Will President Obama and the US Government Ever Address the Issues of Mental Health, Disorders of Impulse Control, and Gun Violence? 

What is an Impulse Control Disorder? According to Wikipedia:

Impulse control disorder or ICD is a class of psychiatric disorders characterized by impulsivity – failure to resist a temptation, urge or impulse that may harm oneself or others. Many psychiatric disorders feature impulsivity, including substance-related disorders, paraphilias, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, schizophrenia and mood disorders. The revised fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association‘s Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) includes the category, “impulse control disorders not elsewhere classified”, which consists of kleptomania, pathological gambling, pyromania (fire-starting), trichotillomania (a compulsion to pull one’s hair out), intermittent explosive disorder, and “impulse control disorders not otherwise specified”. Other disorders such as, dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking), compulsive buying and compulsive non-paraphilic sexual behaviour have been proposed for inclusion in the category.Five behavioural stages characterize impulsivity: an impulse, growing tension, pleasure from acting, relief from the urge and finally guilt (which may or may not arise).

For those people with Impulse Control Disorders or severe depression, a loaded gun nearby is a monumental danger. A few years ago, a friend of my parents, a retired medical professional, had a gun in his home. I suspect that this was intended for protection from intruders, as he never went hunting. I recall seeing him and his wife as a party, and noting how depressed she looked. A few weeks later, the news came that she had committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with the gun that was in the home.

For anyone with depression or an impulse control problem, easy access to a gun is a high risk situation. Will the US Government ever deal with this properly? What can you do, as citizens, to make a change? Will speaking with your senators, congressmen and congresswomen help?

As a licensed psychotherapist, I noticed how difficult it is for many people to get mental health services, either because they have no health insurance, or perhaps their policies did not cover psychotherapy. In addition, the culture in general tends to stigmatize mental illness, discouraging people from seeking help, in my opinion.

Given that a portion of the population suffers from Disorders of Impulse Control, and that many mentally ill people never get treatment, how do the current policies and laws deal with the easy access of mentally ill people to obtain guns?

What can we all do to address this problem?