Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Future of Psychiatric Research into American Gun Violence

Abstract

This article outlines a four-part strategy for future research in mental health and complementary disciplines that will broaden understanding of mass shootings and multi-victim gun homicides. First, researchers must abandon the starting assumption that acts of mass violence are driven primarily by diagnosable psychopathology in isolated “lone wolf” individuals. The destructive motivations must be situated, instead, within larger social structures and cultural scripts. Second, mental health professionals and scholars must carefully scrutinize any apparent correlation of violence with mental illness for evidence of racial bias in the official systems that define, measure, and record psychiatric diagnoses, as well as those that enforce laws and impose criminal justice sanctions. Third, to better understand the role of firearm access in the occurrence and lethality of mass shootings, research should be guided by an overarching framework that incorporates social, cultural, legal, and political, but also psychological, aspects of private gun ownership in the United States. Fourth, effective policies and interventions to reduce the incidence of mass shootings over time—and to prevent serious acts of violence more generally—will require an expanded body of well-funded interdisciplinary research that is informed and implemented through the sustained engagement of researchers with affected communities and other stakeholders in gun violence prevention. Emerging evidence that the coronavirus pandemic has produced a sharp increase both in civilian gun sales and in the social and psychological determinants of injurious behavior adds special urgency to this agenda.

Mental Illness and Mass Shootings: A Quantitative Treatment of Risk Factors and Mitigation Strategies

“…Politicians and news organizations should wait for the diagnosis of the mass shooter before making statements such as "a rational person could never commit such a thing." Psychological tests must be performed to evaluate a patient's psychiatric history to avoid perpetuating false preconceptions about the dangers of mental disorders [5]. Making such assumptions would exclude the possibility of determining alternative reasons for such acts, such as social disadvantages, exposure to domestic violence, anger and resentment directed towards specific people or groups, and a difficult economic situation, among others.…”

“…Making such assumptions would exclude the possibility of determining alternative reasons for such acts, such as social disadvantages, exposure to domestic violence, anger and resentment directed towards specific people or groups, and a difficult economic situation, among others. In certain cases, the combination of such variables is more hazardous than the individual ones [5].…”

“…Additionally, it is necessary to raise public awareness of the political and socioeconomic factors that predict firearm violence. It is necessary to examine many aspects of weapon ownership in the United States to understand how the social, economic, cultural, and psychological factors may influence the gun violence trend [5]. This would also guarantee that guns are returned to individuals who are eligible while disqualifying those who seem to be a danger.…”

“…shooters have some kind of mental health problem, and the role of mental illness in a mass shooting is sometimes underestimated. According to FBI data, research that included 63 active shooters revealed that 25 percent of them had mental illnesses ranging from mild to severe mental health problems [5]. Buchanan et al [5] found that schizophrenia patients had at least one harmful act throughout their 18-month follow-up, while patients with depression and psychosis had no injurious acts during their follow-up.…”

“…According to FBI data, research that included 63 active shooters revealed that 25 percent of them had mental illnesses ranging from mild to severe mental health problems [5]. Buchanan et al [5] found that schizophrenia patients had at least one harmful act throughout their 18-month follow-up, while patients with depression and psychosis had no injurious acts during their follow-up. Also, Beckett [5] finds that more than half of the mass shootings have been carried out by white people since the 1980s, but the proportion has declined in recent years, and the majority has tended to be black people.…”