can we call the guy who killed the students at V-tech a psycho?

Question

Wasn't he just a person who just had it bad in life, that people never gave a chance to? I believe the kids who razzed him, made fun of him, belittled him were the real psychos! Of course, they will never be blamed for his reaction, by their actions. Can't we all just get along? Kids hated him for social problems. He did nothing to deserve that hate. He did snap from all that adversity, and it's sad.

Answer 1

Cho ... psyCho...psycho. Isn't that obvious?

People get dumped on every day but they do not become mass murderers, they learn to cope. It is part of growing up.

Cho Seung-Hui was picked on, pushed around and laughed at over his shyness and the strange way he talked when he was a schoolboy in the Washington suburbs, former classmates say.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OJPBU00&show_article=1

The incidents happened in Middle School. Not high school or college. Cho withdrew. You say, "they will never be blamed for his reaction." Right. And they should not. Life is not fair. A person can only control his own reaction not what other people do to him. You know... the serenity prayer....

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time.

The people who go through 12-step programs learn to cope with all their problems because of learning that principle.

I was teased a lot when I was a kid. I cried. I learned. I struggled. I became stronger. I forgave. I did not keep the anger, resentment and "feel sorry for me" attitude.

Soooo many people tried to help Cho. He would not let them.

Lucinda Roy, the Director of Creative Writing, urged him to go to counselking ....but he would not go.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-17-virginia-tech_N.htm?csp=34
“I kept saying, ‘Please go to counseling; I will take you to counseling,’ because he was so depressed,” Roy said. But “I was told [by counselors] that you can’t force anybody to go over ... so their hands were tied, too.”

Cho was jealous of those who were richer and privileged.
In his video rant that he mailed to NBC Cho said,
"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats? Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs? Your trust fund wasn't enough? Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything."
The package was said to include an 1,800-word manifesto-like incoherant rambling in which Cho expresses rage, resentment and a will to get even.
http://www.denverpost.com/browning/ci_5699068

Can't we all just get along??? What does that mean?? Only in a "Brave New World" utopia will people all get along.

Kids "hated him for social problems. He did nothing to deserve that hate" So? No one can expect to please others. A person has to have the attitude, ethics and morality to please himself. Don't expect others to give love and respect. It is not necessary. Looking for it. Expecting it. Thinking it is "deserved" is what got Cho into a miserable thought morass.

He "snapped from all that adversity". No.... He snapped from HIS reaction to adversity. He ruminated. He felt he deserved to be treated better. What is sad is that maybe no one ever explained that to him so that he could change his attitude.

So, now I have explained it to you. You can continue to think the way you do and blame others if you want to. You can appreciate all that you have and all that you are and not worry about others. That is what Cho should have done. That is what everyone should do.

STOP THE INSANITY.

Answer 2

I can tell you a horror story or two that happened in my own life and I don't go around killing people... and I don't even like people all that much either... I believe that it had a little to do with his up bringing, a little to do with his improperly prescribed medication and too much time on his hands alone left to brew and stew in his own juices... He aliginated himself from others to hide something he could neither make sense of or deal with these things together caused a torment in him that would have ended either way without help eventually. I think it is sad that all of the people in his life that should have helped him... let him down. This didn't have to happen. Even the students laughed at him and mocked his writing and made fun of him making statements to the effect that he would do what he did... before it ever happened. People are assholes like that! They did nothing... and I believe that makes them equally as responsable! Someone should have addressed his problems when he wrote the things that he did... It was more than likely a cry for help that went ignored by the students, the teachers and the faculty... and therefore caused bitterness and pain in him to such a great extreme that by doing what he did he actually felt justified.

Answer 3

Yes it is true, that everyone must accept responsibility for their own individual actions. However, he was offered help, over and over. He did not accept it. Instead of going to a counselor that would have been more than willing to help, he chose to act out a dark fantasy that he planned for far too long. I feel for him: I feel for him that he felt so lost and that he thought that this was the only way to make a difference in his life. I feel for his parents. This is a tragedy that goes beyond losing a child. They lost him due to his own choices that were based upon an obvious severe depression, and perhaps other things. No one deserves hate, be we all have to accept responsibility, including him. Instead of finding a better situation, accepting help when it was offered, finding a different situation, he chose violence and a dreadful end.

