In the debate on how to curb ongoing gun violence in the U.S., there is general agreement on one thing: guns and serious mental illness are a bad mix.

From there, the debate breaks down and we are left with many difficult questions: When is a mental illness serious? How do we determine who is a threat? How do we predict when someone will become violent? How do we keep these people from accessing firearms? Once identified, how do we ensure that these people get appropriate mental health treatment? What is appropriate treatment?

These are all good questions.

And they are all nearly impossible to answer.

The questions that are not being asked is why is there so much mental illness? And what can we do to prevent it?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 25 percent of adults in the U.S. suffer from mental illness. Anxiety and depression top the list, but we are also witnessing increasing numbers of people suffering with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and personality disorders.

And it's not only adults. It starts in childhood. Among children and adolescents ages 9 to 17, 21 percent have mental or addictive disorders. In 2008, nearly 7 percent of children in the U.S. were taking psychotropic medications. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. (Homicides are second, after accidents.)

From 1988-1994 through 2005-2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the U.S. among all ages increased nearly 400 percent.


It wasn't always this way. People born after 1945 are 10 times more likely to suffer from depression than people born 50 years earlier. High school and college students today are five to eight times more likely to meet the criteria for diagnosis of major depression and/or anxiety disorder than half a century ago.

What has so dramatically altered the prevalence of mental illness?

First, we need to realize that mental and physical well-being are intimately connected. Long-term studies on adults who suffered from childhood abuse reveal not only a higher incidence of mental illness and suicide, but also a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and lung disease.

Moreover, numerous physical ailments on the rise can result in neuropsychological abnormalities, such as thyroid disease, gluten intolerance, other food sensitivities, hypoglycemia, fibromyalgia and Lyme disease.

And scientific studies have clearly linked depression, attention deficit disorder, and schizophrenia to junk food and the absence of essential fats, vitamins and minerals in the diets of industrialized societies.

We can also add in a long list of toxic chemicals that can cause depression: pesticides, solvents, including those found in detergents, dry cleaning fluids, and perfumes; polystyrene cups, plates and packaging; and prescription drugs such as beta blockers, corticosteroids, pain medications and tranquilizers. Heavy metal toxicity is a big problem. There is a huge body of evidence linking lead levels with violent behavior.

Let's face it. We live in a toxic chemical soup that is messing with our minds and other vital organs.

We are not only increasingly overfed (yet malnourished), sedentary, sunlight-deficient, poisoned and sleep-deprived, but also socially isolated.

Even before the advent of the personal computer and social media, Americans began retreating into the comfort of larger houses with bigger TVs, eschewing the richness of community life and deep friendships that enriched the lives of our grandparents.

Researchers have confirmed a sharp decline in social connectedness in the past 20 years, and social isolation is a huge risk factor for major depression. Primitive cultures experience virtually no depression.

We can continue to prescribe Band-Aids in the form of more and better drugs to deal with the epidemic of mental illness; we can look harder for those who may become violent and try to deny them the firearms that they mostly use against themselves; or we can look at the lives we are living, and decide if this is the legacy we wish to leave to future generations.

Dr. Daniel A. Kinderlehrer lives in Boulder.