The investigation goes on concerning the Connecticut elementary school shooting. The question on everyone’s mind is why? At this terrible time no “why” answer would be acceptable to mend the broken hearts; but, answers nevertheless must be found.
Who really was the gunman?
According to the Washington Post, the investigators tried to gain information about the dead 20-year-old gunman from his older brother. However, the police have not come forth with a motive yet.
To unravel this mystery we have to begin with the media making a mistake and posting the gunman’s name to be Ryan Lanza, when in fact the gunman was Adam Lanza. C.P North America writes that Adam Lanza was carrying his brother’s identification at the time of the massacre and that led to miss-identifying the real suspect.
Added stress
Ryan Lanza had to defend himself on Facebook saying he was not the gunman. In a time of psychological stress such as this, it is difficult to even conceive that your brother was a mass murderer. Imagine the extra stress of having been accused of being the gunman and having to defend yourself.
Why did this school massacre happen?
CP North America report that it is believed that Adam Lanza had a dispute with his mother prior to the murders.
Furthermore, the Washington Post writes that, “Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation. Authorities said he had no criminal history.”
The police did say they found very good evidence for the mass murders through Lanza’s emails and other forms of writing; but, they will not elaborate at this time.
Doubt about the personality disorder being the reason for the massacre
Many people will not accept the personality disorder theory as a cause for mass murder. However, the general population is not really familiar with the personality disorders. They might have some understanding of schizophrenia being one of the best known mental illnesses, but personality disorders are not schizophrenia. They are in a class of their own. In DSM IV TR, schizophrenia is on Axis I – psychotic disorders.
However, certain personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder can have disturbing psychotic moments. Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. Most people who have borderline personality disorder suffer from:
- Problems with regulating emotions and thoughts
- Impulsive and reckless behavior
- Unstable relationships with other people.
Unfortunately, if the pathology is serious enough and Adam Lanza had a borderline personality is it possible that his mental illness lead him to this horrible massacre.
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