The latest mass shootings in the US prove we must have an uncomfortable conversation about mental health – or more of us will die

The latest mass shootings in the US prove we must have an uncomfortable conversation about mental health – or more of us will die

In the wake of several tragedies within a short time span, too many people in power in the US want to talk about gun control – and too few are concerned with the real crux of the problem: spiraling mental health problems.

The human mind can be a very scary place. In the public health sector, it's hard to think of an area that has a worse stigma than mental illness. My belief, given what I've seen statistically and through personal experience, is that Americans have a cultural phobia about taking it seriously. Yet these mass shootings, along with the rise in suicides, make it obvious that something is being ignored here. Beyond that, the constant blaming of firearms is inane, because basic criminal psychology would tell you that it is the mind that makes the decision to use that tool.

Mental Health America’s recent report on the state of mental wellness in 2021 shows an increase in numbers across the board when it comes to psychiatric illness – 9.7% of young people now have severe depression, for example. From 2017 to 2018, 19% of all Americans had some form of mental illness, and in that same timeframe, the number of people who confessed to suicidal feelings had risen by almost half a million, to over 10 million. Yet, since 2011, almost a quarter of those suffering from mental ill health have not received any treatment, for one reason or another. And these are pre-Covid-19 numbers. The statistics in the same report conducted after the pandemic began are not good, showing a steady rise.