Mass Shootings and Mental Illnesses

  Unfortunately in today's society there are individuals out there capable and willing to commit mass murders. Most media chalks these violent outbursts to some variant of a mental illness that has corrupted the murderer. However, the article, "It’s not about mental illness: The big lie that always follows mass shootings by white males," by Arthur Chu states that a mental illness is, in most cases, not what sparked the individual to go on the killing spree. I found it interesting when Chu introduces that most of the people who commit acts of violence lack the diagnosis of a mental illness. Chu then suggests that automatically pointing a finger towards mental illness is just a scapegoat for addressing what might have really caused the murderer to act out such as a very intense form of racism or misogyny. I agree Chu's statement especially after the fact he introduced about the majority of these killers not having an official diagnosis of mental illness. I possess the same level of anger of Chu that he has towards people who use the label, mental illness, to discredit the murders actual beliefs, which might be that murdering people in general or those who fit a certain description. Overall, Chu has given me the perspective that the media has a corrupt view on what is actually going on in a killer's head, and that insinuating the fact that they have a mental illness is just a cheap cop-out from the truth.