James Holmes may have Aspergers?

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Well maybe he won't even get diagnosed with AS. From the looks of him in the courtroom, it looks like he has slipped into another realm altogether, and he really isn't talking to police. Maybe he really has gone insane. I am not sure they would even be able to get him to talk enough to come up with a diagnosis.

It is his defense team that will come up with a diagnosis. They have to. What else could they do? I doubt it will work but I don't see what else they could use. The various media speculations (like Scarborough) won't really matter or decide the direction this discourse takes. It will be whatever the defense team uses that will decide.

I wasn't referring to all semi-automatics, just the ones in the ban, from 1994, but it is interesting that shortly after that ban was lifted, in 2004, is when rampage killings escalated in the US, while violence in general continued to decrease. Not much use in using an assault rifle to kill one person. It wasn't the end of the world when the ban was instituted in 1994, it couldn't hurt anyone to re-institute it, and even if it only saved a few lives in a potential rampage killing, it would be well worth the effort.

However, the gun lobby is a powerful one in the United States; those assault weapons mean more to some of the owners than the potential for lives saved, in these type of incidences where a human being determines that the goal is to kill as many people as possible. One can't even legally do that when deer hunting.

One more incident like this where a legally obtained assault weapon does not jam and 100 people die, will likely result in the federal ban put back into place. That was a real potential in this incident, if the assault rifle had not jammed and should be a lesson to take action to ban the weapons now, but I don't see it happening, this go around. 12 dead and 51 injured apparently does not apparently meet the bar of concern to take action, in the US. Per the factors associated with this incident that is the only potential effective change identified so far that might reasonably result in a reduction in the carnage from potential incidences like this in the future.

This incident has proven without a doubt that there is no way to predict who will be involved in an incident like this, where it will happen, when it will happen, or even why it will happen if a psychotic break from reality is part of the mix. The least the government could do is to attempt to limit the tools of carnage where reasonably possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban

can anyone see a change in his constitutional health??

He could easily have planted an improvised explosive device in the theater (a 15 liter fuel can can hold enough HE and fragments to kill pretty much everyone in a typical sized room in a theater, and it'd fit under a chair easily). He could have done many things to kill a lot of people in a confined space that doesn't require too much know-how, rather it just requires the ability to plan.

Hence, weapon used is quite trivial.

what the heck happened to his long full eyebrows he had just a few years earlier?

He's a guy who failed badly in the first year of his neuroscience PHD and quit "got encouraged" to leave the course. He'd got few friends to turn to. A lot of those nice people who said hello and he ignored won't really admit they ignored him or even bullied him 'it was only a bit of a laugh'. Did those he really just want to chat (if he did was he trying to connect with someone desperately as he needed to) with the girls or did he want more and get insulted by them 'get lost you freak' etc

You have a normal guy NT/AS or any disorder he's alone feels like his lifes been destroyed. No chance of a qualification or job, probably in debt, alone and isolated by people who ignore and belittle him constantly...he'll show them. It's not temporary insanity its not a syndrome its either one poor guy that couldn't handle reality any more (could have been helped if society were nicer) or a crazed killer with mental health issues (what ever they can find). Makes people feel like 1) he's not like them and 2) they play no part in this or doing the same sort of things to others.

In the dock he's either drugged up to the ears or he's completely emotionally exhausted. Can't imagine I'd be in the best of states trying to sleep in a cell knowing I'd killed those people. He did it, he's guilty, he should die (possibly, I'd prefer it to life in a box) but there is a lot more things wrong.

Would say very few non mentally ill people kill except as part of a job such as police, soldier etc until they reach that point. Sociopaths and psychopaths could do it but probably wouldn't they have other ways to get fun (plus aren't that lonely usually). Would say AS could have had a bearing on him being lonely but can't see why it makes a difference any other way (except possibly the bombs).

Oh no, it's the Norwegian Knight Commander over again...

[img][800:853]http://fjeldsaa.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/uniform_1.jpg[/img]

It's no longer a DSM diagnosis, but considering that researchers still research psychopathy, it's a bit far reaching to claim it's no longer a diagnosis. Also, the people who have the traits described still have those traits. Psychopathy doesn't cease to exist simply because it's no longer in the DSM. When I discuss the topic with my therapist, she does not say "Psychopathy is not a diagnosis."

I never said the media is fine to pin it on mental illness. I have repeatedly said that mental illness does not typically lead to violence, so why do you keep responding as if I support arguments I actually oppose?



Actually, I don't think they are desired traits. I think some people who don't understand psychopathy think they might be, but the reality is that psychopaths are not good for the businesses they end up in.

I do define normal differently, as your definition is overly inclusive. I actually prefer "typical" but the word "normal" keeps getting thrown around in this thread.

Most rampage killers have been shooters, so in this subgroup of killers, weapons used is relevant.

There are no downsides of saving potential lives, by moving back to re-instating the federal assault weapons ban. They are most often used for target practice, and to admire, for those that enjoy them. There are many other options available.

However it is a huge political issue, in that significant number of people do love their assault weapons, and ability to purchase them legally, that is likely not a thing that democrats will push too hard this close to election, to get the gun lobby, and voters "fired" up.

Bullying has got a lot to answer for....

He looked like he was exhausted or drugged. I don't think it's remotely possible to judge his connection to reality according to how he looked after a weekend in jail.

Yeah, and most of the high profile ones have an ASD [or similar disorder that creates social isolation]. Anders, Martin and Cho, for example.

Does A = B in this case (A being ASD or firearm and B being spree killer)?

No, A doesn't equal B. B equals B.

I never said the media is fine to pin it on mental illness. I have repeatedly said that mental illness does not typically lead to violence, so why do you keep responding as if I support arguments I actually oppose?

As far as people who are typical/normal going on spree killings, that's nothing more than wishful thinking. Someone who sets out to kill multiple people in a short period of time is not "normal." This is evidenced by the fact that the vast majority of people do not go on killing sprees - and most especially do not go on them after the situations that set off spree killers.

This does not mean that everyone is a "nice person" and incapable of ever doing anything bad.



Actually, I don't think they are desired traits. I think some people who don't understand psychopathy think they might be, but the reality is that psychopaths are not good for the businesses they end up in.

I do define normal differently, as your definition is overly inclusive. I actually prefer "typical" but the word "normal" keeps getting thrown around in this thread.

Last edited by Verdandi on 24 Jul 2012, 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.