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Contributed commentary by David Whipple of Clarksville Counseling Center on the reaction to the shooting in Nashville:

If your response to the shooting in Nashville this week was filled with sadness, anger, frustration, being fed up, heartbreak, etc., you are not alone. This means you had an appropriate, compassionate and empathic response to a terrible, horrific tragedy. It makes sense to respond that way. I had all of those emotions in very large quantities and am still working through them. One of the frustrations I have is that I keep seeing people immediately assuming or proclaiming that mental illness must play a role in these tragedies. As a mental health therapist and licensed clinical social worker, this is my request for us to please stop equating horrific decisions like the recent shooting with someone having mental health struggles or illness.

Per Dr. Ragy Girgis, and his colleagues at the Columbia Center of Prevention and Evaluation, in a recent report utilizing the Columbia Mass Murder Database, the following are true about mass shootings and mental health:

  • Only 5% of mass shootings are related to severe mental illness.
  • While 25% of mass shootings are associated with non-psychotic illnesses, such as depression, and 23% with substance abuse, those conditions are often found to be incidental and not a direct causation.

Why is this important to note? Because equating traumatic mass shootings with mental illness stigmatizes and further isolates those that cope with and manage mental health struggles and disorders on a daily basis. The movement needs to be toward seeking help and support, not further away. As Girgis states, “A lot of people who aren’t experts in mental illness tend to equate bad behavior, and often immorality, with mental illness. These are a false equivalence. I think it’s incumbent on us, especially when we’re talking about something as horrible as mass shootings, to make sure other people understand that all bad behavior, and certainly not evil and pure psychopathy, is not the same as mental illness.”

If you know someone that is struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, or any other mental health issue, please reach out and let them know you are there, even if you do not understand it. Feeling accepted and cared about is a significant positive contributing factor to managing and overcoming mental health symptoms and struggles. If you don’t have people in your life that are supportive of you in crisis, you still have access to the national suicide hotline at 988 where a trained professional will listen and offer you support. As hard as it can be in the moment, please reach out.

There are also many licensed, competent, caring therapists and psychiatric providers in Clarksville and the surrounding area that are here to help. I will be the first to admit that there is much greater mental health need in Clarksville than we currently have good therapists to meet. However, please do not let that stop you from getting help. If you are having a hard time, please keep calling or reaching out if you can. You can also search Psychology Today’s online list of local providers and see who is taking new patients. Let’s lean in and on each other during these times of tragedy to support those that are struggling, rather than further push people away.

David Whipple