Terrorism Is a Failure to Tackle Mental Health Issues Globally

We are avoiding confronting the root cause of modern terrorism. We are to blame. Every attack that has happened in the past 50 years, whether it be the IRA or Islamic fundamentalism, has been a direct result of unresolved mental health issues. We try to pin the blame on ideology, on the religion, or the cultural divisions in society, but that’s the easy way to ignore the real issue. Terrorism is the direct result of a global inability to tackle mental health issues. It is very easy to just call people evil, but when you actually dissect what evil actually means we discover a distorted reflection of ourselves. Evil is sadness and grief left to fester in an unloved heart. Evil is somebody ending a life, or even their own. Evil are kids who have not been shown any better?

Evil is really not treating mental health issues at a younger age.

I have suffered from anxiety for a long time and it has fluctuated my mood for most of my life. I’ve been so lucky to have had some beautiful humans in my life, otherwise I fear I may have taken a much darker path. When you have a mental illness it can make you angry. Not just a little, sometimes I have experienced true red mist, and was if it not for some fantastic friends, and the NHS, I might have been left to mentally rot, eventually becoming worse than my present mind can conceive.

I’ve always believed in putting yourselves in another person’s shoes. But this doesn’t only mean in respect to a victim, you should also wear the shoes of the sick and mentally scarred. Can you imagine having so little hope for your future that you are willing to die whilst hurting others? What would be the point? For me it’ll always be a question of mental health. Is it ‘mentally healthy’ to kill people? I’m willing to stand by the description of someone who commits acts of terror as ‘mentally unhealthy’. I know that most people who suffer from mental health conditions don’t intend to harm anyone. But if you take people who have obvious indicators of mental health issues and leave them have awful experiences in life then any one of those people could kill. There is no evil. There is only depression, anxiety, and abuse for some people. They are the most susceptible to con men offering paradise and virgins in return for sacrificing their already unbearable existence on earth.

As always, when talking about such issues, you must explain that there isn’t any excuse for murder or terrorism, but there will always be a reason. The reason we have angry young men running people down, stabbing people, and blowing themselves up is that we have not dealt with their anger rationally. If we meet someone who is religiously fundamental it is very easy to be to caught up in arguing their religious views when you should be examining behaviour. Angry, shouting, threatening violence, anti social, and emotionally bereft humans tend to have underlying issues in this regard.

We must stop making excuses. We have to end the cycle of anger and hate that comes with often childhood experience. We must recognise that all of us have the potential to be left depressed and shaking, desperate for help. We need to find another way to tackle terrorism. We need to tackle terror in the mind before it’ll leave our society.

If you have a mental health issue then the best way to get help is by asking for it. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be anyone to ask, but there is. Just google mental health in your area and you will find lots of support and advice available. Talk about it, let it out. Don’t let the rage build up inside of you.