‘Last Week Tonight’ Explains Why the US Mental Healthcare System Needs a

Psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers and other mental health care practitioners rejoice: It appears a lot of elected officials, including a remarkable number of conservatives, have your back. You guess we do.

Improving access to mental health services is unlikely to prevent the next mass shooting or even significantly reduce violence on the streets, as the mentally ill are far more likely to be victims of an attack than to perpetrate one.

The chorus of Republicans running for Congress, however, were quick to frame the issue as one of mental health (not one about guns).

He even suggested that the country’s whole system needs a massive overhaul. From decrepit mental asylums-dubbed “snake pits”-to mandatory electroshock therapy, It’s always been a mess”.

“We, as a society, have to figure out how to fund these programs”, he says. Since a 2009 report shows that 125,000 young- and middle aged people diagnosed with a severe mental illness are forced to live with the elderly in the nation’s nursing homes. Oliver noted that often mass shootings are followed by a mental health discussion, specifically, speculation as to whether or not the shooter was or is mentally ill. “The issue is the mentality of these of these people”. By not doing much.

The programs that do work, such as robust community-based treatment and police forces trained in crisis intervention, are at risk of losing funding, he said-despite politicians who have recently professed an interest in fixing America’s mental health system. “Not just because it makes fiscal sense but because it would save lives”.

But if they’re so keen to tackle the mental health issue, why is there no clear plan to deal with it?