Am I crazy? Or is just about everyone ignoring the most obvious potential cause of mass murder in this country?
The “experts” are focusing on suspects from violent video games to the NRA, from bad nutrition to “systemic” failure, whatever that means.
“Clearly,” they say, “these young men were very troubled. Why were they not [check one] locked up/denied access to weapons/kept away from rap music? They were all recognized as mentally ill, and almost all were on, or had been on, psychiatric medications. What went wrong?”
There’s an elephant in this room, one that’s so obvious that it cannot be a simple oversight.
Read the above clause again: “almost all were on, or had been on, psychiatric medications.”
Hello? Investigative reporters? See the common thread here?
Good grief! Are pharmaceutical companies such important advertisers that you can’t possibly name their products as suspects?
The FDA certainly recognizes their dangers. Just about every psych drug’s advertisements include warnings along the lines of, “if you feel like offing yourself while taking this drug, please do let your doctor know.”
The potentially explosive nature of these pharmaceuticals is in fact well known. That includes the increased suicide risk associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil -- the most common class of antidepressants.
(Note to investigative reporters: Almost all of these murderers conclude their rampages by committing suicide. See a pattern here? Notice any connection?)
What's more, we mustn't be comforted by the assertion that “so-and-so had stopped taking his meds.” He may well have done so, but reports like this one from Harvard Medical School point out that stopping SRRIs can increase the risk of suicide, while causing a slew of other nasty side effects, including anxiety, agitation, and hostility.
Hello? Sound like feelings that a mass murderer might experience?
Why is no one talking about this?
Perhaps it would be helpful to consider what American society did about such problems in the days before psychiatry – days when, not so incidentally, mass murder and crippling depression were largely unknown.
Just think about a few of the possibilities.
We could go on, noticing that most teens before the advent of psychiatry were treated like little adults rather than adolescents. They had responsibilities, and were not allowed to run wild. And if they did in spite of their parents’ best efforts, they had to face the consequences.
They were not protected by the law from parental discipline, or from the biblical warning that to “spare the rod [is to] spoil the child.”
They were not wrapped in cotton wads of pharmaceuticals to mute the trials that might otherwise set them on the right path not only today, but for all eternity.
They were instead beneficiaries of the principles expressed in chapter 12 of the New Testament book of Hebrews: “’My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”
Translation: the chastening of the Lord is good for everyone – including young people. If you’re not being disciplined, in fact, you are not His child.
Consider what that might mean for one’s prospects in this life, and – far more important – for all eternity.
These are not entirely new problems. What is new is how defenseless we have become today, how incapable we are of dealing with them, thanks at least in part to a government and a culture that insist we handle “sensitive” children with kid gloves.
And we may be facing exponentially worse problems in the future, not in spite ofbut possibly because of the drugs that the psychiatric industry claims are the solution.
What I want to know is why no one is talking about any of this. My suspicions may turn out to be wrong; but I am not wrong about the elephant in the room.
Why is the most obvious suspect being completely ignored?
Updated from a post published 5/28/14; nothing has changed!
The “experts” are focusing on suspects from violent video games to the NRA, from bad nutrition to “systemic” failure, whatever that means.
“Clearly,” they say, “these young men were very troubled. Why were they not [check one] locked up/denied access to weapons/kept away from rap music? They were all recognized as mentally ill, and almost all were on, or had been on, psychiatric medications. What went wrong?”
There’s an elephant in this room, one that’s so obvious that it cannot be a simple oversight.
Read the above clause again: “almost all were on, or had been on, psychiatric medications.”
Hello? Investigative reporters? See the common thread here?
Good grief! Are pharmaceutical companies such important advertisers that you can’t possibly name their products as suspects?
The FDA certainly recognizes their dangers. Just about every psych drug’s advertisements include warnings along the lines of, “if you feel like offing yourself while taking this drug, please do let your doctor know.”
The potentially explosive nature of these pharmaceuticals is in fact well known. That includes the increased suicide risk associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil -- the most common class of antidepressants.
(Note to investigative reporters: Almost all of these murderers conclude their rampages by committing suicide. See a pattern here? Notice any connection?)
What's more, we mustn't be comforted by the assertion that “so-and-so had stopped taking his meds.” He may well have done so, but reports like this one from Harvard Medical School point out that stopping SRRIs can increase the risk of suicide, while causing a slew of other nasty side effects, including anxiety, agitation, and hostility.
Hello? Sound like feelings that a mass murderer might experience?
Why is no one talking about this?
Perhaps it would be helpful to consider what American society did about such problems in the days before psychiatry – days when, not so incidentally, mass murder and crippling depression were largely unknown.
Just think about a few of the possibilities.
- Except for the privileged, people worked long, hard days and came home to clean up, do their chores, eat, and sleep. Yes, even children, until the government stepped in with child labor laws to “protect” them.
- Except for the most well (sic) educated, most people believed in God. Their kids learned about the Bible not only in church but in the classroom. They learned that it was wrong to engage in things like ingratitude, sex outside of marriage and coveting others’ goods. They were told that these sins were punishable in this life and, without Christ, in the next. These truths were common knowledge until the government stepped in to “protect” schoolchildren from the Bible.
- Except for the hardest hearted, most people understood that they were not personally the center of the universe, and that they should put others ahead of themselves. This kept things civil until the government stepped in proffering all kinds of riches, insisting, “Nonsense – it is all about you!”
We could go on, noticing that most teens before the advent of psychiatry were treated like little adults rather than adolescents. They had responsibilities, and were not allowed to run wild. And if they did in spite of their parents’ best efforts, they had to face the consequences.
They were not protected by the law from parental discipline, or from the biblical warning that to “spare the rod [is to] spoil the child.”
They were not wrapped in cotton wads of pharmaceuticals to mute the trials that might otherwise set them on the right path not only today, but for all eternity.
They were instead beneficiaries of the principles expressed in chapter 12 of the New Testament book of Hebrews: “’My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”
Translation: the chastening of the Lord is good for everyone – including young people. If you’re not being disciplined, in fact, you are not His child.
Consider what that might mean for one’s prospects in this life, and – far more important – for all eternity.
These are not entirely new problems. What is new is how defenseless we have become today, how incapable we are of dealing with them, thanks at least in part to a government and a culture that insist we handle “sensitive” children with kid gloves.
And we may be facing exponentially worse problems in the future, not in spite ofbut possibly because of the drugs that the psychiatric industry claims are the solution.
What I want to know is why no one is talking about any of this. My suspicions may turn out to be wrong; but I am not wrong about the elephant in the room.
Why is the most obvious suspect being completely ignored?
Updated from a post published 5/28/14; nothing has changed!
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