Reply to Why won't people address the massage shootings as the mental health issue rather than racism?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s possible to be a racist and also to be mentally ill. [b]But being mentally ill doesn’t excuse[/b] racism and it doesn’t make it okay to single out Asian women for mass murder. [/quote]
It also doesn’t explain anything. “Mental illness” is a such a vague, amorphous blob word encompassing those of us with plain old generalized anxiety along with violent sociopaths. “Mental illness” isn’t really a common reason for people to go ape sht and murder people.

A history of domestic violence, on the other hand - that’s a huge risk factor for more violence. [/quote]
Mental lllness is a HUGE risk factor when it comes to crimes.  This article says 25% of the people arrested have a serious mental illness and the mentally ill are 9X more likely to go to prison than a mental hospital.  That's probably an underestimate since even serious mental illnesses often don't get diagnosed.  And mental illness is also associated with many other adverse outcomes such as drug abuse, homelessness, unemployment, physical illness, poverty and high school dropouts.  And domestic violence too.

https://www.psycom.net/how-to-reduce-mental-illness-in-prisons

Some of the most infamous mass murders in the US were definitely or probably committed by mentally ill people who were not receiving adequate treatment.

Why don't you know about what a significant factor mental illness plays in virtually every social problem in the United States?  Because every time someone brings it up, the pundits and the politicians refuse to even consider the mental illness factor and DCUM posters follow dutifully along.  Every time. No matter the issue.

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np here.

Yes, mental illness is a public health issues which affects crime.  But that does not mean that every white guy who is depressed because he lost his job or got kicked out of his house gets to blame his major depression for gunning people down.   There is a difference between a contributing factor and the primary motive.   Sorry but too often these stories of mental illness are white guys doing bad things.

Also the more important issue among mental health advocates is not settling debates over whether a multiple homicide is a "hate crime" vs. "mental illness".    They are concerned because people are arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, etc. because they are having a mental health episode and the police do not recognize it as such.  They don't want people doing time for that, or for public indecency when they are found outside naked, or for refusing to leave a store or restaurant.  They don't want street people incarcerated for minor offenses due to an episode.  They want these minor offenses expunged, so they don't end up with a criminal record, and they want these people diverted into the mental health system for treatment.  This shooter is not the guy they are fighting for.  Nothing in the story so far suggests he is delusional, or unable to understand right from wrong.

Yes, there are real stories of mental illness causing a crime.  But this isn't it, and most of the times it is suggested in the politics forum, it's not.

[/quote]

Mental health advocates are also concerned that mental health issues are grossly neglected in this country and this leads a large variety of negative outcomes only one of which is criminal behavior.  It's true that they don't argue about hate crimes vs.  mental illness.  Only the rest of the country argues about that because the rest of the country is ableist as shit, and so they ignore the mental illness all around them until one of them does something violent, then they lock him up, don't give him treatment and call it justice.  [/quote]

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