Emphasize The Fact That Mental Illness is Not A Direct Cause Of Violence.

In the days since the awful and tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, there has been much discussion about the shooter either having a form of autism or being mentally ill. Sometimes the two were assumed to be the same thing. Asperger's Syndrome is NOT mental illness. However, neither is mental illness a direct cause of violence. The mentally ill are not any more likely to become violent than anyone else. The truth is, a better predictor for violence is substance abuse. Neither Autism or mental illness are predictors of violence. In fact. both segments of the American population are more likely to be the victims rather than perpetrators of violence. We call on the Obama administration to educate the American public through the National Institute for Mental Health.