In 1953, the population of the US was 160 million and there were 569,000 people civilly committed to mental hospitals.

In 2015, the population is 325 million and less about 50,000 are civilly committed in a mental hospital.

That means there are roughly 1 MILLION mentally ill people walking around in our society. The bigger question isn't "How can there be so many mass shootings?", but "How is it there aren't MORE mass shootings?"

Here's a very informational report that talks about how the adult mentally ill are either:

1. At home with parents or by themselves, who must wait until their mentally health degrades until they are an immediate danger to themselves or others before they can acess mental hospitalization

2. Homeless on the streets.

3. In Jail/Prison due to crimes (assault, robbery, murder) or drug use.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3392176/

Do you think just maybe they were let out for a specific reason, to accomplish a specific task?

Civil commitment is a two edged sword. Stalin was big on it.

With all of a person's "health" info going to the govt. these days, I can see why some folks, who need it, might avoid treatment.

I nevur taik my meds meds meds meds meds meds meds meds

There were a lot of people committed who shouldn't have been and there were also a lot of special needs people who were also committed. The conditions in many mental hospitals that were abusive and negligent - Geraldo got famous for a report he did on the Willowbrook Hospital in New York.

Instead of fixing the problems with the hospitals, they closed them.

Then, the Supreme Court rulings put the dagger in involuntary commitments, establishing a "danger standard" for civil commitment. The issue there, as with the Oregon killer, is that they aren't a danger to others until they are a danger to others...

As if America doesn't lock enough people up already.
Highest incarceration per capita in the world.
Fkk more of that!

even 10 years ago, that would have seemed laughable. Now?

On a related note: In north Idaho is the small logging town of Orofino. In the town is a state mental health hospital and a state prison. The high school is located between them. 70 years ago, they chose the Maniacs as their school mascot. Employees of the hospital think the mascot is demeaning (think Wash. Redskins) but the town isn't about to change it. It's been a tradition for far too long.

The prison system, at least in Alaska and I'm sure it's true of other states, is the largest mental health provider in the state.

Many of them are easily managed while in the system and on their meds. Once released and away from mental health care, either by choice or the lack of providers, they tend to spiral into worse trouble each time they're out.

Who gets to decide who is mentally ill? Psychiatry & psychology are more voodoo than sciences and are easily manipulated by political whims, witness homosexuality which used to be considered a mental illness and is now being celebrated by mainstream society.

Do you really want to give the power to incarcerate people to a health care system increasingly controlled by administrations like Obama's or a future Hillary administration? We'd all probably be classified mentally ill based upon membership on this forum.

Having dealt with a ex wife, and then a child that became ill with real mental issues.
When they get sick enough care is available.

Locking everyone up is not the answer, nor is blaming family members for their actions.

Cain slew Able. Had he a gun he'd likely had shot him, a crossbow he'd have stuck him with an arrow.

Man has been killing man since man arrived. Man will continue to kill man as long as man exists.

That we think we can stop it shows the narcissism of the species.

All you can do is be prepared as much as possible when and if it does happen.

In 1953, it was far easier to get a commitment. Folks did it all the time to get family members out of the way. If you had a mother with Alzheimer's and not a lot of scratch, you went to a judge and he signed the papers and Mom got carted off to the state hospital. A good number of those half-million-plus inmates were nothing but the elderly poor. A bunch more were simple cases of things like alcoholism, that were easily treatable even in those days. Back in 1953 you could end up with a lifetime commitment for nothing more than post-partum depression or light mental retardation.

Nowadays, at least in Ohio, you have to produce the subject for a court appearance in 72 hours for involuntary commitment. If you have any hope of redemption, you can get yourself straight enough to appear sane to a judge given 72 hours. The bar is set much higher and those who want you put away have a very high burden of proof.

The mentally ill are all of us who actually support and believe that making more new laws, hiring more LE, and building more prisons is the answer.