Gabrielle Giffords’ Husband Smacks Down Wayne LaPierre

[tpsbmam]

59. I've made the same argument regarding a number of your points and on top of those....

this generalized talk about "psychiatric" disorders or the like is ridiculous. It's the equivalent of lumping the common cold and cancer together in the same category.

WTF is meant by psychiatric disorders? You're lumping, e.g., people with anxiety disorders....like a fear of flying or even a generalized anxiety disorder....in with someone who is a paranoid schizophrenic. Not in the same categories at all. Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder. That the same as schizophrenia?

And what about the Axis II disorders? Having a dependent personality disorder is WAY different from having an antisocial personality disorder? But in terms of gun ownership, could they be weighted evenly?

As a mental health professional, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be rating my patients according to their safety to own a gun and reporting that to some agency! We're mandated to report those who are a danger to others when there is a specific, identifiable threat. And we're mandated to act to keep a patient safe when he/she is a danger to self. But to start being in judgment seat and rating every single patient in terms of gun safety would destroy the ability of mental health professionals to be able to help a significant percentage of people.

THE most important part of therapy is the relationship between the treating professional and his/her patient. And one of the keys to that is TRUST! How the hell does that happen when patients know that their therapist is assessing them and reporting them, which is a huge violation of privacy? As a mental health professional, I can tell you that it would stop MANY from seeking care (even some with relatively circumscribed neuroses, like fear of flying) and, if they did, from telling the truth in therapy -- how the hell does therapy work, then?

Until this gets VERY specific and greatly narrows the "mental health" limitations to gun ownership, this focus on a generic mental health provision is destructive & completely misguided.