A little OT, but I know little about DD of schiz./ PD, etc.
I keep wondering why these mass killers, CO, VA Tech, Columbine, all seem to be from well healed and educated families that could have provided much more psych help to their sons. I haven't followed this in the past, but I am wondering, why don't we hear about 20 something males from impoverished backgrounds commiting these atrocities? I would love anyones input. Merry Christmas my WS friends.
Denial is a huge problem for families of any income level, and since well-to-do people are human too, they refuse to believe sometimes that their children are changing for the worse. Parents always want to have hope where their children are concerned, and often these problems exacerbate while the kid is away at college or in a new situation. So the parents are probably as shocked as everyone else.
I don't think that's the case with Adam Lanza and his mother - I do think she saw warning signs in him, which is why she told his babysitter not to turn her back on him. I have avoided this topic because I have strong opinions about it, but truly it is nuts to me that she put guns in the house with a child who was having so many problems. Not because she should have realized he would kill her or hurt others, but because he might have killed himself on any given day. It's just really counterintuitive that you would have even one gun in the house with a troubled child, whatever their problems.
For problems like schizophrenia, which I have seen first hand with a relative, sometimes the first symptoms just seem like ordinary teenage rebellion. Getting into trouble for drinking underage is almost the norm in our society, but for young people who have the onset of depression or something else it can become a chronic problem, even in the best of caring families. All teens sometimes have bad judgment so most parents never jump to the conclusion that they are in a downward spiral.
That's why drug addiction, alcoholism, and violence can still happen even in cookie cutter perfect neighborhoods.
But impoverished teens do also commit these types of crimes. However lack of money or connections means that they are incarcerated instead of receiving any kind of medical treatment.
Our jail system is full of people with undiagnosed mental, medical, or developmental problems and is one of the scandals of our society. States are trying to come up with new plans involving not much in funding, which is hampering the process.
Also the privatization of the jail system means that inmates are given the least amount of care possible on tight budgets, and even local officials may not understand the extent of the problem.
You have to have a really good attorney in most states just to get a psychiatric evaluation, and for poor inmates that is not a reality.