I don't think this is a time to point fingers. I do think this is a time to investigate to find the truth without emotion (as I think officials in Virginia are trying to do), to find healing and peace, and ultimately find better ways to prevent this from happening again. People are going to continue to "razz" other people, especially anyone who stands out. But perhaps instead of getting angry (which is the path he chose) we should find solutions from within and work with those solutions in society.

And whatever happened to tougher gun laws? How was it so easy for him to just walk in a buy a gun, a man who had a history both criminally and psychologically? Why aren't we looking at laws? I don't think we can control people, but we can protect people. And while some would say that tougher guns laws prevent the right to bear arms, I say yes protect the right to bear arms for those who are capable of understanding the responsibility of owning a weapon, and protect everyone right to life.

Answer 4

I guess I can call him a psycho, because he became one. It's true that kids bullied him and everything, and when I saw those videos on TV, I felt a tinge of pity because of the bullying he went through, but I was also angry at the same time. I mean, so many people say he chose not to talk to anyone, it was completely his fault, and he was a madman blah blah blah... it's sorta true, and he was supposed to get help for it. He just let the anger bottle up until he couldn't take it anymore. Like others have said, sooo many people get bullied in their lifetime, but they've gotten help. Okay, maybe he was too shy to get help, but he had family that he could talk to. If he had done this early on, none of this would have happened. I'm sad this ever happened in the first place, and I truely sympathize with the victims.

Answer 5

THis kid is a psycho. He is a psychopath, schizophrenic, social anxiety disorder, the list goes on and on I bet, in terms of the mental problems he had. The sad thing is with no one in his life was able to recognize that he had these problems, and have him committed and treated. How did he live 23 years without anyone trying to get him serious help. I know they tried in 2005 but seems like the effort was barely there. To say he was a psycho in a slang term is not quite right. I think if your talking about psychosis and psychotic in the more clinical term than there is no denying it, this was a very mental sick individual.

Answer 6

Hell yes, we can call him a psycho. Listen, just because you get teased in no damn reason to kill all those people - if you want to take you own life fine, just leave others alone.

What about personal responsibility? What about good character and self-esteem? I've been bullied and picked on but guess what, I'm smart enough to know that jerks don't define who I am or what I do. Yes, bulling should stop. Yes, teasing should stop. Yes, people who do that are jerks. We can't let jerks dictate how we will behave. It is not understandable that he killed all those people. There is a whole lot more to him that just someone who was bullied. He is someone who had no remorse for anyone. That my dear, is a psycho.

Answer 7

Razzing and teasing are less "psycho" than mass murder, don't you think? Still, I do think that good manners have a lot to recommend them. Sometimes they can prevent violence.
This killer was a paranoid schizophrenic. This is a brain dysfunction and nobody did it to him. In his video, he showed clear paranoid ideation, a delusion that everybody wanted to make him miserable for their own enjoyment. He was psychotic. I don't think any amount of kindness and courtesy could have overcome this.

Answer 8

Possibly. Before anyone jumps on me for this, just think. A psycho is someone suffering from psychosis, correct? Well, everyone is saying it is possible he was a paranoid schizophrenic, with which I agree. Now, take a look at the definition of psychosis.

1. a mental disorder characterized by symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations, that indicate impaired contact with reality.
2. any severe form of mental disorder, as schizophrenia or paranoia.

Maybe now you will agree.

Answer 9

Everyone has issues, I have issues, I've been bullied alot, but I made the choice to grow from my experiences rather than to who knows what. I'm starting to think that these social issues are just going to get worse before they get better. Change starts from within, its up to every individual in society to decide where they stand. We'd all like to get along, but things won't just happen overnight. We need idealists now more than ever.

Answer 10

I can call him a psycho. He was antisocial to an extreme degree. People didn't know him as the guy who was picked on. They knew him as the quiet guy who wouldn't talk to anyone. HE HAD NO FRIENDS. Why? Because he chose not to make friends. Anyone can do it, but he made a consious decision to be antisocial and hate everyone in the world because his life was imperfect. That is psychotic.