Is Mental Illness to Blame? Researchers Investigate Recent Mass Killings and Set the Record Straight

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Observing recent shootings such as the tragic events of Isla Vista at the University of California, Santa Barbara this past Spring, researchers and lawmakers alike have begun looking into limitations on the right to bear arms. But with media influencing the public perception of gun-violence in the United States, and pro-gun lobbyists defending the second amendment and their Constitutional rights, lawmakers are forced to question the role that mental illness plays in these mass killings.

Hoping to provide an evidence-based framework towards approaching limitations on firearms and stricter laws governing the mentally ill, a consortium of international researchers, including co-author Vickie Mays of the University of California, Los Angeles, looked into the cause and after effects of these mass killings, as well as their perceptions in the media. Analyzing dozens of epidemiological studies into gun violence and its associations with mental illness, then comparing their results to media-driven perceptions of the public, researchers found a striking discord between reality and the opinions driving new laws.

(Photo : Mark Brocher, UCSB)

Published in the digital journal Annals of Epidemiology, their study found that while mass murderers with mental illnesses may make headlines when these killings occur, mental illness is not a common marker of individuals who commit violent crimes. In fact, researchers say that the vast majority of those with serious mental illnesses do not engage in violent acts because of their impairments to function socially.

"The public mental health system in most states is woefully inadequate-fragmented, overburdened and underfunded" lead author and professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, Jeffrey W. Swanson says. "An estimated 3.5 million people with serious mental illnesses are going without treatment every year."

"But even if schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression were cured, our society's problem of violence would diminish by only about four percent" Swanson says. "A person with serious mental illness is far more likely to be a victim of violent crime than a perpetrator."

The study, which sought to give lawmakers empirically proven data on which they would build their opinions, also urged against discrimination and better access to healthcare for individuals with mental illnesses, as researchers seek to address the true problems that lie behind these tragedies.

"We need more evidence-based policies to effectively prevent gun violence" Mays says. "We also need to expand mental health services and improve access to treatment [because] some people are slipping through the cracks."

"Policies should focus more on limiting access to firearms for people with behavioral risk factors for violence, during specific times when there is evidence that risk is elevated."