Blaming mental health problems for mass shootings is “deliberately disingenuous,” experts say

Blaming mental health problems for mass shootings is “deliberately disingenuous” and “offensive” to people suffering the conditions, an expert claimed.

dr Joel Dvoskin, a clinical psychologist with the Washington DC-based American Psychological Association, made the allegations after the Texas shooting.

Rather than pointing the finger at mental health, the gun control expert said politicians should look at access to guns, stalled gun reforms and stressful events as key factors.

His criticism comes as gun violence swept America over Memorial Day weekend after an 18-year-old man massacred 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Texas.

At least 26 people have died and dozens more have been injured after shootings in Philadelphia, Maryland and Chicago.

Blaming mental health problems for mass shootings is “deliberately disingenuous” and “offensive” to people suffering the conditions, an expert claimed. (Above) A man mourns outside the Uvalde County Courthouse in Texas on May 27, 2022 at a makeshift memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting

Asked about the Texas shooting, Dvoskin told ABC News, “The idea of ​​blaming the mentally ill is a deliberately disingenuous blaming of people who have enough problems already.

“You don’t need to be offended by politicians who were looking for a way to avoid a more complicated discussion.”

He also claimed: “Very few of these mass shooters had any diagnosed mental disorder.

“It doesn’t mean they were fine. I think the better rhetoric to use [instead of] Mentally ill are people who are in a crisis.

“Anyone in a crisis of despair or anger… that doesn’t mean they’re going to shoot anyone, but they should get help.”

Official statistics from 2018 suggest that around 25 percent of shooters had a diagnosed mental health problem between 2000 and 2013.

However, due to difficulties in accessing health care, many cases are likely to go undetected by mental health professionals before the mass shootings.

The shooter in the Texas shooting had no known criminal history or diagnosed mental health issues. But his mother’s friend has described the teenager as a “loner” who would stay in his room to hit a punching bag who refused to let anyone in the house.

dr Joel Dvoskin, a clinical psychologist with the Washington DC-based American Psychological Association, made the allegations earlier this week

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that a “mental challenge” played a role in the massacre.

The mayor of the town of Uvalde – where the shooting took place – Don McLaughlin has also claimed that more mental health resources could have prevented the tragedy.

“Maybe we could have caught it,” he said. “Maybe if we had the counselors, maybe if we had the mental health people, we could do it.”

President Biden launched the gun control debate in a speech from the White House late Tuesday, just hours after the shooting, saying it was time to “put pain into action” and asking voters, “When in God’s name.” will we stand by the gun lobby?”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was at the forefront of the pushback. Cruz said the key to reducing violence is “aiming at the fugitives, the criminals and the bad guys” rather than the constitutional right to bear arms.