Two more deaths - a 26 year-old policeman and one of the young men who bombed the Boston Marathon. The city of Boston now on lock-down as law enforcement searches for his brother, who is believed to have placed the backpack containing one of the bombs in place near the finish line.
It would be so easy to say that these two young men deserve death for their horrendous deed. Death answered by more death. But answers to the underlying questions of the human capacity for violence elude us.
Mental illness seems to be one option as an explanation. But what is mental illness? After over three decades as a therapist and psychologist, one would think I could answer that question. But I cannot.
The legal definition of insanity is the inability to know the difference between right and wrong. In Minnesota this week, a jury rejected an insanity plea from a father who brutally murdered his three young daughters. The jurors agreed he was mentally ill, but able to distinguish how wrong his crime against his children had been. Doesn't take an advanced degree in confusion to scratch your head with the inherent contradiction of this trial's conclusion.
Nor is the ludicrous solution for violence an answer that was suggested by one letter writer to the editor in this week's paper . He stated that the mentally ill should be "incarcerated" (his word, not mine). Behaving "politically sane" would make being "politically correct" seem innocuous. If this was our culture's norm, be careful of how you behave or what you say or your neighbor might turn you in!
Is grief really a mental illness? It is, according to the newest version of the manual used to diagnose mental illness. I remember my mother-in-law several days after her husband died. She was a woman who chose to cope with life by remaining "on the surface." At one point, she was walking from the bedroom toward the kitchen. She stopped stark still and ranted at the top of her lungs at this man who left her a widow. Stunned, we froze in our conversations and stared at her. As quickly as she began, she stopped her tirade. She continued on into the kitchen as though nothing had occurred. She never again exhibited such behavior the rest of her life. A mini-psychotic episode? Yes. Mental illness? Hardly.
Or what about the use of a mental illness diagnosis, which is made in order to use insurance to pay for mental health help? Categories as broad and varied as possible. Is this really what mental illness is? No way is such a diagnosis as depression or anxiety any explanation for violent behavior.
Does violence breed violence? That makes as much sense as saying children raised by a mentally-ill parent will become mentally-ill adults. Indeed, some of these children are described by psychologists as resilient. They grow up to be strong and healthy adults, contributing members of their communities.
Thousands and millions of people grow up or live in violent environments. And they do not become violent people. Sometimes their personal circumstances are the motivation for them to become peace activists, or people who work for gun control, or mental health professionals in order to use their own experiences to help others heal.
Having violent thoughts are universal. Everyone of us at times have experienced such thoughts. But very few of us ever act on them. Being married is one such condition - how many times have you wanted to "kill your spouse" for her or his repeated annoying behavior?
How ironic that the bombing in Boston and the rejection of gun control legislation in the Senate happened within days of each other. Of course, background checks are not the answer to mass shootings such as in Connecticut or Colorado. It is the impetus behind this imperfect proposed legislation that matters. People who care enough to search for answers to reduce the brutality of one human against another.
No comments:
Post a Comment