President Barack Obama and his administration will hold a conference on Monday at the White House following his promise to address gun violence and mental health issues after the Newtown, Conn. shootings.
On Dec. 14, the Connecticut town was devastated when shooter Adam Lanza opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 children and six adults before committing suicide.
Multiple reports described Lanza as socially awkward and reclusive, starting a conversation about mental health cases in the United States.
"There should be no shame in discussing or seeking help for treatable illnesses that affect too many people that we love," Obama told attendees in his opening speech at a White House conference on mental health awareness. "We've got to get rid of that embarrassment, we've got to get rid of that stigma. Too many Americans who struggle with illnesses are still suffering in silence rather than seeking help."
Other officials such as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Vice President Joe Biden will also address the issues during the conference.
"Without us knowing if and what Adam Lanza had, we certainly know that something bad was going on, and that Adam Lanza wasn't getting the attention that he needed," told Harold Koplewicz, president of the Child Mind Institute, a psychiatric treatment and research center in New York City, to Reuters.
The National Rifle Association has stalled the Obama administration's efforts to instate new gun restrictions by reiterating Americans' constitutional rights to own guns.
According to Reuters, "people with mental illnesses statistically are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators, and the vast majority of gun violence in America is not linked to people with mental problems."
Though Congress isn't making much progress on gun laws, they've acknowledged the lack of access for mental health services, even though mental illness is common in America.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported as many as one in five children suffer from a disorder. Reports said there's an associated stigma to seeking mental health treatments and the administration wants to encourage those to seek help.
Monday's conference will spotlight the administrations' desire to pass the Affordable Care Act, "which will dramatically expand insurance coverage for treatment of mental illnesses, particularly for children."
