Terra Gelinas

Brian Hendrickson
English 110/ FLC
16 November 2015
Mental Illness in Relation to Gun Violence
Overview:
Gun violence is a major issue amongst our nation and especially in
New Mexico. Just in the past couple of weeks alone, there have been
gun shootings resulting in death for some of those who were involved.
One of the most debated controversies related to gun violence is
someones mental state. Usually when there is an injury or death
related to gun violence an autopsy will be done to determine their
state of mind. In New Mexico there is a potential for increased
problems that should be addressed in regards to gun violence and
safety. There is currently no state permit required to purchase or
possess armed weapons.

Background:
Mental illness is defined as disorders that affect your mood, thinking
and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety
disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors
(Mayo Clinic). In an article written by Dr. Georges Benjamin in US

News, he states that focusing only on mental health in relation to gun

violence is a mistake. Most people with mental illness arent violent,
and while it is an important issue-particularly around suicides- doing it
through that lens is the wrong way. He points out that tackling the
mental health issue wont prevent a child from coming across an
unsecured gun at home (NCIB). While his argument is valid, I believe
that mental illness does have a relationship with gun violence. Many
years ago in March of 1966 at the University of Texas a young man,
Charles Whitman, decided to take shotguns onto a roof of a 300-foot
tower and then proceeded to shoot 46 people, and kill 14. He was
stopped when the S.W.A.T. team had to come and detain him (USA
today). Later when they performed an autopsy he was found to have
had a tumor. This tumor was a type that is known to cause adverse
psychiatric effects. Because of the autopsy that was performed we can
now understand the mental state of the assailant and what could have
caused his outbreak that not only cost his own life, but his fellow
students. This kind of incident is a serious and worrisome possibility
even here in New Mexico. However, sometimes, if someone does not
have a mental illness but they decide to shoot up a school or a park,
they might have some type of grudge and are trying to make a point to
be seen. Mental illness is a large public health issue in itself especially
if guns were taken away because there is still going to be violence.
There would be de-escalation in violence; suicides and homicides

might also decrease, however the crime rates will not change. For
example, if a person were to have their armed weapon taken away,
they can still get their hands on deadly weapons, such as a knife or
fire. Guns and violence related to them are dangerous as it is because
no matter where guns go and who is allowed to purchase them, people
will still find a way around it and acquiring them. As mentioned on the
website NCIB (National Center for Biotechnology Information), four
assumptions frequently arise in the aftermath of mass shootings in the
United States: one that mental illness causes gun violence, two that
psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, three that shootings
represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and four that gun
control wont prevent another shooting. Focusing on mental health
in light of recent events brings up the general debate on laws with
guns and mental competence. Following the 1999 mass shooting at
Columbine High School (Colorado), Peter Breggin, an American
psychiatrist and critic of biological psychiatry and psychiatric
medication, decried the toxic combination of mental illness, guns, and
psychotropic medications that contributed to the actions of shooter
Eric Harris. Thirteen years later, on July 20, 2012, another mass
shooting occurred in Aurora, Colorado inside of a movie theater. A
gunman set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with
multiple firearms, who in fact had a mental illness as well (USA Today).
The fact that many other states, such as Colorado, have had mass

shootings as a result of the perpetrator having a mental illness, not

only increases gun laws, but it took the killing of many innocent people
to put the law in place. New York, California, and Tennessee all have
different laws enforcing mental health professionals to report any
threatening patients to local law enforcements. Supporters of these
types of laws argue that they provide important tools for law
enforcement officials to predict the value of psychiatric diagnosis in
matters of gun violence. There is not going to be any easy way around
limiting gun violence and deaths in New Mexico alone. New Mexico
could take on many of the laws that have been put in place in other
states but it becomes a legal issue that most people dont like to bring
up and talk about because of what high controversies carry with the
topic of gun violence. Is there a relationship between mental illness
and gun violence? Are there ways to prove whether it is a public health
issue or not?

Methods:
Research came from many sources such as the (CDC) Centers for
Disease Control, NCIB (National Center for Biotechnological
Information), US news articles, Mayo Clinic, and an interview with
Gerald Demarest, (a Doctor at UNMH in the trauma center) to compare
statistics and draw conclusions. From NCIB I got quite a bit of the
information I used. Most of the statistics and facts are from this

website, as well as first hand evidence from Peter Breggin, on the

Columbine shooting. I also got information from here about what
people generally think about shooting and the misleading information
that the news puts out. From US news I found information on specific
shootings and who was involved. They also had information regarding
if it was a mental illness related shooting or not by performing
autopsies and blood work. The three mass shooting examples I used,
the perpetrators had tumors causing them to have their outbreaks.
When I spoke with Gerald Demarest about gun shootings from the
hospital setting he had a lot of great responses to the questions we
had asked him. He believes that there is a relationship between gun
violence and mental health, but someone having a mental illness
doesnt always cause violence. Mayo Clinic was where I had just looked
up the correct medical definition for mental illness before I actually
started my paper with the information and my opinion.

Results:
In the interview with Gerald Demarest, he stated why he thought gun
violence in New Mexico was so high, Gun violence in New Mexico is
unique for a couple reasons. The first reason is that the population in
New Mexico includes poverty related violence for ways to obtain their
wealth. The second is theft-use of weapons of force usually associated

with gangs. The third is drug activity from Mexico, which imposes the
use of violence related to drug cartels. It is culturally related to the
wild west and how guns were used for protection. In New Mexico no
state permit is required to purchase or possess a rifle, shotgun or
handgun. There are a few probable measures that could be taken in
order to help limit those who are allowed to purchase a gun. There
could be more advanced background checks with mental health and
medical history by expanding the context of background checks
themselves. This would be able to find if someone is on certain
medications that could alter their state of mind with a deadly weapon,
but also determine if they meet the correct qualifications that would be
set in place. Reports suggest that up to 60% of perpetrators of mass
shootings in the United States since 1970 displayed symptoms
including acute paranoia, delusions, and depression before committing
their crimes. New Mexicos firearm deaths in 2013 were broken down
into three categories; suicides being the highest percent at 68%,
homicides at 25%, and other were 7%. Mental illness plays a huge role
in suicides, but there are other dangerous behaviors that include a
history of violence, domestic abuse, and substance abuse. I believe
that mental illness is something that should be taken more seriously,
but not in a bad way. Numerous people who do have mental illnesses
are not dangerous, but several people who are perceived as normal
can cause harm to innocent individuals.

Resources:
Beckett, Lois. "What We Actually Know About the Connections
Between Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and Gun Violence." Pacific
Standard. The Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public
Policy, 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
"Guns & Mental Health - Coalition to Stop Gun Violence."
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. 13 June 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Metzl, Jonathan, and Kenneth MacLeish. "Mental Illness, Mass
Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms." American Journal of
Public Health. American Public Health Association. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/07/the-rise-ofgun-violence-as-a-public-health-issue
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm
Dr. Gerald Demarest, UNMH