zlacker

I hate the phrase "guns don't kill people, people kill people" because it prevents reasonable discussion but it does get closer to the root of the problem and the solution.

The problem is how we treat mental illness. It's so stigmatized that people feel extreme shame and a sense that they just have to want to be better.

Every single person should be able to walk into a doctor's office, be screened and treated for their illness without the stigma that we attach to it. "Why should I have to pay for it?" This is one, among many, of the reasons. Will it eliminate these incidents? Nope but the result will still be a better society.

>>detst+(OP)
It's not just mental illness, it's everything. It's how we treat friends, how we treat girlfriends/boyfriends, how we treat strangers, etc. And the problem isn't just deranged people who commit massacres, it's also people who feel so alienated, alone, and down that they commit suicide.

>>Inclin+D
Right. I should have framed my statement around mental health, not just mental illness.

(EDIT: listening to CNN in the background, Dr. Drew Pinsky said something along the lines of what we have here.)