In the commentary Shameful Scapegoating of the Mentally Ill Tom Dart writes about the problems he sees in America concerning mass shootings, and who is blamed for them. Tom points out that America has a bad habit of jumping onto bandwagons, and a big one right now is blaming the mentally ill for mass shootings. While it is by all means true that a few mental ill people do pose a major threat, the problem is that they do not speak to the majority. Another major problem is that there is no money being spent on mental health. In fact Tom talks about the money that is being taken out of the budgets that would help with mental health. Overall the article is a very level headed, statistical, agreeable writing into the world of the mentally Ill.
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However, his statements are often agreeable and Tom backs up his frustration with statistics and facts. He moves on asking the golden question “Do we need to make serious investments in community mental health” in which he replies “yes!” (Dart). This is an interesting way to pose the question, and is a lot more effective than if he has just written something demanding. Writing the question in this form really makes the issue seem silly, because after all who would say no to Americas mental health. However saying no is exactly the problem. The author points out from 2009 to 2012 cuts to mental health totaled $4.35 billon (Dart). This is a staggering amount of money, and really opens one’s eye to the lack of funding towards mental …show more content…
Unfortunately this mental image is pretty much the norm. Between the media and the movies, when one thinks of a mad man they think of a mentally ill person swaying a gun left to right uncontrollably while pacing back and forth. The point of Toms article is to educate that this is not always the case, and to ask people to stop assuming every murderer must be mentally ill. By doing so the people who are mentally ill and need help have a huge stigma put on them. People are less likely to care about the mentally ill when they associate them with mass murders. Tom realizes this and it frustrates him deeply. Tom states that “the mentally ill have been systematically neglected, demonized, and ultimately criminalized in this country” (Dart). He also says that the mentally ill “deserve better than to be scapegoated whenever politically convenient” (Dart). Both of these quotes are convincing and
However, his statements are often agreeable and Tom backs up his frustration with statistics and facts. He moves on asking the golden question “Do we need to make serious investments in community mental health” in which he replies “yes!” (Dart). This is an interesting way to pose the question, and is a lot more effective than if he has just written something demanding. Writing the question in this form really makes the issue seem silly, because after all who would say no to Americas mental health. However saying no is exactly the problem. The author points out from 2009 to 2012 cuts to mental health totaled $4.35 billon (Dart). This is a staggering amount of money, and really opens one’s eye to the lack of funding towards mental …show more content…
Unfortunately this mental image is pretty much the norm. Between the media and the movies, when one thinks of a mad man they think of a mentally ill person swaying a gun left to right uncontrollably while pacing back and forth. The point of Toms article is to educate that this is not always the case, and to ask people to stop assuming every murderer must be mentally ill. By doing so the people who are mentally ill and need help have a huge stigma put on them. People are less likely to care about the mentally ill when they associate them with mass murders. Tom realizes this and it frustrates him deeply. Tom states that “the mentally ill have been systematically neglected, demonized, and ultimately criminalized in this country” (Dart). He also says that the mentally ill “deserve better than to be scapegoated whenever politically convenient” (Dart). Both of these quotes are convincing and