Mental Illness and Gun Control

Nicholas ZarchenPhoto EditorBy no means do I believe guns have no effect on the epidemic of terror that has recently escalated in our country. Rather, I believe the faulty legal, criminal and mental systems established in the current United States, not guns, are the root cause of the problem.As of late, federal law makes it illegal to sell or give a firearm to anyone who “has been adjudicated as a mental defective or  has been committed to any mental institution.”However, the problem is the rapid deinstitutionalization of long term psychiatric hospitals, which is the process of replacing them with community health centers for those diagnosed with a mental health issue. While deinstitutionalization focuses on reforming mental hospitals’ institutional practices, it also reduces the population size of mental institutions by releasing patients, shortening stays and reducing both admissions and readmission rates.In accordance to this shift in mental health treatment, we have consequently cut down immensely on facilities and spending. In fact, according the National Alliance on Mental Illness, between 2009 and 2011, states cumulatively cut more than $1.8 billion from their budgets for services for children and adults living with mental illness.As a country, we continue to slash spending and have jeopardized a vital mechanism for keeping mentally sick and unstable people off the streets. We have compensated the lives of the people around us for the sake of saving money.Nonetheless, even before this issue, is the problem of putting mentally ill people into treatment.There are several options to commit someone to a mental hospital, but as it has become apparent in current events and shootings, the action from family members and the doctor-patient confidentiality privilege exercised by psychiatrists often comes too late and at a steep cost.In the multiple cases of shootings in the past year, there have been consistent reports of mental health scares and warning signs. Yet, time after time, there was either no one there to recognize and act on the signs, or professionals were bound to wait for the patients to be deemed a threat to themselves or others. Sadly, the patient is deemed at a harmful state only after he/she has committed a vile act, or in the many cases we have seen in the past year, a violent massacre.This boundary of silence and legal limit to act on signs of mental illness and danger needs to be severed.Gun control and limits on ammunition can only do good, but weapons will forever be present. Whether it be through legal means or through a current or future black market of weapons, those who wish to do harm will be able to.It is a terrifying and sad fact, but it is reality. That is why I propose a complete overhaul of the mental health care system and a reform of the legal boundaries limiting professionals and/or public service members to wave the red flag on mentally ill. Our nation needs change, and I believe it is vital to implement these reforms before more innocent people are killed. nzarchen@thesamohi.com