Yet another shooting, yet another "Aspergers Syndrome" diagnosis

[HelloDizzy]

I really do not see why people get so disgusted when someone wants to discuss or discover the mental process behind such inhumane acts. That is the whole practical use behind psychology and anything otherwise is just sympathy and pity. The thread title gives absolutely no indication of being about the media and their frequent idiocy.
He was not ill. He would not have been deemed insane by a court.

 

[Daniel]

I really didn't expect this thread to run and run. In fact, I wish I'd never posted it now. Instead of being about the way the press handles bits of information, it's turned into a general discussion about this person. Can we stop going over this now please on my initial thread? Any way of locking it? I didn't want to give that murderer any exposure on AC through my post, and I will be careful never to mention anything like this again. I don't like seeing my name linked to people being fascinated with someone's twisted mind. He was ill, very ill.

I will respect your wishes and refrain from commenting further--after this one, that is. I was one of those who pushed it away from the "media" direction. I came back to comment again because I gain deeper perspective on things by letting time pass.

If it's any consolation, this one resonated with me because it has encouraged me to take a good, long, hard look at myself.

It has encouraged me to really consider which aspects of my own character are Asperger's, and which are Narcissism. It's very easy for me to "blame" AS and use that as an excuse for my self-imposed isolation and self-destructive tendencies.

I've reminded myself that it's possible to be myself and not be depressed, misanthropic, and frustrated. To not let other people take advantage of me and not have to push away everyone.

I'm glad to see that the general coverage of this is waning, and that the biggest cultural impact it had focused more on misogyny than anything else. Especially since it forced me to admit to myself that I've had a lot of misogynistic tendencies myself. And I'm glad to see that in absence of a documented diagnosis, AS has not taken the blame for this one.

Human tragedies like this are going to generate a lot of discussion because we're all connected now in this global village. We're going to have to get cozy with twisted minds. We're going to need really strong empathy muscles to get through this century.

 

[Tarragon]

I am getting more than a little fed up of (a) shootings (is this some sort of copycat thing going on, as it seems to be happening more and more frequently?!) and (b) Aspergers Syndrome keeps getting mentioned in relation to it.

We all know life is more complicated than just a simple "oh, he/she had Asperger's syndrome, that explains it" but I am wondering if it is going to go in that direction. Certainly, mentioning that the shooter was an aspie will fix that idea in the publics mind more and more. Aspergers Doesn't Make People Murdering Psychotics!

Reading the article and some of the quotes this person is reported to have said doesn't make me feel he is a typical aspie as found here on AC for example. He just comes across as a psychotic delusional with arrogant thoughts and delusions of grandeur. That isn't typical Aspergers.

I just wish newspapers would point this out rather than just mentioning that the murderer had Aspergers.

It's about the way newspapers report on this, not the act itself.

 

[Ereth]

I really do not see why people get so disgusted when someone wants to discuss or discover the mental process behind such inhumane acts. That is the whole practical use behind psychology and anything otherwise is just sympathy and pity. The thread title gives absolutely no indication of being about the media and their frequent idiocy.
He was not ill. He would not have been deemed insane by a court.

He was ill, as NPD is an illness, but probably not insane (which is a legal definition more than a medical one).

 

[Berianireth]

The estimate is that 1 in every two individuals has a mental illness, and yet only 4% of gun crimes can be directly related to a mental diagnosis. People that buy guns made for shooting people seem to fall into a category of deranged, sickly-motivated people.
That's my take at least. I don't take mental diagnoses literally even though I fully believe there are genetic underpinnings for all human behaviors. A lot of disorders are just catch-all terms for symptoms that a number of other disorders also feature. It's so inane to paint them in black and white as though they are discrete disorders with wholly "good" or "evil" qualities. Having an ASD won't make you more innocent if you've done something certainly, but it isn't a good predictor for criminal behavior is it? I'll be darned if being a person and having issues isn't the only good predictor for that.

 

[Nitro]

For the past two decades a common denominator of mass shootings were psychiatric drugs for treating depression.
My "professionals" had me on every one of them on the list at one point or another.
My toilet no longer suffers from depression.

