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Old 12-18-2012, 11:30 PM   #56
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Absynthe View Post
Self harm doesn't mean that someone has a mental illness.

Self harm can be a symptom of mental illness, in the same way that shortness of breath can be a symptom of asthma.. but not every incidence of shortness of breath is due to asthma. Not every instance of shortness of breath IN A PERSON WITH ASTHMA is a symptom of asthma.

And actually, walking into a school and murdering a whole bunch of people doesn't mean that someone has a mental illness either. It means that there was something very very wrong, but that still doesn't mean that the person had a mental illness, or that if they did have a mental illness it doesn't mean that their actions were a result of that.

It's just not that simple.. and by trying to colour it as being that simple you are perpetuating the stigma that exists around mental illness.
Right, self-harm by itself could indicate any number of things. By itself it could be completely innocuous or a red flag (http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/f...igns-treatment). It's not uncommon for people to hurt themselves after suffering from physical or psychological trauma - that might not be a mental illness but it sure as hell falls under the mental health umbrella. In some cases it's a sign that something is wrong. When that's the case, failure to act can potentially be catastrophic.

I'm not saying that everyone who cuts or burns themselves or whatever, who also has difficulty forming healthy relationships with other people or empathizing/relating with them, and who has what is now starting to sound like a fucked up home life, and whatever else might come to light is likely to start shooting up schools, but it starts painting a picture.

I don't understand how anyone can look at this incident and not see a very troubled individual. Frankly I am astounded that this even needs to be discussed. If what happened last week is not a strong hint that someone has a distorted thought process, what is?

If we can accept that this kid had problems, why is it such a stretch to see his actions as the result of a distorted thought process? We wouldn't have a hard time connecting a person's suicide attempt to their suffering from chronic depression right? Of course not every person suffering from depression is a suicide risk, but when the signs start layering up intervention isn't out of line.

We don't know Lanza's mental state. I mean, we just don't have the information and it isn't like we can ask him. I can't understand how it is even possible to look at someone who carried out a horrible action like this, agree that it is fucked up, but be completely unwilling to connect a fucked up action to the guy's mental state.

Is it just the phrase "mental illness" that's giving you objection? Is there some other term that would be more acceptable?
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