Posted on behalf of Sarah Fudin, who works in community relations for The George Washington University’s online Master of Public Health program, dubbed MPH@GW, which offers students the ability to earn their MPH online.
The topics of mental health and gun violence have been a hot topic across news outlets and the facts have surely been muddled. The George Washington University’s online Master of Public Health Program (MPH@GW) has developed an infographic, calling attention to America’s broken mental health system and issues pertaining to gun control and gun violence—and the possible link between the two.
It is fair to say that mental health and gun control are topics of interest, but it seems the greater interest is in the concurrence of the two. The reasons for gun violence have been speculative at best—following the shootings of Aurora and Newtown, the fervor behind the search for answers has only increased. In both legislation and public opinion, mental health has come to the foreground of the gun violence discussion.
It would be irresponsible to blame all mass killings (4 victims or more, not including the shooter) on mental health, but the simultaneity of a broken mental health system and recent acts of violence have forced the two to the forefront of public perception and discussion. The increased risk for violence is minimal for most mentally ill; however, when untreated mental illness is paired with substance abuse, the risk is doubled. Furthermore, people with mental illness are nearly twice as likely to commit violent acts in their life. These realities paired with the fact that nearly half of US adults develop a mental illness in their lifetime, yet less than half of Americans with severe mental health issues receive adequate treatment, results in a major issue in the realm of gun violence.
These issues have come to the table in policy, as the call to address gun control and mental health in legislation has reached a fever pitch—Senator Dianne Feinstein authored the Assault Weapons ban of 2013, the Affordable Care Act expands health coverage and includes an expansion of mental health care, President Barack Obama signed an executive order instructing the Center for Disease Control to do gun violence research, and a dialog has started to destigmatize mental illness. All of these initiatives together are forcing an uncomfortable conversation to be fully realized. MPH@GW wants the facts to be full realized as well.
