Mass Shootings and Mental Illness

Is it just me or has everyone of these mass shooters been treated for mental illness of some kind.

the guy in Arizona was seeing a mental doctor, the Aurora shooter was seeing a psychiatrist, the Sandy hood shooter was a mental case and now the Navy Yard shooter too is a mental case.

Is it their medications?

were they Hypnotized by CIA or FBI ops to commit mass shootings to manipulate gun control?

No one can tell me they don't see a pattern here.

What sayeth the ATS crowd.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


A chemical inbalance which distorts their morality and judgement. The ability to rationalise. Add into the mix a gun and you have yourself one dangerous individual.

No conspiracy though.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


I know 5 out of 6 concealed handgun carriers who should not be carrying. That said, I believe the main reasoning they give for allowing mental cases to carry is that if it is out-lawed, then people who NEED mental help, won't volunteer to get help.

It's a catch 22 case.

The mentally ill are entitled to own military weapons, large capacity magazines, carry concealed weapons etc. There's a crazy person behind every bush, a good guy ready to open fire and a corporate sponsor prepared to profit from it all.

The answer to all this is plainly, more guns, shooting, clever gun innuendo, machismo, threats and NRA talking points. There's simply no peaceful path back from this violent, militaristic, mass psychosis.

Most importantly, when praying to the God of death, make sure you stare into it's dark eye.

Briles1207
reply to post by ChesterJohn

 

A chemical inbalance which distorts their morality and judgement. The ability to rationalise. Add into the mix a gun and you have yourself one dangerous individual.

No conspiracy though.

no conspiracy at all! only this has only happened 19 times since 2008.
it's pretty rational to think that a huge fluctuation of these mentally disturbed people just felt like expressing themselves through these types of behaviors since 2008!

what the root of the problem is, is where the conspiracy lays.

Definitely. There have even been cases of terrorists who found ways to kill (not with guns): Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh come to mind. One was found to be a paranoid schizophrenic while the other was pushed to madness by extreme beliefs coupled by probable PTSD, and a social identity crisis. It is pretty clear that the shooters of late have had mental health problems.

The problem with making mental illness become a mandatorily reported thing for ones record creates big problems. One: people won't seek help for things like depression or anxiety. Second: privacy of medical information. Third: most are not diagnosed. Maybe they would be if they had sought a peyc eval but no one finds out until it's too late. And finally, anyone who had strong opinions or "sounded" suspicious could be targeted.

The reason I referred to the above two terrorists is to show that a person who wants to kill will find a way. It isn't guns as much as a motivation that comes from voices, extreme belief systems, or a desire to spread fear. So I think where you are heading with this post is: is it guns or mental illness. It is for sure mental illness. So taking away guns won't help.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


It's the medication. The only psychotic episode I ever had in my life was when I was on a psychotropic drugs that excrete serotonin into the brain at a high dose. Prescibed for ptsd and depression - an anti-psychotic! Let's see if this makes you forget about the rape.... uhhhhhhh....... I can't function at all on this stuff. Oh, it's to early to tell. You need to give it a few months to build in your system and your body to get use to the effects.....uhhhhhhh - okay than bam - psychotic episode. First ever and last. Because I'm never letting them play rush and roulette with my brain again!

Since I forced the medical doctors to use cognitive behavior therapy instead of medication to treat me - my condition has improved drastically. It's a sad medical community when the first thing they reach for is drugs. It's the reason I left my profession. The medical community is morally bankrupt. They will stick you with a hundred dollar med before telling you diet, exercise, or therapy is a safer route to take. Gotta line their pockets don't ya know! There's no money to be made and more work for them to be going the safer way.

CdT

According to Obama, its guns that kill people, not crazy people that kill people.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


Maybe they come to ATS and see republicans and libertarians calling for the deaths of police and government officials?

Also maybe they are really hearing the voice of god... and like in the bible its always "kill kill kill kill".

reply to post by ChesterJohn


Yes. The VA Tech shooter was mentally ill, and the Dekalb county gunman (who luckily killed no one) was also mentally ill and on meds).

It does seem that mass shooters or potential mass shooters are mentally ill. It *could* very well be the medication, since medication changes the brain and distorts perception so that perhaps they are then dependent on the medication, and when they don't take it they crack even further.

The anomaly is Columbine, who didn't appear to be mentally ill like the others, but they set the precedent for those with mental illness who, after seeing the media devotion to such shootings, it becomes instinctive and the best way forward for attention. Since many of them are on the perimeter of society, it makes sense them to want to get to the center, but through violence, because it is so easy.

Wertdagf
reply to post by ChesterJohn

 

Maybe they come to ATS and see republicans and libertarians calling for the deaths of police and government officials?

Also maybe they are really hearing the voice of god... and like in the bible its always "kill kill kill kill".

thats strange, i have yet to see that thread, do you mind providing a link for me?

I have always thought of these shooters as suicidal people that blame society for their issues. Part of them wants an escape the other part of them wants to take out as many as they can as 'revenge' for whatever it is that has made them feel this way.

I can imagine them identifying with Stephen Kings Carrie, but not having her powers they use guns instead.

