On a thread below, wannabe hobbyist "Iago" had one of his typical bleeding heart OP's, attributing the Arizona massacre to lax gun laws; another exercise in fatuous sophistry from him. The real question is since Jared Lee Loughner was so obviously disturbed, did his parents take any steps to try to help him ? Was he seeing a therapist ? Was he on psych meds ? Perhaps if his parents committed him, this awful tragedy wouldn't have occurred. Below you'll find a link to an article about Loughner's parents; I think you'll find it enlightening :


-- Modified on 1/11/2011 7:36:30 AM

Our demand for freedom, freedom to have guns, to not be held against our will, has a price, and it's a pretty messy business trying to sort out, legislatively and on the street level, how to protect us from each other and ourselves while keeping those freedoms.

"Of course, a profession that gets to define who needs to use their services has sort of a conflict in interest; especially when they bill per appt. or per hour. LOL"

The reason most clinicians us diagnostic terms is to be paid by insurance, because the patient is unwilling to pay for their services from their own pocket, and because those terms serve as a common lexicon so that dialog can occur regarding patient care and treatment. So, there would be little or no conflict of interest if the insurance companies did not require a diagnosis for treatment. So the issue is not so much "who needs to use their services," but whether the clinician gets paid for services rendered. I will agree that there is way too much over-diagnosis and meds. being pushed.

because only someone as stupid, obtuse & thick as you could moronically misinterpret my op in such a way.

The assasin was mentally disturbed, no ? He engaged in a mass murder spree , no ?  The intent of my OP was only to call attention to his "condition" & how proper intervention could have avoided this tragedy.

Now take your anti-psychotic meds & STFU .

You are on the right track, in terms of looking at it in these terms.  

However, it is just so hard to deal with the insane and it is impossible to predict what they will do.

The current state of the law makes it virtually impossible to impose treatment on someone who doesn't want it. And a lot of crazies just don't want it.  Involuntary commitment is almost impossible.

If they had tried to commit this guy 30 minutes before, they would have been laughed out of court.

I have a family member who is schitzo, and it is impossible to deal with him and impossible to force therapy.   (I am tempted to cast politcal blame, but will hold off in an exercise of extreme self-restraint.)  It is a terrible disease. If he were in a wheel chair, people would look at him and see a handicap. Instead, he walks around with no visible sign.

I also know the parents of insane people.    The Bard noted that "Good wombs have born bad sons."  I feel such pain for Loughner's parents.  They will live the rest of their lives visiting their son in prison or in a mental hospital.  They will drive there in trepidation of what will come.  They will drive home wondering, "What could I have done?  Where did I go wrong?"  

It might be a chemical imbalance or a loose wire that is no fault of theirs.  As the song writer said is another play, "And why did I buy him those damned long pants?"

There is no reason, and they will die looking for it.

Maybe your retardation is by choice, but not most conditions. A killing spree is not a condition.

-- Modified on 1/11/2011 8:33:26 AM

That is, as follows:

1. Fully 1/3rd of all visits women in the US make to doctors are for either a new prescription or followup for an existing prescription of anti-depressants. That is JUST antidepressants, and doesn't count other drugs such as benzos, anti-psychotic meds, etc.

2. 25% of enrolled college students are taking prescription psychotropic medications of some sort, including antidepressants, tranquilizers, anti-ADD drugs and the like.

All of these people, by definition of the treatment, have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Bottom line -- if the psychobabblers and pill pushers are to be believed, a HUGE portion of our population is mentally ill.

Of course, a profession that gets to define who needs to use their services has sort of a conflict in interest; especially when they bill per appt. or per hour. LOL

Bottom line is, our psychological professions are simply untrustworthy.

D'ya suppose that might have helped?

The guys is still being called "suspect" which is derived from the word "suspicion" when details of a thing is not know.   There were eye witnesses, people who were shot wrestled him and took the gun away.   So, why not call this guy the "Killer".?

While a memorial service is not yet held for innocent victims, the US media is already debating how this killer could plead "insanity"  and avoid punishment by a court.

I too read something a few days back about his parents and I highly agree. Had his parents been more supportive, aware, wise and responsible when it came to his upbringing and making sure that they knew what their son was doing and taught him about integrating into society rather than keeping him isolated this might have been avoided. True that they did not pull the trigger and the son did, but it was all the moments of time in his life that led up to this fateful day. If the parents had shown more concern and taught him about how to live in society in a "normal way" this may have not happened altogether.

--Sitara Devi