Leaders of mental health organizations are concerned President Donald Trump's statements tying mental illness to gun violence will amp up stigma.
DETROIT – After a harrowing weekend in Texas and Ohio where mass shootings left 31 people dead and dozens more injured, President Donald Trump called for culture change to a stop the glorification of violence in video games and online platforms, an end to bigotry and hatred and reforms to mental health laws.
In a 2016 book, "Gun Violence and Mental Illness," published by American Psychological Association Publishing, researchers reported that mass shootings perpetrated by people with serious mental illness account for less than 1% of all yearly gun-related homicides. However, correlating mental illness directly with mass shooting doesn't work out statistically, Evans said.
"For the president to make a statement like, 'Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,' is dangerous because it further stigmatizes people with real mental illness, and unfortunately continues to perpetuate the idea that people with mental illness are dangerous." Still, Evans said, it's a good thing that the president discussed mental health on a national platform.
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