The word insanity is thrown around like the last defense in a football game. When people can't understand why a person could do a horrific event, like the Arizona Shootings, the word turns up everywhere. Is Jared Loughner insane? Most likely not, but it's the only defense he has left.

When Jared Loughner shot 20 people on Saturday, in Arizona and is refusing to speak to the F.B.I. since the incident, everyone is assuming that he is so out of his mind that he must be insane. Right? Wrong.

The words paranoid schizophrenic seem to be playing out in the news, in order to justify what Jared Loughner did and make it seem acceptable. Did his parents, Randy and Amy Loughner know that something was wrong with their son? He did live with them after all.

What Jared’s parents knew about his mental state and what, if anything, they did about it remains unclear. There would seem to be no shortage of warning signs. Jared was suspended last September by Pima Community College, where he’d been taking classes since 2005, due to a string of unsettling outbursts. Between February and September 2010, he "had five contacts with PCC police for classroom and library disruptions," the school said in a release. A month after the suspension, he and his parents met with administrators and Jared withdrew voluntarily, according to the school. He was told he could return only if, among other things, a mental health professional agreed he did not present a danger.

In a family that seemed to prize privacy so much, it’s conceivable that Randy and Amy knew little or nothing about Jared’s disturbing "You Tube videos" and impenetrable rants on his MySpace page. And given what neighbors call Randy’s “anger management problem,” perhaps the son’s diatribes didn’t seem entirely out of place. “It's impossible to say for certain, but these kinds of shooters are usually alienated from their families,” says Jonathan Fast, associate professor at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and author of the book Ceremonial Violence, based on his study of school shooters. “You learn to express yourself with your weapons instead of your words.”

Indeed.The parents are in for a rough ride. When someone attempts to assassinate federal employees and kills 6 people and injures 14, what defense is left? Insanity. Will Jared Loughner play his last hand? Most likely. He has nothing left to play.

The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that the likelihood of violence from people with mental illness is low. In fact, “the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small.” Acts of violence are exceptional. They are a sign that something has gone terribly wrong, usually in the mental healthcare system.

Did Jared Loughner slip through the cracks of the mental health system? Yes, he did. And yes, we are all responsible. This is a wake-up call to all of us. If we don't become aware of our own surroundings and the people in it, then we are letting down society. And letting down the people who were killed and injured in this massacre. May they all find peace....May we never let this happen again....

For anyone who needs local help for depression here in Palm Beach, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is located in Lake Worth, Florida. Their local # (561) 588-3477. They can also help you with any questions or referrals you may need. 

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