Joseph Shapiro, are you suggesting that Spc. Ivan Lopez didnt have a mental illness? I am confused by the heading of your artical; Shooting Unfairly Links Mental Illness with violence--- Again. Why is it unfair? In your artical, Dr. Carl Bell is quoted as saying The reality, is that prediction of violence is only useful in an immediate clinical situation: Someone comes in and says, Im going to kill myself. Then you take their word for it, and can predict violence in the short term. But you cannot use that to predict violence in the long term. I have mixed feelings about that statment but think I understand what he means so...ok Ill keep reading to see where the artical is headed. You quote Dr. Thomas Greiger, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist who worked in military hospitals for three decades, as saying that one reason violence is so hard to predict is because it is so rare, then support that with surprising statistics. Your research, nor Dr. Greigers quote are taking into account the millions of UNDIAGNOSED people. Dr. Griger goes on to say So many factors come to play: interpersonal relationships, difficulty in the workplace, issues at home, career issues and true mental health issues like depression, bipolar disorder or psychosis Ok. Sure. Many other factors. But TURE MENTAL ILLNESS? Im stsrting to question this doctors competence. Surely he must know that mental illbess is not so black and white. Mr. Shapiro, you suggest The best predictor of future violence is whether a person with a psychiatric illness has been arrested or acted violently in the past. And people with substance abuse problems, on top of mental illness, are also at a greater risk of committing violence. Your headline is starting to contradict its self here. And its making me mad. Im starting tho thinknyou are an irrisponsible reporter, or that you are trying to squeez your own bias into an issue that could not more clearly be linked with mental illness, OR that you chose your headline for shock value. All signs of irresponsibility. Then Mr. Shapiro, when refering to the tragedy last year, carried out by Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the very same Base you state Its more reasonable to question whether the Army could have prevented Hasans violence — but not because of mental illness From there you say that Hasan was a terrorist sympathizer, which from the evidence put forth, he clearly was (I.E. his e-mail correspondances) and suggest that his supervisor who repremanded him shoupd have given him the sac. I could not agree with you more here. The army should have done something. But your still not on topic. Are you suggesting that these people were in a right state of mind? I put it to you that both of these men had a mental illness very simply because to committ a shooting you are not in a balanced state of mind. Your bold, provocative and frankly ignorant heading dosnt fit with your artical and is actually impeding any progress be made in helping awaken the national consciousness to the delicate issue of mental illness.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 01:53:50 +0000
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