Mental Health Information

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts) Thu Mar 28, 2013, 11:24 AM Mar 2013

Re: CT document release--Lanza had a book on Autism and a book on Aspergers in his room

The state of Connecticut on Thursday released a round of court documents detailing what investigators found in Newt
Conn., shooter Adam Lanza's home shortly after he killed 27 people in a horrific December massacre.

The books investigators found could spark a new round of discussion on some of the issues that have pervaded the national discussion since Newtown — especially on gun control and mental health.

Investigators found three books in the 20-year-old Lanza's room:

"Look Me in the Eye — My Life with Asperger's," a 2008 book by Jon Elder Robison
"Born on a Blue Day — Inside the Mind of An Autistic Savant," a 2007 book by Daniel Tammet
And an "NRA guide to the basics of pistol shooting."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/adam-lanza-warrants-nra-autism-aspergers-books-call-of-duty-2013-3#ixzz2OqY1oJlP

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This doesn't actually resolve the issue of Lanza's mental health or what role atypical anti-depressants, SSRIs, may have had.

Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and suggestions of a genetic Fragile X syndrome that is associated with autism are not associated with greatly enhanced risk of social/criminal violence.

A group of Newtown residents have pressed a petition to receive toxicology reports that might yield information on Lanza's use of psychiatric medication. The medical examiner has not made toxicology information available and so far commentary on this information release makes no reference to that toxicology report

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Re: CT document release--Lanza had a book on Autism and a book on Aspergers in his room (Original Post) HereSince1628 Mar 2013 OP

So sad, really. cbayer Mar 2013 #1

It's all enigmatic. We've no confirmation re his mental health or treatment... HereSince1628 Mar 2013 #2

While there is not increased risk with Asperger's, isn't there increased risk cbayer Mar 2013 #3

Self-defence and vengeful retribution are commonly associated with violence... HereSince1628 Mar 2013 #4

I agree with you and did not wish to imply otherwise. cbayer Mar 2013 #5

I don't mean to suggest otherwise. I think many people see a mental illness as fully defining HereSince1628 Mar 2013 #6

cbayer

(146,218 posts)

1. So sad, really.

Reply to HereSince1628 (Original post)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 12:43 PM

Mar 2013

He probably knew why he was different but had no way to address it.

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)

2. It's all enigmatic. We've no confirmation re his mental health or treatment...

Reply to cbayer (Reply #1)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 12:56 PM

Mar 2013

Even if we assume he had an Asperger's dx, which statistically isn't associated with elevated risks of social/criminal violence

Because there is no information it seems we must be open to the possibilities of the presence of other co-morbidities, and/or his having been motivated by circumstance(s) not related to a mental illness or side effects of treatment.

What he did was horrendous and criminal. The need to identify and vilify a perpetrator is understandable.

But society's need for rationalization of what happened to seek protection from fearful unknowns has gone beyond that. It's developed into a festering deepened suspicion, unwarranted fear that fosters alientation and discrimination against all persons with mental illness regardless of dx.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)

3. While there is not increased risk with Asperger's, isn't there increased risk

Reply to HereSince1628 (Reply #2)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 12:57 PM

Mar 2013

when kids are bullied and socially isolated?

The sad part is that he seems to have self-diagnosed and looked for answers.

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)

4. Self-defence and vengeful retribution are commonly associated with violence...

Reply to cbayer (Reply #3)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 01:28 PM

Mar 2013

Gregarious primates, including humans, have a strong sense of what is 'fair play'. Abuses to fairness lead to resentment.

Stepping away from the Lanza and the Newtown massacre, I'm generally of the opinion that one or more mental illnesses doesn't make a person nonhuman. Outside of the limitations of the dysfunction and distress caused by their disorders, persons with mental illness have, in general, the potential to express all human attributes.

I'm pretty certain that most people with mental illness, by and large, function much as other people. As a group, people with mental illness are capable of feeling, thinking, and behaving in ways exactly identical to the 'mentally well'. So, imo, mentally ill people are also capable of all the good things, socially acceptable things as well as bad things, criminal things.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)

5. I agree with you and did not wish to imply otherwise.

Reply to HereSince1628 (Reply #4)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 01:41 PM

Mar 2013

Your take on this is why using a history of psychiatric treatment as a primary exclusionary criteria for gun purchases is objectionable.

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)

6. I don't mean to suggest otherwise. I think many people see a mental illness as fully defining

Reply to cbayer (Reply #5)

Thu Mar 28, 2013, 01:45 PM

Mar 2013

the person afflicted.

Consequently, as can be seen in GD, the mere hint of a mental illness is sufficient to be defining and explanatory for Lanza's crime.

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