Switzerland is a country with the third highest guns per capita rate, yet there are fewer shootings and gun deaths than we have here in the United States. How is that possible? How are they able to do that? There are a bunch of different reasons for this, but I think there is a major one most people need to pay attention to: the Swiss have been taking mental health seriously!
Mental illness affects people in Switzerland and, as we have pointed out a lot here on Mint Message, plenty of people all around the world might need help to not hurt others. Switzerland has the highest number of psychiatrists per population in the OECD (or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for the full name), making them second only to Iceland. According to the website Expatica, there are also a whole bunch of inpatient facilities and mental healthcare providers per one thousand people, making it easy for those with mental health problems to get assistance.
Things are much more difficult for people in the United States of America to get help when it comes to mental health problems. The US ranks third in terms of depressive mental health issues and according to the CDC, fifty percent of the population of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their life. A study from 2022 from the American Psychiatric Association shows 2/3rds of mass shooters in the US from 1966 to 2019 had signs of mental illness that went ignored before said shooting. If this info is correct, treating mental illness may not stop all mass shootings, but it could significantly reduce the number of mass shootings we deal with in the U.S.!
Comments / 0