Mental Illness and Mass Shootings

People continue to cite "mental illness' as a cause of mass shootings.  This is wrong for many reasons.

The motivation for many who talk about this is to divert attention away from the real problem, which is the proliferation of guns in this country.  In fact, the people who talk about mental illness as a cause of gun violence are often the same people who oppose increased funding for mental illness and other programs designed to promote the general welfare.

Experts tell us that mental illness is a primary cause of only about 5% of mass shootings.  They point out that hate is not a mental illness.

To continually refer to mental illness as a cause serves to further stigmatize those folks who suffer from some form of mental illness.  This further discourages those needing help from seeking it.

The fact is that those suffering from mental illness are more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators of it.  Further, if they do commit violence, it is more likely to be upon themselves rather than upon others.

Left unaddressed is the problem of how do you get those suffering from a mental illness to get help, if they don't want it?  Is the right wing prepared to incarcerate everyone who needs help but won't seek it voluntarily?