Mental Illness and Gun Control: Challenges of a Proposed Provision in the Executive Actions
A proposed White House executive action announced Monday related to gun control could reinforce the stigma associated with mental illness and the erroneous belief that those with mental illness are inherently violent, says Georgetown forensic psychiatrist Liza Gold, MD.
Still, Dr. Gold, clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and editor/author of “Gun Violence and Mental Health,” praises the President for his efforts to combat gun violence:
“I applaud President Obama for taking steps to decrease the toll of gun violence, address the crisis in the mental health system, and for his insight into the stigma associated with mental illness and how it may prevent people who need treatment from accessing treatment. He is correct in his assertion that people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims rather than perpetrators of violence. More resources for mental health treatment are needed and welcome. The White House has demonstrated a commitment to improving resources for mental health treatment through executive actions such as this one and with increased access through the Affordable Care Act. “However, the stigma associated with mental illness and the erroneous belief that those with mental illness are inherently violent can only be reinforced by equating psychiatric disability and competence to manage one’s finances as determined by the Social Security Administration with a mandate to release this status to the NICS background check system. An SSA psychiatric disability determination does not include considerations of risk in owning or possessing firearms, and there is no evidence to support using an SSA determination of psychiatric disability to increased risk of committing gun violence. “Mandating NICS reporting of those who are determined by the SSA to be entitled to benefits due to psychiatric disabilities, even if this includes inability to manage financial affairs, cannot be used as a substitute for individual assessment of risk of violence toward self or others. Including a mechanism for seeking relief in the rule-making does not correct the problems a categorical mandated SSA psychiatric disability reporting poses. Current state and federal mechanisms for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health, where present, rarely include an individual mental health evaluation specific to increased risk of firearm violence. “Moreover, such mandated reporting raises privacy concerns, again without any evidence that violating the privacy of SSA disability benefits will have any effect on gun violence. Such a categorical mental health prohibitor is unlikely to have any effect on rates of gun violence, just as the current non-evidence based categorical mental health prohibitors are ineffective in reducing rates of gun violence. “President Obama’s executive actions following the Newtown massacre lifted the ban on federal funding for the CDC to conduct research regarding gun violence. Nevertheless, Congress has refused to pass proposed legislation that includes such funding. We encourage the executive and legislative branches of the federal government to also allocate funds for research that can guide policy, rather than relying on broad categories of mental illness associated with stereotypes that contribute to stigmatizing individuals and families that suffer with the devastating problems caused by mental illness.”
If you’d like to arrange an interview with Dr. Gold, please contact Karen Teber at [email protected].
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