EDITORIAL – We must stop assuming the mentally ill are more violent

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THERE WERE TWO MORE horrible acts of mass violence on the weekend, this time in Canada, and this time very close to home.

The first happened Saturday at a North Vancouver public library and shopping mall, where seven people were stabbed, including a woman who sadly died from her wounds.

In the second attack, five people were stabbed Sunday during an apparent altercation involving a group of young people at a bush party.

Questions about that second one will, no doubt, revolve around why kids would be attending a bush party during these times. The North Vancouver attack appears to be much different — unprovoked and random.

Just as with the recent incidents of mass violence in the U.S., there will be speculation about the motives of the man who has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

That speculation will unerringly go towards the theory that he was mentally ill, and maybe he was, but maybe not. “Mental illness” is our go-to motive when there seems to be no other explanation for violence.

When an act seems senseless, we assume the perpetrator must be mentally ill. But that’s a dangerous assumption.

Experts tell us that mentally ill folks are no more likely to become violent than anyone else. In fact, they are more often the victims of violence than others. That’s because there’s a tremendous stigma still attached to mental illness.

We know, too, that mental illness doesn’t mean someone who suffers from it loses the capacity to know right from wrong. Testimony at the recent trial of the Toronto rental-van killer reminded us of that.

We don’t yet know what was behind the North Vancouver tragedy even though it appears the attacker was clearly disturbed. But even if it’s found that he was suffering from mental illness, we really must disabuse ourselves of the notion that the mentally ill are automatically prone to violence.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.