With the topic of school shootings remaining a hot button issue, one area that continues to be discussed is mental health.

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Dr. David Ohrt has his office located in Jefferson and says there are some correlations between mental health issues from the point-of-view of the alleged shooter and school shootings. He points out that there’s a group of people that suffer from antisocial personality disorder, which typically doesn’t get mental health treatment.

“They’re very egocentric, they seek personal power and gain, they will be cruel to animals, they have no intimacy, they’re isolated, they’re manipulative, they’re deceitful, and they take risks. This group of people, they are not amenable to any kind of counseling or medication, and that’s kind of the scary part. There’s just a certain percentage of the population that’s just antisocial.”

With the recent school shootings being more of the adolescent age, Dr. Ohrt believes that because the developmental part of a young person’s brain isn’t as fully developed as an adult’s, they are more impulsive and will seek out their peers to express their feelings. A barrier to getting mental health treatment, which has been seen all over the state including Greene County, is accessibility. Dr. Ohrt is the only mental health counselor that sees patients who are on Medicaid. Treatment facilities are also becoming more scarce in communities. But, Dr. Ohrt points out seeking help with a mental health illness is a good step in the right direction.

“And I frequently tell people, if they’re coming into my office, they’re not crazy. People out there walking around that think they don’t need help and make other people feel crazy, they’re the people with the problems. But seeking help is a sign of health. A community can help people with that rather than ostracize them and tell them they’re bad or something is wrong with them.”

If you feel like you have a mental health illness or someone you know may be suffering, contact Dr. Ohrt at 386-4817.