Re: Another school shooting, in Texas this time.
Originally Posted by
AnnieS
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Surfermom totally agree that mental illness is not taken seriously enough and there is inadequate care in just about all parts of the world for many on the periphery where they can just about cope outside an institution. I find it strange that when someone is mentally ill they don't scan the brain to look for physical changes, but instead medicate in a random way. We don't understand or care enough.
I don't know much about mental healthcare in the US. We don't have the best provision in the UK. Research has shown that people who commit violent acts have different brain structure. Brain illness and injury can also lead to personality changes and a reduced ability to control violent impulses.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0127212158.htm
You're right I am just giving my opinion on the US culture I've experienced myself. I haven't been there for 15 years and I'm sure things have changed since the crash. When I was there everything revolved around money. Earning it, spending it, accumulating wealth. It may be just the people I met/knew.
My oldest best friend emigrated to the States when we were 12 and I often wonder what she'd be like had she stayed in the UK. I don't think they have a gun, I've never asked but I cannot imagine it. They are sociable and liked model citizens and their son is just a year older than the killer. They say the killer is a "quiet loner". It often seems it's kids on the outside of the social group who commit these crimes.
Hi, Annie, I am so glad you were able to spend time here and hope you return someday. Reading how you experienced it with fresh eyes is so informative.
I fully agree with you that there are changes in the brain - physical and chemical - that can cause shifts away from accepted normality in thinking and behaving. This can be caused by genetics, experience, and environmental triggers. The problem is that we too often just say violent people are "crazy" or "evil" (whatever that is) and steer clear without addressing the central problem.
You immerse an ill, untreated person in a culture that equivocates guns with masculinity and it's a recipe for disaster.
All the men in my family were in the military, most of the career fighter pilots, none of them own guns, none of them are hunters, and none of them play into the video games, military action games forms of entertainment.
They believe that taken together, all of these feed this never before seen gun craze culture. They all say while hunting to feed your family is one thing, once you are past the age of twelve, if you are posing with photos of a dead animal that you killed, you have some issues. It's necessary, but never cool, to kill.