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I just googled bullet proof vests. Anybody with a computer and a credit card can get one.</p>
<p>On tonight’s Rachel Maddow show, her guest was Dave Cullen, author of “Columbine.” He had a different take on the story. He says that an FBI study and another study by the Secret Service & Dept. of Education both concluded that killers in this kind of shooting fall into three categories. A minority are really crazy in the sense of being delusional and have no idea what they are doing (e.g. Virginia Tech & Tucson). A smaller minority are sadistic psychopaths (e.g. Eric Harris at Columbine, also serial killers like Ted Bundy). But a majority of killers in these mass shootings are suicidally depressed and angry, attacking the person who they think is “to blame” and others connected however tenuously with that person.</p>
<p>He also said that 6% of adolescents are clinically depressed (though of course the huge majority do not express their depression by mass shootings). Depressed teenagers, he says, will hide their depression from their parents because they are ashamed. But if you do a simple screening with their parents absent, they will reveal their depression, because they want to tell someone. So, if we could screen our kids as teenagers, we might be able to treat the angry suicidally depressed kids before they shot up kindergartens-- and we also might be able to treat other depressed kids before they killed themselves.</p>
<p>If you google purchase bullet proof vest, there are a whole bunch of them that you can purchase, presumably on-line for prices ranging from as low as $199.99. Not sure why most people would have any legit need for these and automatic weapons – EVER.</p>
<p>The current law DOES NOT ALLOW treatment of people without their consent in the US, if they are over a certain age, even if they are depressed and their loved ones are concerned. Perhaps that law needs re-examination.</p>
<p>For less than a hundred dollars you can get a urine tests that shows imbalances in brain chemicals. I think a test at graduation would be telling. </p>
<p>I think the biggest problem with mental illness is from the stigma that is associated with it. People treat the mentally ill like outcasts. They should be treated the same as someone who has the flu. They deserve empathy and help. Also the gun culture(not gun owners) portrayed on t.v., video games, and music has to influence some kids that tend to be confused easily. Pop culture to kids is alot of times, very very influencing.</p>
<p>And just my opinion, but I feel very strongly that sickness that is becoming more and more common among adults and kids, is to blame on the total lack of health.</p>
<p>It’s true that adults can’t be treated without their consent. Potential mass shooters who are sadistic psychopaths won’t want to be treated, because they’re perfectly happy being sadistic psychopaths. Potential mass shooters who are schizophrenic and delusional might not want to be treated, or they might discontinue treatment, because the drug treatments for schizophrenia have nasty side effects.</p>
<p>But if the majority of mass shooters are clinically depressed, and if we could pick that depression up by screening teenagers for depression, probably a lot of them would want to be treated for their depression. Depression hurts, and the drug treatments available aren’t particularly bad. People don’t revel in their depression and cling to it, as far as I know.</p>
<p>So many unanswered questions about this tragic event. I agree with a prior post that this event will be the tipping point. I can not sleep because I can not get the vision of very young children being shot in their elementary school out of my head! I hope that, as a nation, we use this event as a catalyst for change. Change in our gun laws and change in how we view & treat mental illness. In the meantime…
I pray for those precious, innocent children to rest in peace and for strength for all the families involved so that they make it through this dark & difficult time.</p>
<p>If you do research on depression, it is pretty widely accepted that it is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. If people knew that mental illness could/should be treated like physical illness, I think more people would seek help. Good doctors try to rebalance the system, most doctors just treat the symptoms and call it good. </p>
<p>Another funny point, there are several physical illness’s that can cause mental illness like symptoms. Syphilis, lyme disease, parasites, hormone imbalances, and mineral defiencies if they get bad enough. Our mental health system doesn’t test for these most of the time, they just put people on antidepressants, or anti-psychotics until they are no longer a problem.</p>
<p>Why any ONE shooter decided to shoot (or not) is not as crucial as figuring out why there are so many mass shootings occurring and how things can be changed to improve the future. There are several things here–mental health issues surely as well as violence in society (including media, games, news, etc.) and accessability of guns, bullet proof vests/body armor and automatic weapons.</p>
<p>^^ There are many factors in a tragedy like this. But take the guns out of the equation, and 20 children would be home with their parents tonight.</p>
<p>EXACTLY LasMa! There was a similar incident in China as well, but 22 children lived because the horrific attack was with a knife, not a gun. [Knife</a> attack at Chinese school wounds 22 children - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html]Knife”>http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html)</p>
<p>^What a coincident. On the same day! It could be cultural. If guns were not available, an american killer would probably build a bomb not grab a knife. I can’t imagine americans grabbing a knife to stab 22 times. Too much work.</p>
<p>David Brooks was on NPR last night. He said gun ownership has been going down and it’s at the lowest level.</p>
<p>In defense of people with autism, this kind of thing would be very unusual. People with high functioning autism/Apergers tend to be “rule bound”. Some tend to be socially naive and not good at deceit- they more often say what is on their mind. The tendency to be quiet is usually due to social anxiety, not anti-social- they are not comfortable. Or on the other hand, some like to talk about their interests- which are sometimes unusual like the weather. In some communities, the local police are made aware that individuals with autism may apear to be anti social or evasive, but their lack of eye contact does not mean they are.
