The linkage between mental illness and mass shootings has risen, Similar to the section: Increased Usage of Rhetoric Around Mental Illness, but in a different manner. The four mass shootings have been linked to symptoms of depression and anxiety, typically exhibited in the qualities of the gunmen involved in mass shootings. Through my qualitative coding, I have solidified that many of the more recent articles from the 2000s and 2010s go into great detail discussing traits that were shown to be harmful and mental health related. The talk of mental health also increased and has become prominent over the last two decades, demonstrating that mass shootings are often intertwined with this aspect of the media. Although there is direct evidence that mental health has been correlated with mass shootings in the New York Times articles used in this research, this is not always the case for every mass shooting in America. Public perception generally feels that mental illness is the cause of most mass shootings, but no direct research proves this perspective fully.
“Of 180 perpetrators, 39 showed signs of mental illness but received no diagnosis. While we must not equate mental health and mass shootings, it is important to de-stigmatize mental health and support those in a crisis.”
The violence project
The above graph represents a study of perpetrators through The Violence Project’s mass shooter database. This study breaks down the stigma the media portrays in mental health through mass shootings. As supported by McGinty et al. (2014), the way that severe mental illness is presented in the news media as a contributing factor to gun violence may have an impact on public perceptions of people with severe mental illness and support for initiatives to reduce gun violence. Additionally, they mention that advocates for mental health have voiced worry that the public may come to associate severe mental illness with gun violence as a result of the media’s emphasis on mass shooters who suffer from severe mental illness.