Title: The Problem With Blaming Mass Shootings On Mental Illness
Headings: The Problem With Blaming Mass Shootings On Mental Illness
The Problem With Blaming Mass Shootings On Mental Illness
Helping people with mental illness requires thoughtful responses, not stereotyping.
Addressing Mental Illness Won’t Prevent Mass Shootings
Mentally Ill People Can Recover
Either Mentally Ill People Are Responsible Or They Aren’t
Making People Dependent Reduces Hope for Recovery

Content: If people with mental illness generally are not extraordinarily violent, but a significant portion of the people who commit violent acts do suffer from mental illness, then our public policies—and our debates about how to respond to mass shootings—should accurately reflect both sides of this equation. So what should be the focus and the goal of mental health policy? Mentally Ill People Can Recover
The goal should be recovery. In the 1960s, when people with mental illness still lived in the “snake-pits” that were government-run mental health facilities, Milton Friedman wrote: “ Freedom is a tenable objective only for responsible individuals. We do not believe in freedom for madmen.” We used to believe that people with mental illness could not recover from the condition—and hence, could not be free. So we locked them away from society and threw away the key. Government paternalism was the solution to the problem. People with mental illnesses are responsible individuals fully capable of living a life in their own home, working in a job they enjoy, surrounded by family and friends.