AN ADVOCATE'S PERSPECTIVE:

ACCESS TO CARE, NOT ACCESS TO GUNS
 

Greetings and welcome to another edition of An Advocate’s Perspective, a series of perspective papers on behalf of the Mental Health Association in NC.  These papers are designed to be a starting point for conversations among policy makers, advocates, and consumers and their families.  While most of the previous Advocate’s Perspectives have dealt with NC specific issues, this edition deals with a more national issue.

For months individuals have been engaged in an intense discussion surrounding mental illness and gun control.  This edition seeks to re-frame this emotional debate.

For years conversation has raged about whether individuals with mental illnesses should have access to firearms.  This debate has become more intense over the past several months with the horrific tragedies that have occurred at Virginia Tech and North Illinois University.  No one can argue the terrible tragedy of both: innocent victims losing their lives, the loss of serenity at a place of scholarship, and young people having losing the apparent naivety that comes with youth.  Yet, there are other tragedies on these campuses and elsewhere that have been overlooked, such as the tragedies for the shooters – individuals that were tormented by the savagery of mental illness. 

No other health care issue involves such intense emotional debate, yet the lack of knowledge and the overwhelming stigma that surrounds the issue of mental illness is horrific.  There is little doubt that if these young men, also in the prime of their lives, were “in their right mind,” they would have never perpetrated such tragic acts.  Unfortunately, few care to hear this.  Instead the pundits and talk show hosts engage in discussions about controlling access to firearms to individuals with mental illnesses. 

The question should be: How can we better serve individuals with mental illnesses?  We would never question a person with a heart disease, diabetes, or cancer for extreme acts.  We would talk of the duress they were under or of the tragic nature of their illness.  Yet these aspects are lost from the conversation around access to firearms for people with mental illness.  We must reframe this discussion in terms of how we can better serve and treat individuals with mental illness so that these horrific events never become part of our public perception and misperception.  Mental illness is real, however, it is also treatable.  The advances that have been made in the last 10 -15 years are heroic, yet, this reality gets very little attention.

In this age of strong advocates for and against gun access, we must have a stronger voice and advocacy movement for people with mental illnesses.  When put into perspective, the number of individuals in our nation with mental illness and their families trumps the number of gun owners many times over.  Yet, the debate never centers on how to help and treat those with a severe health problem; rather it centers on how to control their access and ability to secure firearms.   Having said that, the logical question is: What’s wrong with this picture?

Additionally, well-meaning but off-target attempts at safety have been explored throughout North Carolina and nationally.  For example, campus safety task forces have looked at safety issues around individuals with mental illness.  Absolutely these issues need to be examined, but why not include mental health experts as an integral part of this process instead of simply having them report to or meet with the task force briefly or on limited basis.  

If we invested even a small percentage of our energy toward how to better help and treat those individuals with mental illness as opposed to how we can have more effective gun legislation, we would do our entire society, but most importantly, those individuals that experience mental illness and their families, a far greater service. In the end, though, what we really need to do is not haggle over access to guns, but truly address access to care and treatment for persons who are our friends, family members, co-workers, and others with mental illness.  Thank you for considering one advocate’s perspective.

John Tote

Executive Director

Mental Health Association in NC