Why is it that mentally ill people (like the VA Tech killer) never lose control and do positive things?

Question

Please let me clarify- why is it that mentally ill people, when and if they 'lose control', never go crazy and do something either positive or neutral?

It seems like whenever someone becomes "insane" they invariably commit crimes, such as murder, rape, assault, etc. Is this a true statement, or is this simply the result of what the media chooses to show the masses? "No news is good news" it has been said. So has anyone who is either mentally ill or "normal" (whatever that means) ever lost control and actually done something positive in order to get attention?

If they wish to get attention (people like the V Tech murderer), why would people like that never elect to do something positive or beneficial to humankind? For example, instead of slaughtering innocent people, how about helping the homeless find jobs? Or, caring for people who are elderly?

Am I just being idealistic and naive here?

Why do people lose control and always do harmful things, rather than helpful things

Answer 1

Well, there probably have been people who "lost it" and done things like given all their money away, or other generous things.

But I think the real answer is in the nature of what's going on in people like the VATK, and in mental health and mental illness in general.

Since it's better to have satisfying relationships, and to not slaughter a bunch of people, healthy people seek healthy gratifications.

Not that all mentally ill go on murderous rampages. What you say about the insane "invariably" committing crimes simply isn't true. Most aren't violent.

Most do more neutral things.

But going back to the main question.

There are reasons people are disturbed, and that, when disturbed they lash out.

It's not just attention, any attention, he was seeking, but specifically the attention of terror.

Most of us don't want to inspire terror or fear, because of our nature as social beasts.

It was part of his messed-up-edness that made him want notoriety of the mass-murderer sort -- rather than good fame.

I'm not explaining this well, I'm afraid.

In that guy, there was a whole package of stuff that all worked together in a way that resulted in murder.

When you're driven to extremes, you're going to do it in a lashy-out kind of way, not a warm fuzzy kind of way.

Warm fuzziness tends to take a calmness of spirit.

Someone loosing it doesn't have the reflection, or the conscience, to turn to good.

Also, shooting requires little; saving the world, or even a piece of it, doesn't; it requires time, and patience, and rational thought; planning -- slow stuff.

But the point is that the act was a reflection of a mind damaged in a certain way.

If he hadn't been damaged, he wouldn't have gone for any grand gesture, and he wouldn't have wanted to murder people.

They go together. (Well, they did in his case.)

Sorry, I have a thought semi-formed in my head, but can't quite get it out. I keep missing my own point. But perhaps you can make something of my ramblings.

I guess the short answer is, you're being psychologically naive, that is, you don't seem to know a lot about mental illness.

There is, of course, the point about what makes he news.

And also the ineffectiveness of mentally ill behavior.

Suppose I'm delusional, and want to save the world. I might ask a crystal to heal all human sorrow.

This won't make the news because it hasn't actually done anything.

And because it isn't the sort of thing news covers.

But in his case, damage was his goal. Since he succeed in that, in a horrific, scary way, we all heard about it.

After all, if it had happened and no one beyond the school were told, and we found out about it, we'd wonder why it was kept secret.

But me, with my crystal, have had no real effect, even though I might believe I'd actually done something good. There's no reason for everyone else to be told about it.

Answer 2

It sound to me that you've answered your own question and that is prohibited so I will reiterate for you so that you don't loose any points.

You'll never hear that 29 Jet Airplanes landed and took off successfully at that airport today. You'll never hear that any particular college campus was not put on alert today for any reason. The media never reports the good things that happen.

So when some mad man goes completely nuts and gives away his extra car to some homeless person or someone stops to help someone on the side of the road. Because the news media never finds these items newsworthy. And as a bonus by not reporting any, or much, of the good news that will then emphasize the bad news.

Answer 3

Well, the real answer (in particular with regard to this buy at VT) is that he felt persecuted, and wanted to persecute others in response. It's not that he was just crazy, and the insanity made him kill people...it's that people around him (even as young adults) literally laughed at him, and that type of humiliation is very hard to get past, emotionally. I think for him that it was more a matter of getting revenge, than it was about getting attention.

Do you expect that the news media would even notice if someone did something good? My guess is that they wouldn't, and that it's happening all over the place, and we just don't know about it.

FYI, you should come to Santa Cruz, CA...We have all kinds of not-necessarily-sane people walking the streets here, and most of them are super nice...There's one guy, who wears pink, and walks around downtown with a parasol, moving at about the speed of a snail. He'll bring a smile to your face, at least. There was a guy that we used to call "dancing man", who would spend all day at the base of the clock tower, dancing...it was very entertaining...he brought good things to us all the time!

Answer 4

yeah I think ur being too stereotypical about mental illness. In fact lists of great artists where mentally ill, Van gogh, Sylvia Plath ect. And being a murderer has noting to do with mental illness.

Answer 5

The tendency to be irrational and blame others for your own problems is a result of frustration. By the time one is 23, one should have learned how to not be a cry baby anymore, and take responsibility for one's self. This guy was a jealous cry baby douche bag. He hated rich kids, but he had enough money for college, a car, a place on campus, a computer, a web cam, a web site and all the guns. He was a severly ****** up individual, that is for sure, but those who got paid to keep any eye on him did not, and let him slip through the cracks. He never had to be responsible for himself or his behavior. He never learned how to stop throwing tantrums and be an adult. You know who's fault that is ultimately? His parents. Cho-Cho is the product of parents who don't parent their kids. Plain and simple. So we have them to thank for this mess. And he's a little-cry baby-bitchass like Yoko Ono.

Answer 6

I suspect it's because they choose to dig a deep hole, jump in and look up wanting someone to pity them and pull them up and out. When noone does, they get angry. It's closely linked to a serious self-hatred, and a desire to be told that others think they are important to prove to them that they are not as bad as they see themselves to be.

That kind of person really isn't capable of doing things to make the lives of others better as their energy is all tied up in self pity and anger.

People who are full of rage aren't capable of doing nice things for others, or helpful things. They often blame others for their hatred towards themselves. That's the trait of an addictive personality.

Everyone deals with depression, self doubt, lack of self esteem and related negative feelings at one or more times in their lives. Some people have an inner strength, and learn to love themselves and lift themselves out of the pit of depression. Other's don't have that inner strength, that desire to fight to survive.

Answer 7

Maybe they do but nobody ever covers good things like that on the news, so we really don't know if they do that or not

Answer 8

I don't have the answer, but you have a good point!!!!! I look at things in life this way too..

Answer 9

because it is much easier to be a creppy loser