Mental Health: A Systems Analysis

Updated from a 2015 post. June 23,2026

I have identified what I believe to be a root cause of the division pervading this country, and likely the world, as well as the problems we see reported with troubling frequency.

The Origins of Tribalism

When we grew up and played sports, two team leaders were randomly chosen. Those leaders then selected teams from the remainder of the class. Some picked based on personal affinity; others, on personal animosity.Where the boys were concerned, we then decided who would be the shirts or the skins. I preferred skins because I liked not wearing a shirt when playing sports, though your mileage may vary.The game ensued, and for the remainder of that day (or possibly the week), a rivalry existed. The winners generally taunted the losers until a rematch occurred.My school was integrated, and we held no bias between Black, Hispanic, or any other ethnic students. We were simply one team or another, and we all had a good time.This dynamic was then elevated between different schools. Each week, a pep rally spurred the team to victory against whatever school we were playing. Signs posted throughout the school bore slogans like “Crush the [insert name]” or similar sentiments. You get the point: this was rather violent rhetoric for a sport.In football, injuries were common, and I feel some of that rhetoric carried onto the field, as there was constantly “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

The Dichotomy of Competition

Here lies the dichotomy between sports as a game and sports as something personal.In our PE class, most of us left our determination to defeat the other team out on the field. We either won or lost. The winners got to brag for the day, but they were hollow victories. Most of the class consisted of people who “had to take PE” but, if given the choice, would not have participated.The unathletic kids were singled out and sometimes bullied by those who were more physical. Sometimes this was simply name calling. Often, however, it provided an easy mark for the less secure but more physically fit to elevate themselves by pummeling the weaker kids.The bullies were, in fact, mentally challenged in their own way and compensated by picking on (and in some cases physically injuring) weaker children, even though those weaker children may have possessed superior intellects. That intellect gets you nowhere when you are surrounded by several classmates who rally around the big kid, the one who needs to prove something to himself and demonstrate his physical prowess to keep the rest in line.Not everyone is Heisman Trophy material, and not everyone is suited to win a Nobel Prize for curing cancer.Everyone has gifts and talents, but navigating our youth without becoming a psychopath or agoraphobic is key.

The Systemic Failure

This year, we have witnessed yet another mass shooting that represents a failure in our system.While we can see that someone is physically fit, can hit a ball, or can run the bases, we cannot see what is going on in their heads. We cannot see what is in their hearts. Encouraging them to “tell a teacher” if they are being bullied is usually a recipe for disaster, as the person being reported will enact revenge. That revenge will come through his or her peers and could be life threatening for the child being targeted.In the animal kingdom, the weak or sickly are shunned from the pack, and predators take care of the problem. The weak or defective become part of the circle of life.Do we allow the weak or timid to become ostracized and bullied and take the attitude “save who you can”?That is what we have been doing for the last sixty years that I can attest to. Is it working?Some of the physically weak go on to invent computers or control spacecraft. Some discover cures for diseases. Some work out complex mathematical formulas while unable to move or even speak because of their infirmities.Some of the physically weak carry a grudge. One day, when life has kicked them around, when their self-esteem and lot in life have deteriorated so badly, they figure out who is to blame for their circumstances (without looking into a mirror) and use an equalizer: a gun or other device.The perpetrator was quoted by one of the victims: “I have been wanting to do that for a long time.” This was after he killed several people and started to kill more. This was a ticking time bomb, much like the person who killed the news reporter and her cameraman years ago.It would be interesting to dig into this individual’s past. Was he well thought of? Could he play sports? Was he a bully?

Misdiagnosis of the Problem

No, we do not have a gun problem in this country. As much as some want to make this a “gun problem,” it is a people problem.Some of us are simply poor actors who treat others badly and are not called on it. We are not being held accountable for our actions and are allowed to injure others for the sheer enjoyment of watching them in anguish. As we injure them, our “friends” egg us on, living vicariously through our actions, just like the Sunday couch potato quarterback who yells at the television from his popcorn laden, beer stained recliner, screaming at the players on the field or the referee for being blind or stupid. Those actions, to some, bring meaning to their otherwise unfulfilling lives.We gather behind the team in a mob mentality. If our team loses, we may even destroy our own town in defiance of bad calls by the referee, even though we were miles away sitting in some sports bar watching the game.

The Common Thread

The common thread among most of these killers is that they are left behind by the “system.” We saved the kids that we could.No. You failed. Each and every life that passes through school needs to be watched for signs of either the bully or the bullied. Neither are healthy mentally, and both should be observed and worked with so they do not become the next inmate or the next mass murderer.I also feel that the entertainment industry bears some culpability, as people are desensitized to this kind of activity.People are desensitized because violence is on hundreds of cable channels. If that is not enough, they play realistic video games that function as nothing more than training simulators, teaching them to become efficient at killing in wholesale fashion. These individuals who spend hours in a closed room or their parents’ basement playing these games must, by their very nature, become mentally impaired.The NRA is not the problem; they are an easy target for those who want to “take action” without thinking.Mental health is the problem, as only a sick person would commit such horrific crimes. I am amazed that this is not what we are discussing and looking for ways to abate. Is this because it does not fit into an agenda?Guns, the NRA, and the Second Amendment are easy targets for the unthinking among us.

Action Step

Hire mental health professionals. Place them in each and every school in this country. Get them engaged in the process of looking for tomorrow’s mass murderers or tomorrow’s inmates, and allow them to do what they do best. Bring personal accountability back into the schools.

To tackle the systemic mental health issues underlying violence and social division, the following action steps are recommended:

1. Embed licensed mental health professionals in every school to provide early identification, intervention, and ongoing support for both bullies and victims.
2. Implement evidence-based anti-bullying and social-emotional learning (SEL) programs schoolwide to foster empathy, inclusion, and personal accountability.
3. Establish safe, anonymous reporting systems and restorative justice practices to protect and empower students.
4. Promote media literacy and regulate exposure to violent content to counteract desensitization and aggressive behaviors.
5. Enact policy reforms to ensure sustainable funding, enforce mental health parity, and expand community-based mental health services.

My final thoughts… The Parenting Vacuum

While the ideal solution would be to have parents in the home who understand how to be parents (and not merely the child’s friend), the operative word is “parents.” That is not the case in too many instances. Consequently, there is little accountability for the child. The role models present are often not individuals anyone with two neurons firing would want as examples.

The traditional family structure, once the foundation of behavioral guidance and emotional development, has eroded in many communities. Single parent households, absentee guardians, and homes where survival takes precedence over nurturing have become increasingly common. Children in these environments are left to navigate social hierarchies, emotional regulation, and moral development largely on their own.

When parents are absent, overwhelmed, or themselves products of similar dysfunction, children seek guidance elsewhere. They find it in peers who are equally lost, in entertainment media that glorifies violence and antisocial behavior, and in online communities that may reinforce their darkest impulses rather than challenge them.

This is not an indictment of single parents or working families who struggle to make ends meet. It is, however, an acknowledgment of a systemic gap. Schools cannot replace parents, nor should they be expected to. Yet when the home fails to provide foundational support, the school becomes the last line of defense. Mental health professionals embedded in educational institutions are not a replacement for functional parenting; they are a necessary intervention in its absence.

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