<p>Something triggered him but I don’t see how anyone but Nancy could even begin to guess what it was. And, yes, I would be amazed if she wasn’t at least some level of depressed and dysfunctional while trying to maintain a normal façade.</p>
<p>When they tried an SSRI (Lexapro, a drug used to treat depression) on Adam, he had a terrible reaction. They probably should have tried a different one, but it’s hard for me to blame them for not doing it. Who wants to go touch the stove again when it just burned you?</p>
<p>When I first heard about Adam Lanza, I thought his episode was was entirely predictable. Not as to date or method, but it seemed reasonable that this was a person who was going to self-destruct. A 20-year old boy with no friends, no relationship with his father or brother, no prospects for a job or future, living alone with his mother (hello Norman Bates). Saying that no one could have predicted something bad was going to happen to Adam Lanza is naive. </p>
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<p>You’re the one who is being naive here, Bay. You’ve just described a whole lot of 20 year old men with Aspergers, none of whom have committed mass murder.</p>
<p>Is there a consensus at all in the Aspergers community about access to guns?</p>
<p>No-one could have predicted what or when. I think Peter and Nancy both knew at some level that they were in trouble. She was living day to day. But, until something happens there is no real help available. It’s not as though you can call the police and say my kid might be violent some day.</p>
<p>^right, but it is easy to not give them a gun. </p>
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<p>From the article:
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<p>Bay, would you consider Dr. Appelbaum naive?</p>
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<p>I’ve not heard it discussed. But Aspies are at high risk for depression, so I’d guess that most parents would restrict access to guns out of fear of suicide.</p>
<p>Parents of Aspies don’t expect their children to become violent and harm others in a pre-planned way, because very few Aspies do that. </p>
<p>Is Dr Applebaum talking about diagnosed young men or all young men? Do we have info on the chances for a destructive “episode” in diagnosed young men? Also, I don’t think he is talking about young men with access to guns. That would be more pertinent. </p>
<p>That’s the entire quote from the doctor. In the context of the article, it reads quite clearly as a refutation of your thesis that this was “entirely predictable”. And diagnosed with what? Not autism. We don’t and can’t know at all what Adam Lanza’s full psychiatric diagnosis truly was. </p>
<p>Young men diagnosed with Aspergers, you mean?</p>
<p><a href=“The IACC weighs in on Autism and Violence | Psychology Today”>http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-life-aspergers/201212/the-iacc-weighs-in-autism-and-violence</a></p>
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<p>Ok but CF said that Aspies are at risk for suicide, and that is what happened to Adam. </p>
<p>I feel like I’m arguing against people who think it was okay for Adam to have a gun because no one could have predicted that he would use it to kill. Is that what you all are saying?</p>
<p>IMO, the biggest risk with having guns is that you, a family member, friend or other innocent gets shot with them. Statistically, these are the ones MOST likely to get shot and even killed with someone’s gun, not the intruder or attacker who is unlucky enough to happen to hit up someone who has a gun ready to go. Not that anyone who had Nancy Lanza’s type of arsenal has them for protection purposes. </p>
<p>Some years ago, in my husband’s childhood area, a bunch of young hothead got mad at each other and went off and got guns that their parents/family members had over some stupid quarrel or other. Hunting and guns are very much part of that area, just as shooting as as sport is common in that part of Connecticut where Sandy Hook is. None of those jerks who were involved in that idiots’ shootout had any diagnosed mental issues, by the nigh killed each other off, and my DH and I mumbled that it must be part of the evolutionary process of natural selection. </p>
<p>But truly, those who had Adam Lanza’s issues are not a group that is considered high risk for doing what he did. Given a list of people, he would have likely been low, low, low on the list as to who is likely to shoot someone. I would have had more fear for some of the cousins in this family shooting someone in some hormone rage than a kids on the Aspergers spectrum. But just because someone has one affliction does not mean he’s immune to psychosis, and it appears in the Lanza case, that he was got hit with other issues as well. That is something that many parents with kids that have issues tend to forget is that one can get hit with other health problems that are not related to the one that has been a main focus all of one’s life. When someone has a diagnosis, when any others issues arise, the first thought is that it’s a manifestation of the problem at hand. This occurs with physical problems as well.</p>
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<p>Who are you arguing against? Nobody here has said that it was OK for Adam to have a gun. Some here, including myself, say that it was unpredictable and unexpected that he would use a gun to kill other people.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to say, keep that kid away from the bridge, he might jump off it. It’s quite another to say, keep that kid away from the bridge, he might push someone off it.</p>
<p>I think that his access to guns made his meltdown have horrific consequences. I wonder how much information people think they are entitled to though. Definitely the authorities and maybe the families of the victims, but what about us? Do we really have the right to demand answers about every facet of his family’s lives. Just curious, I don’t feel that I personally am owed anything.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned it’d be nice if there was a way to contain the shooter. My middle school had metal gates in the hallways that could be used to block off certain sections of the school, which occurred to me when I was brainstorming security measures. But then I remember Cho seung-hui chained the doors to trap people in the school, so I guess the gates would have to be mechanical so they aren’t used to trap students IN with the shooter. That’s a scary thought. </p>
<p>Aspies are at greater risk for depression, but id be interested in actual suicide stats. I don’t take for granted that increased risk of depression automatically means significantly increased risk of suicide. I would possibly assume the risk of suicide, and perhaps homicide, are much higher in whatever other disorder Adam had.</p>
<p>I think neurotypical people can also misunderstand the aspie lifestyle… You hear socially isolated and think depression, but I would love nothing more than to chat on CC all day instead of dealing with people outside the house. Going out is exhausting and makes me feel bad most of the time. I get lonely like anyone else but most days I prefer lonely to exhausted and feeling stupid and inferior. Id stay in my room forever probably if I could.</p>
<p>That said, there’s a saying in the aspie community-- if you’ve met one aspie, you’ve met one aspie. You can’t use one persons experience to draw broad conclusions about the whole community. You just have to be cautious about looking at an aspie brain through a neurotypical lens. </p>
<p>Obviously Adam was very unhappy, but I couldn’t know why without asking him. Maybe he was mad that the world was going to end and the family needed to stockpile guns, or whatever it is Nancy thought. Who knows. It’s a mystery. It’s a shame he didn’t keep a journal. </p>
<p>Well, I really think that in his mind, what Adam did was a suicide. Not unpredictable for a young man with depression, diagnosed Aspergers, and dim prospects for the future. It is not as though he killed other people to eliminate them from his life. He was planning to die with them. They were mere symbols (the children, anyway. Maybe he truly hated his mother and wanted her to suffer.)</p>
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