@Pachuco Please, drop it. No one needs any of your remarks in this thread, especially on a topic so sensitive. Also, yes, please stay on topic. We're all calm here, but it'd be much appreciated.
The 9-1-1 calls have been released.
http://www.huffingto..._n_1690634.htmlAs for the shooter having a mental illness, it's possible. Maybe not necessarily a "mental illness", but a personality disorder that came as a result of a psychotic break. This man dyed his hair, called himself the Joker, and meticulously planned this. He purchased these weapons months apart, booby trapped his apartment and had no plans for suicide, as he let himself get arrested without resistance. He resigned from his neuroscience research program and it was still in process.
It's definitely possible he had anti-social personality disorder with some symptoms from schizotypal personality disorder. Anti-social personality disorder is characterized by several things:
1) Lack or remorse or guilt for one's actions
2) Disregard for social norms and laws (this does not just mean being "rebellious"; this means genuine disregard for the law, disregard for feelings of others, disregard for other social formalities etc.)
3) A LOW threshold for violence and aggression; in essence a short fuse. More prone to aggressive behavior and releasing it.
4) Impulsivity- a failure to plan ahead.
5) Recklessness- disregarding safety of others.
6) Difficulty in maintaining social relationships
These are just some of the behaviors that make up Anti-Social Personality Disorder, which is one of several personality disorders in Cluster 2 (out of several different clusters of types of personality disorders). For someone to be diagnosed with this formally, at least three of these must be present in the individual (and not just present- they must interfere, in some way, with everyday behaviors necessary for daily life). This personality disorder was present in several serial and mass murderers in the past, and is the disorder most associated with serial killers and the such. They are commonly referred to also as sociopaths and psychopaths.
Based on the information released on the shooter, we can see signs of symptoms #1, #2, #3, #5, and #6. James Holmes, based on recent police press releases, has shown no signs of guilt, and apparently enjoyed every second of it. This clearly shows a lack of remorse or guilt for his actions. The action itself goes in conjunction with both #2 and #3, as booby trapping his home and shooting up a public place (although becoming dangerously less rare) isn't something people in a "normal and healthy" state of mind would do. He clearly (CLEARLY) disregarded the safety of others- and even disregarded his own safety. He was extremely reckless in this situation. Based on background information on his life before this incident, symptom #6 seemed apparent, as James had difficulty maintaining relationships with others, and even his neighbor stated that he never said hello, even to people who greeted him first. He was an apparent recluse based on several accounts; however, it is unknown whether this information is 100% accurate or if it is being exaggerated based on the current circumstance. James' behavior in this incident is a strong indication of prevalent anti-social personality disorder; however, it is based on a single incident, and not enough is known about him to make a proper judgment call as of yet. Personality disorders should be consistent with personality traits, which are defined as being fairly constant states in a person. A personality trait cannot be something like surprised, which is a reaction and a temporary expression; it can, however be extraverted, which is how a person usually behaves (for example, the person never fails to greet someone they just meet). In this case however, I suspect that he has a form of this disorder because this action is so grave that it is characterized by extreme versions of normal personality traits- however, it could also be that he had a recent psychotic break that was enough to make him go on this violent rampage.
As far as schizotypal personality disorder, I suspect that James also had some of these symptoms, though not enough to make a full schizotypal diagnosis (also, schizotypal is NOT to be associated with schizophrenia; they are different). Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized primarily by unconventional beliefs, delusions of grandeur, "magical thinking" and a lack of association with people, other than immediate relatives. Based on several accounts which stated that James referred to himself as the Joker, it may be assumed that James possessed the "magical thinking", and believing himself for a more "grandiose purpose"- to play the role of Batman's arch nemesis. In many cases, people with schizotypal disorder have been shown to believe they have magical powers such as the ability to move objects with their mind, or the ability to control the actions of others, but they never really do harm to others to fulfill this. In this case, it looks like James took the role of being "The Joker" into his own hands, and went to the far extreme of physically proving he was the villain by murdering an onslaught of people and injuring a plethora of others. It seems like he was fulfilling a fantasy- a fantasy in which he is the star, where he is the villain and he fulfills his malicious purposes etc. He wanted an audience.
In short, there a number of personality disorders and even mental disorders (dissociative, schizophrenia, etc.) that this man could've had- but out of the many that there are, I feel that these are two that most fit the profile of the shooter we have now. I would write more, but I feel this is enough to get a discussion going.
Edited by Pikachew, 21 July 2012 - 04:41 AM.
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