Gun control requires impulse control
We all hope that anyone with a gun could control thoughts and impulsive behaviors they may have to harm someone. But not everyone can. In some individuals, the brain can be affected and thinking altered, resulting in an increased risk someone with a gun will not care about harming others.
The problem of young men using guns to harm others is not only a problem of the availability of guns.
That gets all the attention, but it’s not the only thing we should change. It’s just as much a problem of people who grow up unable to control their impulses in a way that keeps them from caring what they do to others.
This is not new information. It is well researched and established that life experiences often result in people having difficulty thinking clearly and controlling their behavior, especially their impulsive behavior. Since we know about them, we can design and implement interventions to reduce the likelihood that someone will hurt another person.
However, it is not easy to make changes in older youths’ and adults’ established behaviors. This emphasizes the importance of helping young children grow up in an environment where they will not be exposed to situations that alter the function of their brain.
What are the situations in childhood that can affect the function of the brain?
First is fetal life. A pregnant person who is under high levels of stress will have an elevation of several hormones in their blood. These can cross the placenta and alter the brain of the fetus.
Compared to a fetus whose mother did not have an elevation of these hormones, the child will have difficulties with learning and control of behaviors.
Second, a child who is physically abused ( causing pain), mentally abused (made to feel worthless and unloved), sexually abused (experiencing unwanted and painful sexual contact), treated inconsistently so they don’t know when they are safe, or neglected (made to feel alone), will have hormonal changes that will also affect learning and control of behaviors.
Third, a child may be bullied. This also has long-term effects on mental health and control of behaviors.
Imagine two children who have had different early life experiences. Child No. 1 is born to a mother who had little stress during pregnancy and knew how to reduce her response to stress, and was not abused or bullied. Child No. 2 is born to a mother who had high levels of stress during pregnancy and lacked skills to reduce her response to stress, and was abused and bullied.
We should want all children to have Child No. 1’s life experiences. This will not happen every time, but this child is likely to enjoy mental and physical health and enjoy a longer life than Child No. 2. They are likely to have a greater ability to regulate strong emotions such as anger, sadness, and anxiety.
Importantly, not every child in Child No. 2’s situation has an increased risk of having difficulty thinking clearly and controlling impulsive behaviors. Countermeasures can affect how a child in Child No. 2’s situation develops mentally. These are primarily versions of having someone in their life who is warm, caring, and a meaningful role model.
This might be a teacher (which happened for Oprah), or a relative, or a caring neighbor, as well as parents. Unfortunately, not everyone has these people in their lives. Some individuals will grow up unable to control their behavior. When they act impulsively, they may be unable to care ( or care enough) to stop themselves from doing harm to others.
We need to develop community programs that can help pregnant people keep their levels of harmful hormones low.
We must educate adults of the harmful effects of abuse of children and implement programs that help adults who may abuse children to reduce impulsive behaviors. And we must reduce bullying of children. This is what wellness must become and we must make this as important as understanding and treating diseases.
Each of us needs to care about improving the quality of life and health of the community we live in. Of course, this is easy to say, but will be difficult to implement. We need to be warm, caring friends and role models when we can. We need more programs that will bring into children’s lives good role models who can demonstrate the healthy lifestyle behaviors that will enhance mental and physical health.
We must improve the chances of children growing up thinking clearly, being considerate of others, and not acting on impulsive behaviors. We must come together to think about the society we want our children and grandchildren to be living in. I want to make a difference, and I hope you do, too.