Mass shootings can be stopped if we treat the conflicted

Mass shootings bring a myriad of emotions to me. First of all, sorrow that innocent people who were going about their daily business were mowed down, and all the lost potential and grieving for their families that mass shootings cause. Secondly, anger - it always seems that there were clues leading up to the incident, and no one cared enough to act on them, or else they felt it was futile to try, because our laws prevent acting on them.


Federal legislation should be tightened in the subject of threats - threats to family members, disputes within the community, etc. How often have we heard of a tragedy, but the law could do little to protect the victim because no crime had actually occurred previously?

A threat IS a crime, and should be treated as a serious one. My anger also includes our too-liberal "patient rights" laws, which allow mentally unstable people to carry out harm to others, because they're not in their right minds. We've all seen in the news examples of (not exclusively, just as an example) schizophrenics who are off their medicine (and a hallmark of this condition is that they don't want to take their medicine, as they think it's everyone else who has a problem) harm or kill someone. If prevention is disallowed and all we can do is mourn after the fact, we have a situation that needs to be remedied immediately.

Mass shootings are more common than in the past, because of today's mobility, greater population, gun culture, and general violence. No one likes intrusion of privacy, but these crimes merit having the law's ability to monitor, control and prevent such clues, threats, etc. that are usually present before a mass killing.

We are failing as a society to help the individuals who have mental illnesses. We do not have the resources allocated to help to stop these people who act out their fears. Mental illnesses can take many forms, just as physical illnesses do. Mental illnesses are still feared and misunderstood by many people, but the fear will disappear as people learn more about them.

Mental illness is common. Statistics show that one in every five people will have a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Mental illnesses account for a large percentage of hospital stays every year. Yet, in spite of the fact that every Canadian knows someone who has been, or will be, affected by mental illness, few people know very much about it.

It is human nature to fear what we don't understand. As such, mental illness is feared by many people and, unfortunately, still carries a stigma (a stigma is defined as a mark or sign of disgrace). Because of this stigma, many people hesitate to get help for a mental health problem for fear of being looked down upon. It is unfortunate that this happens because effective treatment exists for almost all mental illnesses. Worse, the stigma experienced by people with a mental illness can be more destructive than the illness itself.

People with mental disorders are, many times, not described accurately or realistically in the media. Movies, television and books often present people with mental illnesses as dangerous or unstable. News stories sometimes highlight mental illness to create a sensation in a news report, even if the mental illness is not relevant to the story. Advertisers use words like "crazy" to convey that their prices are unrealistically low and to suggest the consumer can take advantage of them. This is part of the bigger problem, people will not seek help if they are stigmatized in the media.

All of us can help the way people think about mental illness.

Start with yourself. Be careful about your own choice of words. Use accurate and sensitive words when talking about people with mental illness. Your positive attitude can affect everyone with whom you have contact.

Try to influence all the people in your life constructively. Whenever you hear people say things that show they do not really understand mental illness, use the opportunity to share with them some of the information that you have.

We have already changed the way we refer to women, minorities and people with physical disabilities. Why stop there? Maybe if we can avert one mass killing, it will be worth it.

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