Psychology Has It Backwards Episode 91: Is Violence Really a Mental Health Issue?
When violent events occur, the quick response often is, "Society has a mental health issue." In truth, people experiencing mental well-being do not harm other people. But most people who are experiencing mental health difficulties do not kill or harm other people. There is a psychological path to violence: as some people experience extended periods of extremely dark, negative, insecure thinking and see themselves as alienated from others and hopeless about who they are or where they fit, they fill their heads with extreme nasty, vengeful thoughts. At some point, they commit violence, looking to get relief from the pain of that thinking, with no understanding that they are the thinkers who have created it. What is needed is a deeper recognition of how thinking works and how we can quiet our thinking and find our innate well-being.