1. Prevent future mental health crimes committed

Like I stated in my introduction, when you hear about violent crimes on the news such as mass shootings, it’s usually followed by a statement that claims “ Mental health pulls the trigger, not the gun.”. An FBI survey found that 25% of 63 active shooter events in the U.S between 2000-2003 have been diagnosed with mental illness while 62% had signs that appeared to be struggling with depression, anxiety, paranoia, etc. before the attacks. Studies show a correlation between the two. Although not everyone with a mental disorder is dangerous and most aren't. But when mental health meets the wrong people, like when they already have bad intentions, that’s what makes it dangerous. Picking up signs of mental health and getting them the right treatment or help to avoid violent outbreaks.

2. It can reduce stress on police officers

Police officers already have a lot of stress on them when approaching a scene of any kind. Stress however can lead to poor decisions and weaken decision-making. If we were to properly train and educate police officers on dealing with people with various mental health issues on the scene, it can provide a safer head space for officers to have when dealing with people with mental health issues. Some mental health disorders that are commonly seen as dangerous are Schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorders. If officers were more educated on these mental health disorders and trained appropriately on how to handle situations, then it can prevent them from making impulsive decisions that can lead to violence.

3. Help certain mental health disorders to be seen as less dangerous

Schizophrenia and extreme bipolar disorder are seen as dangerous to some people and the media. These disorders are misunderstood and a lot of people know very little about them. This can cause police officers dealing with someone with schizophrenia to see them as dangerous. As well as the law system categorizing them as dangerous and violent. With more education and research, these mental disorders can be better understood. Schizophrenia is associated with aggressiveness and violent behavior. However, people with schizophrenia express their anger when they are in fear, or they express it onto themselves. If someone with a mental disorder is receiving the right treatment, then they are no more dangerous than the rest of us.

4. More qualified to handle people with strong mental health problems.

Prioritizing mental health will make sure that people with mental disorders are being handled by people who are professionals and know how to approach them. It’s extremely important that people with mental health issues are being handled by people who are educated on their certain disorders because it can avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding which is super important in the legal system. This can include anything between police interference and court trials.

5. It will create less stigma

Most people diagnosed with mental illness are stigmatized as different or only seen as their mental illness. Many mental health stigmas root in stereotypes and negative assumptions. For example, people with depression can be stereotyped as lazy and unhygienic, anxiety can be stereotyped as being overdramatic, schizophrenia can be stereotyped as dangerous and other disorders can be stereotyped as crazy. This is caused by a lack of education and awareness and this can lead to people with mental health issues being misunderstood. When these stigmas spread it can cause more and more people to believe they are realistic.

6. Will bring better training

Better training for anyone who works in the law/ legal system would help prevent improperly handled situations that can lead to violence. If mental health is prioritized, then more spend more time and money on proper training which can't do any harm. Officers as we see on the news have to think fast when handling “violent” or they think violent people, and it usually leads to unfortunate events. If officers are trained better and educated more on people with mental disorders, they will know how to approach these situations and avoid bad outcomes.

7. More understanding of sentencing/ punishment.

Understanding the various mental disorders and how each one affects a person’s actions and headspace is very important for people in the law system to be educated on. There are alot of cases where someone with a mental disorder is sent to prison but their alot that goes into it. Most common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety usually don’t interfere with crime and the legal system. But more serious disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorders are a little more tricky when they come across sentencing and legal systems. Back in the days, they didn’t look deep into how these disorders can interfere with how you act and so they wouldn’t have any different sentencing than anyone else. Now that we are being more educated fair sentencing with people with severe mental illness is applied. Instead of being thrown into jail cells, they are being treated and in mental hospitals which I think is the right thing to do with someone with severe mental disorders. The more they educate themselves more they can treat these people who didn’t choose to live with these illnesses.