I am sure there are many ATS members that are on some kind of antidepressant right now. It might be Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin or Prozac. I'm sure many of them would say its helped them and not made them want to kill people.

I do know some people who hated being on those kinds of medications though, it seems that in some people it turns them into emotionless robots. I also hear coming off these medications without doctor supervision can be difficult.

Yes, lets blame the medication instead of the person. Someone might have violent thoughts and urges, but its ON THEM if they act upon them.

We can try and regulate guns to keep them out of the hands of nut jobs, but just like criminals they'll find a way to get them.

What we really need to be doing is beefing up our mental health system. Far to many people fall through the cracks in America in regards to mental health.

And I get sick and tired of people always trying to find out the "why" in these things. The dude was crazy, that's it. Can we stop looking under every stone for some possible excuse as to why these people do what they do? Can't "crazy" just be it? *rant mode off*

I'm going with the Conspiracy side of this event. Not buying it, for 1 second. How many times do they expect to get away with the same old, tired tricks? Even the "1st picture" of the shooter, looks the same as the other mass shooters. Is that how he posted up on facebook? hahahaha How about his military id card?

It's not just meds that make those people go crazy' it's the games like call of duty, Medal of Honor that makes these people snap and do these things as well....that is, if you ask a liberal....

MystikMushroom
I am sure there are many ATS members that are on some kind of antidepressant right now. It might be Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin or Prozac. I'm sure many of them would say its helped them and not made them want to kill people.

I do know some people who hated being on those kinds of medications though, it seems that in some people it turns them into emotionless robots. I also hear coming off these medications without doctor supervision can be difficult.

Yes, lets blame the medication instead of the person. Someone might have violent thoughts and urges, but its ON THEM if they act upon them.

We can try and regulate guns to keep them out of the hands of nut jobs, but just like criminals they'll find a way to get them.

What we really need to be doing is beefing up our mental health system. Far to many people fall through the cracks in America in regards to mental health.

And I get sick and tired of people always trying to find out the "why" in these things. The dude was crazy, that's it. Can we stop looking under every stone for some possible excuse as to why these people do what they do? Can't "crazy" just be it? *rant mode off*

I hear what you're saying, and for the most part I agree. I think, however, that some are wondering if some of these people were being given some of the experimental drugs being researched by the NCATS program under NIH either alone or in conjunction with their regular medications.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


OP? Not to make light of your premise, but name me 3 shooters that DIDN'T have mental issues.

Killing, preparing to kill innocent lives, the want/need/desire to is a mental defect.

But when was the last time a crazed shooter went into a police station to kill a bunch of people?

Even crazy people know where not to act out.

So we can create new laws (???) or repeal old ones that allowed us to arm ourselves.

every one who wants to kill is in an way mentally disabled...wats the news concerning this??

Watching reality TV shows as of lately like "Big Brother" tends to reinforce my suspicion that anti-social destructive behavior is more rewarded than shunned in our society; on such a grand scale, too.

Half a million dollars to first raise and protect an asset(s) and to later stab them in the back so to "win" the "game".

It seems even "normal" people these days don't even give that much notice...

The problem is with how the flavor of the day is presented on mass media networks...

The only time we ever see an up-lifting story is when that's all they got to use as a filler in a given time-slot.

It's not the gun that decides who or what or where the target will be, but the "reasoning" behind it makes the evidence known. Someone is suffering from a social-anxiety disorder.

reply to post by ChesterJohn


Hey ChesterJohn. Shooters are one of the things that I've looked at a good deal. I took a random sample and investigated, as best as I could, each one. Out of 16 randomly selected shooters,

1. 5 were diagnosed or in the process of being diagnosed as schizophrenic, frequently post-shooting and unrelated to trial.
   
2. 1 was diagnosed with depression and being treated with ritalin.
   
3. 5 reported hearing voices but no formal diagnosis could be found.
   
4. 1 was diagnosed bipolar with messianic delusions.
   
5. 1 surviving undiagnosed shooter reported being deeply troubled at the time of their shooting.
   
6. Others are either deceased or no information in regards to mental health could be found.
   

So yes, there is a strong association between severe mental health issues and shootings but not all of the issues were readily apparent as the tendency was for the individuals to "hide" their issues. Only a few were clearly very much out of their minds. Most seemed like normal kids/adults; at least until you take a gander at their journals.

Also, 4 were described or self described themselves as being in a daze during the shooting. Very flattened emotionally until that moment when I guess you could say that they "snapped" back.
Some quotes for you:

"Oh my god, I'm so scared!...I don't understand why I did it. I see myself as a little confused and I'd like to get help." TJ Solomon

"I just closed my eyes and fought with myself because I didn't want to do any of it." Luke Woodham

"I died four years ago. I've already been dead and I've come back. It doesn't matter anymore. None of this is real." Andrew Wurst

"Most of the people I would say that knew me refused to believe it. It just didn't make sense." Jacob Davis

"I don't know. I guess reflex took over." Barry Loukaitis

"Some will always ask 'Why?' I don't know--no one will." Anthony Barbaro

"My head just doesn't work right. I don't know." Kip Kinkel