Quote:
Originally Posted by Crypts_Of_The_Mind
Do you believe all killings must be done by a mentally ill person then? Or even all killings such as the Law Vegas shooting? If so, how did you come to that conclusion?
"Mental illness" actually has a very defined definition as I stated above. The fact that people speak or assume without doing research first does not negate that, it simply makes them ignorant and unwilling to learn. Not ignorant in the derogatory form - but ignorant in the true sense of the word "lack of knowledge".
The people who (like my previous example) say "all Mexicans are thieves" truly believe their statement to be factual. Have they done research and therefore have evidence to back it up? No. They have "what they think" and "what they feel" and "what they have experienced from the majority" - but see, on that last statement it switches from "all" to "majority", yet that doesn't phase them. With mental illness though, because mentally ill people are by and large ignored by society (even family members), the only real way it becomes visible is if someone does something horrible. The problem though is - there is never any testing done before that person is labeled as mentally ill. The Las Vegas shooter never had any records of being mentally ill or criminal background. But he is portrayed as having been mentally ill.
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You are right, my statement was too broad and I didn't think about it enough in hindsight. I didn't want to sound like I was making mental illness the primary cause of violent crime. There can be so many other causes like substance abuse or other intoxication, indoctrination in case of terrorists, and so on.
When I wrote my response however, I had specifically cases like the Vegas shooter in mind, someone where there's no apparent cause or removal of mental inhibitions through intoxication. In such cases I think mental illness plays a large role, because the usual moral or emotional inhibitions I think most people have don't hinder the perpetrators in these cases from committing these crimes. Again, I didn't think about it enough. Maybe a very bad upbringing can also lead to the absence of such self-restrictions. But then again, violent/abusive childhoods often are a cause of mental problems themselves.
What I completely failed to convey was that my claims were limited to these very specific cases.
What you can see here and what I realised as well: I'm not an expert myself, even as a person who has mental issues
myself. I don't really think it's a problem if news media bring up the possibility of a perpetrator having mental illness. It's a problem that because of many people not being informed enough about it, the media has to discuss it in very broad terms. I don't really think it's the media's job to educate though.
Overall, I think it's typical to jump to conclusions like I did or the media often does. If such a horrific crime is committed, it's easier to blame mental problems for the absence of moral and emotional inhibitions that hinder most people from killing each other than actually question your image of humanity. Maybe my positive image of most people not wanting to hurt each other clouded my judgement a bit.