Episode # 12: Is the Mental Health of Shooters to Blame for Mass Shootings - An Interview with Lisa Pescara Kovach, Ph.D.

Grass Roots Health

In this August 2023 episode, host Tim Jordan explores the topic, “Is the mental health of shooters to blame for mass shootings? His guest for this thought-provoking interview is Dr. Lisa Pescara Kovach.

Fact: This year (2023), is on pace to become the deadliest year for mass shootings in recent history. A mass shooting is defined as 4 or more people shot, wounded, or killed.

Fact: Public mass casualty events are becoming more common.

Fact: In a given year, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness and 1 in 6 young people experience a major depressive episode

Fact: The vast majority (e.g., more than 90%) of people with mental health conditions are not violent. Only 3%–5% of violent acts can be attributed to them. In contrast, people with a severe mental illness are over 10 times more likely to be victims of a violent crime than the general population.

Fact: After every mass shooting, certain politicians, especially those with ties to the National Rifle Association, and pundits say that the mental health of the shooter is to blame.

Is the mental health of each shooter to blame? Listen and find out.

Resources for this podcast:

• The University of Toledo: https://www.utoledo.edu/

• The Judith Herb College of Education @ UToledo: www.utoledo.edu/education/

• UToledo Center for Education in Mass Violence & Suicide: Dr. Lisa Kovach. https://www.utoledo.edu/education/centers/mass-violence-suicide/experts/pescara-kovach-lisa.html

• Book Co-Authored by Dr. Kovach: White Supremacist Violence: Understanding the Resurgence and Stopping the Spread (2023). Routledge Press, Taylor and Francis Group. https://www.amazon.com/White-Supremacist-Violence-Brian-Brunt/dp/1032058854

• The Facts on Mental Illness and Mass Shootings: https://www.factcheck.org/2019/10/the-facts-on-mental-illness-and-mass-shootings/

• Research: Is There a Link Between Mental Health and Mass Shooting? https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/mass-shootings-and-mental-illness?

• Article: Blaming mass shootings on the nation’s mental health crisis is harmful. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/blaming-mass-shootings-nations-mental-health-crisis-harmful/story?id=84973562

• Blog: What Do We Do About the Gun Program in America? https://1795group.com/what-do-we-do-about-the-gun-problem-in-america/

• Listen to all episodes of Grass Roots Health: https://1795group.com/podcast/ or wherever people get podcasts.

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Grass Roots Health is sponsored by the 1795 Group. www.1795group.com Produced by Tim Jordan. Dr. Pescara Kovach was booked by Tim Jordan. Artwork done by Danielle Procopio. Audio editing and mastering was done by Christopher Stoll of Audio Flare Recording, Toledo, OH: https://www.audioflare.com/