The Dark Side of Asperger's?

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Elliot Rodger, the 22 year old who had killed six university students in Isla Vista had been labelled as having Asperger?s. In fact so did Adam Lanza, the young man who was responsible for the Newtown school massacre where 26 people were killed, including 20 school children.

I believe that the media is guilty of monopolizing on the potential fact that these two young men had Asperger?s and has sensationalized this into the grand motive for these killings. It is human nature for us a society to search for answers or something to blame. As for the case of Elliot Rodger he was a deeply troubled man who possessed thoughts and feelings that surpasses that of Asperger?s. To the lay person, Asperger?s may seemingly fit nicely into an explanation into senseless killings, but to those who live and work with people who are on the Autism spectrum we know that the rationale is far too complex to understand in these simple terms.

Should we connect people like this to individuals on the Autism Spectrum Disorder? I believe no, because violent behaviour has no mention on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 under the umbrella of Autism spectrum disorders. What we are dealing with here I believe is a psychopathology marked by paranoid delusions or mania.

We must get all of the facts correct before making judgement on such crimes. If we don?t then we are stigmatized by the various media outlets attributing blame to the Asperger?s community. When a link is made in the media that there is a connection between Autism and violence we label such people as social deviants. We are not mass murderers and there is no link between Asperger?s and violence.

The media doesn't care about 'facts', they care about spinning the story so that they get more viewers or readers and therefore more money from their advertisers

hearing this all the time makes want to scream. People with Asperger's are more likely to become victims of violence than commit it themselves.

People with mental illness have a statistically lower rate of violence. Also, co-morbidity of addiction and mental illness is very high and both lead to legal or illegal drug use which skyrockets your chance of being violent.

I wonder why drugs aren't getting more attention?
Oh, sorry for stepping on your toes pharamacy lobby, I'll just swallow my zoloft and shut it.

Sounds like sensationalist journalism to me - heavy reliance on shock factor and ratings with no reliance on facts and truth. It happens with all "minorities" unfortunately. Here in Australia there is a war on immigrants going on, and you wonder if people actually believe the crap the news people spin, but they do. No one actually realises that behind the image the media portrays, there are real people with real emotions and real motives that aren't these monstrous beings.

In this case, it sounds like these guys were Psychopaths, not people with Asperger's. If they did have Asperger's and happened to have a comorbid mental illness or personality disorder that led to them killing, such as being Psychopaths, then it would not be the Asperger's that was to blame - it would be their Psychopathy. Even then, they are people with choices and actions and we can blame their particular mental state however much we want, they still made the choice to kill. In effect - they are the problem - not a mental illness/personality disorder or disability or anyone/anything else.

People who listen to this are obviously very impressionable and don't understand that we're all human beings and all deserve love and understanding - that's what's really sad.

Good point ConfusedAlot

bad people are bad, but also people
I learned that the hard way dealing with a schizo guy, I offered to take him to a job and he started yelling at me for waiting too long at a turn. I told him I was talking him home, I don't put up with that treatment. Often Schizos can end up in jail for 'acting out' but I knew plenty that were great people to be around.

Some people just ooze that toxic vibe. I think that everyone catches wind of it and these people slowly begin to slash and burn everything in sight because they know they are horrible and can't stand it.

Definitely.

I think the thing that is really disturbing isn't people that kill in the heat of passion - it's people that enjoy killing. I can't fathom this. They say Psychopaths enjoy inflicting pain and even killing. There have been a lot of documentaries done on Psychopaths in prison and it's chilling how some of them talk about human pain like it's nothing. Even so, psychologists say there is usually a root for their Psychopathy, like bad parents or a specific bad event (think Dexter). I've also read about an "evil gene" which sounds kind of silly and my information may be slightly out-dated, but it's basically a gene some people have that turns on after traumatic events, causing people with said gene to become Narcissists, Psychopaths or Sociopaths - basically anyone that enjoys inflicting emotional or physical pain on others, usually to mask or project their own pain. Now obviously not all bullies are Narcissist and Psychopaths and Sociopaths. People as a species tend to deflect pain when threatened in general, but I'm talking about people who are like this 24/7 and it actually becomes a part of who they are.

I think if human beings were kinder and more loving in general there would be less of this sort of thing all together though. I know people get upset when you blame the parents, but parents do contribute a lot to how a child turns out - Nurture and Nature as they call it. If parents aren't loving to their children, there is always a danger that it won't just result in a shy or anxious child. But I think the Community is also important - it really does take a village. But our modern day society is less about people and more about things and materialism, which is very sad. People and Communities work better under the premise that we are all responsible for one another, and that if only one of us wins, then no one actually wins.