Mental Health and Psychiatry’s Role in Gun Violence

The number of mass killings in the United States in 2023 has reached over 570 as of this writing (October 30, 2023). The public outcry for change has resurfaced the concern that lack of access or utilization of mental health treatment is at least in part to blame. The perpetrator of the recent Lewiston, Maine shootings, which resulted in the deaths of 18 and 13 more injured, was admitted voluntarily to an inpatient psychiatric hospital just months prior to the attack. He had obtained the guns used in the shooting, among apparently many others, legally. (Though he was prevented from buying a silencer due to his admission history according to an abc news article, linked below). <a href="https://medium.com/@rachel.moreland11/mental-health-and-psychiatrys-role-in-gun-violence-6f741eedea40">Read More</a>