handgun2.jpg

(Jeff Bandy)

Syracuse, N.Y. - Instead of discouraging people from seeking treatment for psychiatric problems, New York's efforts to keep tabs on people considered too mentally unstable to own guns may be encouraging the mentally ill to seek help, a study suggests.

Upstate Medical University researchers surveyed 49 mental health patients at an Upstate clinic to find out if they would be scared off from seeking help by a provision in New York's SAFE Act gun control law requiring mental health professionals to report patients who are potentially dangerous. People with gun permits who are reported to the state can have their guns confiscated and permits suspended.

When the SAFE Act was enacted in 2013, many mental health providers predicted the reporting requirement would make people reluctant to seek mental help and disclose sensitive information about their potential for suicide and violence to a provider, said Dr. Andrew R. Kaufman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Upstate.

The survey's preliminary findings suggest just the opposite may be true.

"We were all caught by surprise," Kaufman said.

The survey showed 78 percent of patients said the law would have no effect on their decision to seek care in a crisis, 16 percent said the law would make them more likely to seek help, while 6 percent said it would make them less likely to seek help. Most said the law would make them more likely to discuss risk factors of suicide and violence with a provider.

Even gun owners, who accounted for 26 percent of those surveyed, said they would not be less likely to discuss their risk of suicide and violence as a result of the law.

The researchers plan to survey another 49 patients in Syracuse and patients located in other parts of the state.

"We would like to have a larger representative sample of people who own guns and who feel their second amendment rights are important," Kaufman said.

Why would the law's reporting requirement make the mentally ill more likely to seek help? The preliminary research does not answer that question, but Kaufman offered a possible explanation.

Many of the patients surveyed had been treated in hospital emergency rooms and had histories of planning or attempting suicide. "Maybe they look to the health care system and the state to protect them from acting irrationally," Kaufman said.

Suicides account for most gun deaths. Suicide by gun account for 61 percent of all firearm deaths in 2010, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Homicides accounted for 35 percent of all firearm deaths.

"We are hopeful the SAFE Act may actually reduce the number of firearm suicides in New York state," Kaufman said.

Related stories:

SAFE Act identifies 278 mentally unstable people to lose guns

Look up how many people in your county are too mentally unstable to have guns



Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245