Stuart’s Philosophies

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18virginia.html?hp 

I was watching with a sense of morbid horror when I turned on the TV to cactch the latest on CNN. I couldn’t believe what reporters said was “the worst massacre in US History”. A South Korean international student killed 32 of his other classmates before killing himself.

What happened?

Was this senior English major just nuts? What went on in his mind? Many people asked this question, and the segment on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN was chilling.

Would you be able to read the signs of a disturbed mind? More importantly, are we looking for something that we should already know? I think it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to detect that someone is ‘different’, quiet and has morbid. What do you do after you notice someone with odd behavior?

I suppose that there are many things we can do, but the biggest issue here is the exposure of the person to some form of counseling and mentorship. Perhaps everyone assumes that everyone else’s life is complete and rosy. We might then see others only through our eyes and not others.

The hindsight seems 20/20 on this issue. But how many other people have we ignored? That we have pushed away, simply because we felt ‘wierded out’ by them? It will be an essential part of life to meet such people, but surely we aren’t so small to think that we are perfect and others don’t find us wierd?

Heck, I’m sure I look wierd every so often!

Still, you probably can’t go to the police and tell them “arrest him, he looks wierd”.

If someone is so deeply paranoid or emotionally breaking down, what do you do? I think it is a social responsibility for everyone to ensure that the person next to us is psychologically safe and taken care of, within our circle of friends and contact. Sometimes, you might think you’re not able enough to do this. Hey - pick up those skills. Learn how to take care of people psychologically. More importantly, take care of yourself psychologically.

As much as the disturbing thoughts of potential mass murderers out there, I think it urges even more action on this blog. Perhaps this event has awakened a different direction for me, and I think people need the skills to help themselves and to help other people overcome their inner adversities in this never-ending battle for our own mind.

Tags

Deep Thought, General