Murder at Va. Tech

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

It does, it just is kept from the public. I was surprised to hear that there were reported rapes on my campus which is very small and commuter.

If it were legal to discriminate based on a mental evaluation, my campus would have been half what it was. Seriously so many weird and crazy people. Then again doesn't mean that they have a mental problem, more like a creepy factor.

Careful because at this point, you then may have to quantify what is considered 'weird and crazy'.

Some of the most heinous crimes ever committed were done by people by all counts appeared to be sane.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Careful because at this point, you then may have to quantify what is considered 'weird and crazy'.

Some of the most heinous crimes ever committed were done by people by all counts appeared to be sane.

You're totally right because a lot of people who do have mental illnesses don't show it and you'd never know. The few people I know never really show it until they get really stressed out. What I meant is that there were people who you would think, by their actions, may have something.

On a serious note, as far as doing evaluations, I've found that there are more people out there who are bi-polar and clinically depressed than you'd think. If we're talking about schizophrenia it's one thing. Some people have severe cases and some people don't show it at all. But I'm not sure if bi-polar or being clinically depressed would have much of an effect on their work. I guess it all depends on the severity of it.

In Cho's case, he did show signs of mental illness. Did this guy? Another thing I wonder is how China deals with mental illness.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

You're totally right because a lot of people who do have mental illnesses don't show it and you'd never know. The few people I know never really show it until they get really stressed out. What I meant is that there were people who you would think, by their actions, may have something.

On a serious note, as far as doing evaluations, I've found that there are more people out there who are bi-polar and clinically depressed than you'd think. If we're talking about schizophrenia it's one thing. Some people have severe cases and some people don't show it at all. But I'm not sure if bi-polar or being clinically depressed would have much of an effect on their work. I guess it all depends on the severity of it.

In Cho's case, he did show signs of mental illness. Did this guy? Another thing I wonder is how China deals with mental illness.

That's because the ones that are sometimes the most stressed are the same ones struggling to put on a 'happy face'.

Ever notice some of the same crimes that are considered 'senseless' when you look further on the inside, the perpetrator is seen as normal.

Went about a normal life

Was nice to people but because they thought that they were 'normal' that they didn't need to see anyone (and the average 'normal' person is likely to shrug off help), we fail to see the sign manifesting that this person is set to go off.

ON THE OTHER HAND...it's a build up of everyday things but you wouldn't think it would drive a person to murder...

Check this article out, and while you are reading it, we all may think, "Well that's not enough to go out and kill somebody for."

Excerpt:

The university said in a news conference Thursday that Zhu had not been under review by its ‘Threat Assessment’ or ‘CARE’ teams.
It also said Zhu had not come before the workings of the Virginia Tech or Blacksburg police departments.
Fellow graduate student and teaching assistant, Ken Stanton, paints a different picture of Zho.

“It’s hard to believe he would be involved in something like this, he says.“


http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/n...new_him/25757/

Some people are just constantly in a foul mood and even then it may not be enough signs to say "Oh he is going to kill someone", just "Stay out of his way" and what do we do once they manifest? Ignore them.

This particular article states that the suspect was contantly belligerent and left signs something was about to happen that no one followed up on, and yes, in the link below I believe your question was answered about this fellow's mental state:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482524,00.html


Forget about China and how they deal with mental illness, fact is, across all strata, we, in general are in denial sometimes about our own mental well being (genrally speaking, people, not quoting facts) we sometimes in daily situations try hard to handle our own problems without seeking professional help because we are too far from hitting rock bottom to declare that we are weak and not strong enough to solve our own problems. It's part of why we turn to certain addictions and not just drugs and alcohol, but why some of us do strange things to find an outlet and think that it's 'normal'.

I'll stop here....peep the articles and you all leave your opinions.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

Another thing I wonder is how China deals with mental illness.

I would surmise that China considers mental illness to be a "Western problem" only. When the Soviet Union had that serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, running around, it took a while for them to even acknowledge the idea that they had a serial killer on the loose, let alone put forward efforts to catch him (which they eventually did). That's Communist mentality for you.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

I would surmise that China considers mental illness to be a "Western problem" only. When the Soviet Union had that serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, running around, it took a while for them to even acknowledge the idea that they had a serial killer on the loose, let alone put forward efforts to catch him (which they eventually did). That's Communist mentality for you.

damn...he was a bad evil man...one thing I noted is that Russia wasted no time executing when they finally put their minds to it...question is, would they have released him the frst time had they mentally evaluated him.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

damn...he was a bad evil man...one thing I noted is that Russia wasted no time executing when they finally put their minds to it...question is, would they have released him the frst time had they mentally evaluated him.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...lo/coat_1.html

They actually questioned him a first time, but released him because his seminal antigens did not match the blood antigens, or something like that. Later on, they found out that this was actually a mistake! ARGH!

But anyone, if you can stomach it, read the full story on Crime Library.com - it pretty much tells the full story.

One thing about Chikatilo - he definitely had some deviancy going on, but I don't know if you can really say that he had 'mental illness'. Whereas, that Chinese student at Va.Tech who did the beheading and Vince Li (Greyhound bus killer and beheader) - they were both Chinese Nationals and I would predict that they both have some type of schizophrenia going on.

But yeah, I stand by my statement that China is behind the times in terms of being "up" on things like mental illness.

[AGDee]

My gut instinct is that the Chinese see mental illness as a family shame and hide it. However, since I work with quite a few people who grew up in China, I will ask them about it, unless someone can chime in definitively before then.

[DaemonSeid]

We are speaking about China..what about the US?

What about people who go out and kill their families, including the DOG before they turn the gun upon themselves?

What about the ones that kill people and then wait months, weeks or years before they lie to report that they were even missing?

What about those who kill and do something heinous like try to BBQ the body or hack them to peices?

What about people who kill their pregnant spouses and try to cover the crime?

What about kids who get their hands on guns and shoot someone because they got their foot stepped on or saw it on GTA or got influenced to kill because they saw it on wrestling?

And so on...let's not make this a China problem or an Asian problem because America can just as easily turn the mirror upon itself when it comes to senseless killings and mental disabilities.


ETA: Think about this case:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...tory?track=rss

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by AGDee

My gut instinct is that the Chinese see mental illness as a family shame and hide it.

I think you are pretty bang on. Tell us what your contact said. I am interested to hear his/her take on it.

As for the Baltimore Sun story, that kid was battered for years and years at the hands of his father. He was traumatized but I wouldn't say he was mentally ill.

Whereas, at the Virginia Tech beheading, it sounds like the 2 students barely knew each other and the Greyhound Case, it was completely out of the blue (the murder victim was sleeping and listening to his IPod). Maybe some people are born with a defect in their brains and makes them act out so violently or think that they perceive some threat to their own person. And sadly, I cannot see that any amount of "screening" will ever be able to prevent this.

And with that note, I am off to bed.