Psychiatric News (6/27) reports, “The U.S. Surgeon General issued a landmark advisory Tuesday spelling out the crisis of firearm violence and calling for a commitment from the nation – from firearm owners to clinicians to community leaders – to tackle the growing and urgent threat using a public health approach.” The advisory “calls for implementing community violence prevention programs and firearm risk reduction strategies; expanding research funding; and improving access to mental health care and support for those exposed to or at risk for firearm violence including trauma-informed care.” American Psychiatric Association CEO and Medical Director Marketa Wills, MD, MBA, said in response to the advisory, “The members of the American Psychiatric Association have become all too familiar with suicides and homicides involving gun violence and the additional impacts on people’s mental and physical health. … The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence elevates this crisis in our national attention and emphasizes the damage gun violence has caused to families across the United States. It affirms that people with mental illness are especially vulnerable and includes prevention strategies that could help save lives.”
Related Links:
— “Surgeon General Lays Out Approach to Stem Growing Crisis of Gun Violence, Psychiatric News , June 27, 2024