Shocked, overwhelmed, scared, anxious, angry, worried, terrified and dismayed are some of the emotions that have been expressed during the weeks following the recent string of mass murders in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX. The other sites in which shootings have occurred have also become so well known to us. It is a reality of the times in which we live that our children have had to learn how to respond to an aggressive intruder in their schools, in addition to the traditional fire drill or tornado drill. In conversations following the shootings, common themes have bubbled up as talking points. Often, the conversation evolves into discussing the cause for such traumatic events.

These discussions often become heated, political and polarizing. Typical suggested culprits include poor parenting, drugs and alcohol, lack of sufficient school security, lack of clear enough protocols and the pre-eminent presence of guns in our society. In addition, there has been a serious blame placed on the issue of mental illness.

There is no question that those who commit such horrendous crimes are struggling with significant psychological problems. The societal problem, however, is that mental illness has become a scapegoat to help explain away other sources of concern, which may be more controversial or politically inconvenient. The vast majority of Americans living with mental health conditions are not violent. In fact, these individuals are much more likely to be victims of violence than they are to perpetrate violence. It is a red herring to blame our mass shootings on the issue of mental illness because it attributes a characteristic to mentally ill people that is only rarely present.

There is no question that we should be on the alert for troubled individuals in our schools and communities. The goal, however, is to help find support for those with mental health challenges. It is also the case that these individuals should likely not have access to guns. In our practices, if we feel that an individual is dangerous to him/herself or to others, this is the rationale for more intensive treatment. We also seek to help that individual separate themselves from any weapons to which they may have easy access.

Our job as a society is not to find scapegoats. Our job is to find science based data to learn the true causes of societal problems. We then want to implement evidence based strategies to help solve the problem. Retreating to our political corners and hurling epithets at each other doesn’t solve the problem. Common sense, research based approaches are what we support. Individuals with mental health related conditions should know that society does not attribute this carnage solely to the issue of mental health problems, but that as a society we are looking to find the most scientifically solid sources of information that can be identified.