increasing gun laws but does favor addressing mental health to combat shootings. This approach has been a long time coming. The mental health crisis in this country has reached a fever pitch and no seems prepared to address it except maybe Trump. And that should concern all of us.
A look back over the random shootings the U.S. has experienced this last decade from Jared Loughner, who was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic following his shooting spree that injured Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, to James Holmes the Aurora theater shooter, who phyciastrists say suffered from hallucinations since childhood and attempted suicide following the shooting, can show us that mental health is at the root of the problem. Mental health treatment has made giant strides from the days of electroshock therapy and lobotomies as cure-alls for undesirable behavior in a person, but there is still a stigma attached to seeking treatment for mental health issues. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2011 that one-in-five American adults take psychiatric drugs. And psychiatric medications are some of the most widely prescribed and best-selling class of drugs in America. While mental health medications are being prescribed more than ever before, there is still little discussion among people about mental health issues or treatment. According to a Psychology Today, the stigma surrounding mental illness is actually making us sicker. The magazine called from mental health to be a public health priority.
Mental illness plays a role not only in gun violence, but in all types of crime. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, 64 percent of those incarcerated suffer from serious mental illness. And a study by the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriff’s Association found that there are 10 times more mentally ill people in prison than mental health institutions. According to the study’s lead author, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, the status of mental health treatment in the U.S. has regressed and we are now just dumping people in prisons without addressing their underlying condition.
A reduction in untreated mental illness can reduce self-medicating illegal drug use, reduce theft, and reduce violence. The stigma needs to be removed and our nation needs to be prepared to spend the resources necessary to curb mental health driven crime. The solution is not an easy one, but one that should be discussed and maybe Trump can get the conversation started.
