Is mental illness causing mass shootings?

My Good Bad Brain

Mental illness and mass shootings.

When people talk about a "mental health" problem in this country every time there's a mass shooting, it hits our ears and minds in a way that seems correct. Surely one must be mentally ill to commit such an atrocity!? This is especially a favorite argument to make ahead of any sort of gun restriction, a sort of guns don't kill people, people kill people... but not just people, mentally ill people kill people! So, let's round up the MENTALLY ILL people and then there won't be any shootings! Right?

Well, in this newer format of My Good Bad Brain I decided to GO IN on this topic. Is it mental illness? Are mentally ill people more likely to commit acts of violence? Are mentally ill people some kind of menace to society? Join me and professional traumatologist and social work professor (as well as jiu jitsu buddy) Dr. Nick Barr, PhD, as we discuss mental illness and violence, mental illness and mass shootings, psychology of guns and violence, whether guns on their own contribute psychologically to committing violence, some deep dives into the dark and not very reassuring history of state and otherwise official authorities assessing what is "mentally ill", some stuff about guns and suicide, and just a whole lot of info to prepare you for the next time someone wants to trot out "mental illness" as the thing we need to blame and focus on when trying to stop gun violence and especially mass shootings of this particular modern variety. I just want you to have some useful things to say, perhaps because you need to stand up for your own Good Bad Brain. Because if you're like me, maybe you've been thinking... hmm... I have been "mentally ill" for a long time and it really doesn't seem to make sense, based on my experience? In fact saying it's just crazy people seems kind of... crazy?

This episode is a big one and perhaps the one I'm proudest of in the entire life of the pod, I truly hope you get something useful out of it!

Self care, hydrate, be well!

Dr. Nicholas Barr can be found on twitter @DrNicholasBarr1

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