There were 627 mass shootings in the USA as of Dec 7, 2023 . Only about 5% are accounted for by people with serious mental illness. This, according to a study from Columbia University’s Center of Prevention and Evaluation.
A much larger number of mass shootings (about 25%) are associated with non-psychotic psychiatric or neurological illnesses, including depression, and an estimated 23% with substance use (totaling 53%), in most cases these conditions are incidental.
People with other risk factors, such as a history of legal problems, challenges coping with severe and acute life stressors, and the epidemic of the combination of nihilism, emptiness, anger, and a desire for notoriety among young men, seem a more useful focus for prevention and policy than an emphasis on serious mental illness, which leads to public fear and stigmatization.