While it would not be impossible for the shooter to have autism, I would consider another disorder that would make this more likely- the paranoia and delusions with schitzophrenia, psychopath, or some other form of serious mental illness. If he did have autism, I would consider he also had another mental illness as well.
I read that the guns were legally purchased by the mother. Either she was part of this plan, or he took them from her. If she knew her son was disordered, then she was irresponsible if she did not make sure those guns were inaccessible to him. (I am not debating the gun control issue- just noting the lack of common sense or the possibility that she was part of the plan- and maybe was as sick as he was?)
People with autism have had it hard enough when people misinterpret their social akwardness. As far as I know, they are no more prone to this kind of violence than people without autism.
At this point there is too little information about the shooter and his family to begin to understand how this horrific even occurred.</p>
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<p>David Brooks is wrong, and I would expect better of him. Gun ownership has increased substantially since the 2008 election as the NRA and other pro-gun groups have stoked fears about Obama “taking guns away.” There has been a new spike since his reelection. And I would expect another upturn after this tragedy.</p>
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<p>The current news reports seem to indicate that the guns belonged to the shooter’s mother, who was a collector. The shooter lived in the same house. Even if his mother was scrupulous about following all of the safety rules for gun owners, including keeping her guns and ammunition in locked storage, I don’t think he would have had any great difficulty getting his hands on them. He was an adult. He could have figured out where she kept the keys or, if necessary, physically threatened her to obtain the information.</p>
<p>I don’t see how strict monitoring of Nancy Lanza, the gun owner, would have prevented this tragedy.</p>
<p>Sally, Do you have a link showing stats? I haven’t heard too much about gun control lately. I assumed that was why. Or I could have been living in isolation.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, I don’t know how you would forbid Nancy Lanza from collecting guns if it was her hobby without us becoming autocractic. That’s how dictators start out, for the good of people.</p>
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<p>Meds are much better than they used to be. The main side effect now of SOME of the drugs is weight gain. Not much fun, but manageable. We’ve found that Seroquel does NOT have that effect for one of our sons. One pill a day, he’s doing great, and has NO side effects.</p>
<p>Approximately 40 to 50% of severely mentally ill people are not aware that they’re sick. It’s a condition called anosognosia. As awful as the last two years have been for our family, we are well aware that we’re fortunate that our sons don’t have this. In fact, they were the ones who realized something was wrong initially. But you can see what a HUGE problem it is! Here’s a quote from this link - [Impaired</a> awareness and anosognosia in mentally ill](<a href=“http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/medical/anosognosia-studies.html]Impaired”>http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/medical/anosognosia-studies.html). “Impaired awareness of illness is the single biggest reason why individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not take medication. They do not believe they are sick, so why should they? Without medication, the person’s symptoms become worse. This often makes them more vulnerable to being victimized and committing suicide. It also often leads to rehospitalization, homelessness, being incarcerated in jail or prison, and violent acts against others because of the untreated symptoms.”</p>
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<p>How is that possible when 2012 is a record setting year for gun sales???</p>
<p>[Guns</a> in America: A Statistical Look - ABC News](<a href=“Guns in America: A Statistical Look - ABC News”>Guns in America: A Statistical Look - ABC News)</p>
<p>Lanza’s grandmother is holed up in her winter home down here near Tampa with police protection at her front door. The horror stretches to everywhere.</p>
<p>[Grandmother</a> of Adam Lanza, a winter resident of Brooksville, preparing to travel north - Tampa Bay Times](<a href=“http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/grandmother-of-adam-lanza-a-winter-resident-of-brooksville-preparing-to/1266246]Grandmother”>Grandmother of Adam Lanza, a winter resident of Brooksville, preparing to travel north)</p>