"The shooter at the Washington Navy Yard had a 'pattern of misconduct' as a Navy reservist, had sporadic run-ins with the law, and had contacted two Veterans Administration hospitals for apparent psychological issues" - CNN
No one who commits mass murder is well. The issue of guns aside for a moment, mental illness is a huge problem in this country and it's a conversation we must have. Many think that it's defined almost exclusively by the homeless in rags talking to themselves on the street. But that isn't even close to the truth, as the mentally ill are often what most would call functional members of society and you would never know the extent of their depression, anger and the intensity of the demons they harbor inside. They are your neighbors, your children's teachers, your co-workers, etc. And until they manifest their internal issues in a visible manner, or snap, they pass by silently and anonymously in the shadows. Or we miss and ignore the signs. There is excellent information on mental illness available on the National Institute Of Mental Health website.
Unfortunately, I do not believe there is much that can be done to substantively change this reality unless there is a paradigm shift in consciousness in this country. There are just too many mentally ill people and most choose to bear their pain privately and silently. The perception is that revealing ones problems and asking for help carries with it severe penalties that most are not willing to countenance paying. Namely they fear being labeled as insane, a deviant and being ostracized from their communities and society as a whole.
According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 3.4% of non-institutionalized adults have experienced serious psychological distress in the past 30 days. That's more than 7 million people
The laws we value as a society; privacy, freedom, self determination, etc., also work against any substantive fix as well. You can't morally, practically or legally identify the millions at risk, drug them and lock them up forever. And treatment, if it's possible, takes time and money. Last but certainly not least, there is the reluctance of those in power to effect and support the significant shifts in thinking on mental illness and it's treatment that would be necessary. They are strangely comforted by the status quo, no matter how untenable and disturbing it is.
"We have a mental health system that is dominated by political and hidden forces that keep us stagnated and unable to see real, lasting change." - Támara Hill, 'Mental Health In A Failed American System'
One logically could ask, why here, why so often, why not elsewhere? In my opinion there is an answer. We are a unique society with less social safety nets than other countries have. We embrace the individual and a "make it if you can" ideology with the accompanying caveat, "if you fail there's no societal obligation to help you." Our priorities, both short and long term are not structured to help individuals. And mental illness is an individual affliction.
"For too long we have swept the problems of mental illness under the carpet... and hoped that they would go away." - Richard J. Codey
Accordingly, those who for whatever reason have failed at life, who are angry, alone, bankrupt, bullied, outcasts, hopeless, depressed, ill, have lost their job, home, family, friends and those who are physiologically mentally ill; they really are alone and most have no recourse. And then there are the elderly; who won't show up in an office building with an AK-47; but whose pain is often greater than anyone's.
Yes, there are some existing programs to treat those with mental issues, crisis hotlines, etc., but for the reasons mentioned above, the attached stigma, privacy, cost, etc., they don't work well and practically speaking can't begin to make a dent in the problem. What can be done? To my minds eye we need increased awareness and education, to allocate more public funding for diagnosis and treatment, make preventative mental health screenings mandatory, improve medical care for the mentally ill, have more accessible mental health facilities and increase research into treatment.
If nothing changes these tragedies will unfortunately happen over and over again.