 

[Berianireth]

This article denies any connection
Nitro, I'm concerned to hear that! For one, no responsible doctor should be prescribing multiple antidepressants for one individual. Combination therapy takes advantage of two different kinds of medications, not two of the same... and usually combination therapy is not effective for people on the autistic spectrum.
Antidepressants do not deserve to be blamed for violence either. Antidepressant treatments that aren't working might be an issue though. As far as I've heard, only stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall have in some cases promoted aggressive behaviors, but they aren't going to single-handedly cause psychotic episodes in people that don't have serious problems already..

 

[Nitro]

I study a fair amount of medicine after my recovery from brain damage. There was nothing they ever gave me that worked properly.I discovered I was in the spectrum while doing brain research as to why my recovery was so amazing. As my studies continued in autism,again a focus was made on medicine and autistic chemistry. My research showed many doctors that understood a part of the spectrum reported many incidences of autistic chemistry that did not get along with neurotypical levels of dosage. The most favorable outcomes were with a dosage of 1/4 the "normal" ones. Often there are reports of a total disagreement of the chemical reaction when the med is introduced initially. The Autistic Spectrum is a vast new space that most of the neurotypical procedures will be useless in.
You get a star on your paper for research well done for the no link from Aspergers to violence read...interesting read and knowledge is gold for free. I will also agree that possibly the persons being treated were at the pill happy doctor who doesn't read but pushes product in grotesque combination, improper dosages or wrong applications.
Again,you get good marks for stating that most likely there were other factors concerning mental issues that brought on the pill party as a fool tried to put out a fire with gasoline.
It would be my opinion that those who were spectrum may have ingested their poison and they entered their psychotic event

 

[Dynamic]

People that buy guns made for shooting people seem to fall into a category of deranged, sickly-motivated people.

The primary intent behind almost all firearms is for "shooting people". The proper use, in that regard, is in law-abiding people defending themselves from criminals. People use them for hunting and sporting purposes, but ultimately defensive use is the purpose for most firearms. Unless I completely misunderstood your statement (and I apologize if I did), that's incredibly offensive to suggest that most people that would buy firearms (I'm assuming you mean those like handguns and semi-auto rifles, more defensive-oriented firearms) are somehow deranged and motivated by some ill will. All of the arguments about things like handguns and semi-auto rifles out there are basically red herring arguments the media frequently uses that overlooks the fact that self defense, regardless of the type of firearm used or it's appearance, is a perfectly legitimate, morally and ethically appropriate basic human right.

Tarragon, in response to the original intent of your thread, I figured you might like seeing this article:

Sun News, Canada’s Conservative TV Network, Covers Mass Shooting in a Way American Outlets Won’t : Trending News : Fashion Times

 

[Ereth]

The primary intent behind almost all firearms is for "shooting people". The proper use, in that regard, is in law-abiding people defending themselves from criminals. People use them for hunting and sporting purposes, but ultimately defensive use is the purpose for most firearms.

As someone working with a gun violence prevention group, I've learned that hunting and sport shooting are far more common among law-abiding gun owners than acts of self-defense. A criminal being stopped by a normal citizen with a gun is quite a rare event. That doesn't stop people from buying firearms for self-defense purposes, of course. But that's different from actually using them in self-defense.

 

[Dynamic]

As someone working with a gun violence prevention group, I've learned that hunting and sport shooting are far more common among law-abiding gun owners than acts of self-defense. A criminal being stopped by a normal citizen with a gun is quite a rare event. That doesn't stop people from buying firearms for self-defense purposes, of course. But that's different from actually using them in self-defense.

"Rare event" is not quite accurate. It's far from rare. In fact, it happens quite frequently. "Rare" is another red herring to seemingly justify further restrictions on firearm ownership in this country. IE - "It rarely ever happens anyways, so there's no real need to have one anyways."

There is a LOT of data in the references here: Defensive gun use - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ereth]

Except you're quoting research by John R. Lott, whose work has largely been discredited.

But I'll not derail the thread any more than I already have. My apologies to Tarragon and the rest.

 

[King_Oni]

A reminder to all who are active in this thread;

Please keep any gun debates away from here. Such a topic has proven to be an issue that spirals out of control way too fast.