We have a constitutional right to bear arms.
We have no constitutional right to health care.
America is the most heavily armed nation in the world.
America also leads the world in mental illness.
Half of all Americans develop at least one mental illness.
Half of all cases begin during childhood.
Nearly half of all Americans have at least one gun at home.
The human brain controls the gun.
People will find ways to end their pain.
A civilized society offers civilized solutions.
A violent society offers violent solutions.
It’s easier to get a gun than see a psychiatrist.
It’s cheaper to buy a gun than see a psychiatrist.
Ammunition costs less than medication.
Bullets are just a few cents each.
God bless America.
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Interesting comparisons in your piece. Perhaps it depends on what type of gun a person is shopping for, but in most followup visits, people can see psychiatrists for less than the cost of guns.
Initial evaluations are important, and need to be thorough and not rushed.
Psychiatrists are beleaguered in health care these days, with more retiring early rather than dealing with the tightening managed care carve-outs. The defacto mental health system is primary care and nurse practitioners’ offices.
No, it’s not pretty for anyone. Also, psychiatrists kill themselves like other physicians. Female psychiatrists have the highest rate of suicide of all physicians, too.
It’s interesting that you say that about female psychiatrists. I always thought the same, but my collection of 180 physician suicides that I have amassed in the last year or so have no psychiatrists. Anesthesiologists seem higher. We are not keeping proper stats so hard to say definitively.
I don’t see the relationship you are reaching for in trying to link the number of guns in the USA related to the number of psychiatrists??? Or attempting to link mental health to gun ownership in the USA. There is no relation to be found in the different comparisons. Yes, gun ownership is a guaranteed right in the Constitution. No, medical care is not a guaranteed right in the Constitution……I don’t believe it is even guaranteed by law to everybody in the USA. One difference is that I see is a “right” vs a “privilege”. Sorry Pam, but this is the one time I just can’t see the point you are trying to make.
No particular relationship. Just comparing ease of receiving products and services in the USA. Just a new angle on two topics. I leave the reader to make sense of it.
I have bipolar and I am frequently suicidal. About halfway to actively suicidal I always think about buying a gun. Always to kill me, not someone else. But I am always afraid the background check will keep me from being able to buy it so I don’t try, I just think about it. I have no business owning a gun, but then I’m not suicidal right now. I hate it that every time there is a mass shooting it is always blamed on mental illness. Sometimes it is just evilness. However stigma is increased, fear of people with mental illness increases along with fear of being diagnosed and treated.
A person can own more than one gun and a psychiatrist can treat more than one patient, so the number comparison is ridiculous. I agree that mental health needs more focus, but I don’t think guns should have less focus. In fact, I think more people should educate themselves on gun safety and learn how to shoot. Not just so they can be rid of the fear of a mentally unstable person terrorizing a grocery store or other public facility, but also because armed citizens is precisely what makes other countries think twice about trying to overtake us. Not to mention, it’s also a civilians best deffense against being at the mercy of a tyrannical government. This is a republic, where the power belongs to “We the people”. Of course, many people will keep voting in such a way as to put the power into the hands of the government, but those of us who wish to keep our guns and our constitutional right to them are likely voting to keep the power in the hands of the people. The problem just isn’t as simple as too many guns and too few psychiatrists. When we start talking about removing an inalienable right, we are talking about the deconstruction of a country’s foundation and the destruction of the country from within. That is much more terrifying than the possibility of a terrorist attack by a mentally unstable individual or even a radical group.