Diagnosing Adam Lanza
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, reports have surfaced that shooter Adam Lanza suffered from some sort of mental disability or disorder, the exact nature of which is thus far a matter of dispute. Neighbors have described Lanza as odd, remote, and reclusive ; schoolmates recall him as a brainiac, with a flat affect; and a longtime family friend reveals that Adam lacked the ability to feel pain. His brother, Ryan Lanza, told ABC news that Adam "is autistic, or has Asperger syndrome and a 'personality disorder.'" Police authorities, meanwhile, have alluded to the shooter's "checkered past," calling him a "troubled youth."
Greater diagnostic clarity on this matter will emerge within the next few weeks as friends and doctors who knew Adam Lanza come forward to aid law enforcement in their investigation. Until it does, it may help to understand some of the diagnoses in question:
Autism: Autism is a disorder characterized by difficulty with social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive and restrictive behaviors and interests. It is currently estimated to affect 1 in 88 children born in America. Diagnosis is usually made between ages 2 and 6. While children with severe autism can have violent outbursts, there is no known link between autism and premeditated violence.
Asperger's: Asperger's is considered a type of autism (though there will be a change in nomenclature in 2013). In this disorder, individuals have difficulty with social interaction and demonstrate repetitive and restrictive behaviors, but have no difficulty with communication. People with Asperger's may lack interest in sharing experiences with others, or developing relationships.
Personality Disorder: This refers to a category of psychiatric diagnoses, each related to a lifelong pattern of maladaptive behaviors. In the words of the DSM-IV, psychiatry's diagnostic manual, "a personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture." Some of the personality disorders that may be examined in Adam's case include:
- Antisocial Personality Disorder: The DSM-IV's closest analog to psychopathy. People with ASPD tend to be aggressive, remorseless, and deceitful, and lack empathy. Violence - premeditated and otherwise - is strongly associated with this category.
- Schizoid Personality Disorder: These individuals avoid social intimacy, have little interest in relationships, and have limited emotional range - often manifest as blunted affect. It is not the same as schizophrenia, although there is a familial association between the two. There is also a familial association between schizophrenia and insensitivity to pain.
- Avoidant Personality Disorder: These individuals are socially inhibited, feel inadequate, avoid social interaction, and are hypersensitive to criticism.
The combination of a flat affect, analgesia, social avoidance, autism-like features, and premeditated violence defies obvious categorization. Like so many out there with unknowable illnesses, Lanza may have had a case of the NOS, or "not otherwise specified," psychiatric shorthand for an undiagnosable illness. Undiagnosable, however, is not tantamount to untreatable -- which, ultimately, is why any of this diagnostic speculation even matters. The hope is that Lanza's doctors and treatment records can help shed light on what might have gone wrong, and what we can do to prevent future massacres. - The Atlantic
Serial Killers and Mass Murderers: Profiles of the World's Most Barbaric Criminals
Spree Killers: Ruthless Perpetrators of Mass Murder
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I am a multiple alien abductee
East Lansing, MI - 12/28/05 - unedited: when i was six years old i was sleeping and at around 2-3 am i saw myself laying in bed even though i was floating in the corner of the room. at some point i was physically able to move in bed, went to my window and looked outside and there was a craft outside landed on the front lawn. there were prominant lights. i tried but could make no noise. then with the ramp to the vehicle down an animal of some type exited and then there was this horrific scream like a wild boar. after that the vehicle went dark or disappeared. the next morning i went to wake up my dad and told him i needed him to come downstairs that something had happened. i told him what had happened and that there was some type of animal dead outside. we went outside and found what looked like a kind of wild boar and it had a wound that was like a slice by a laser type but the dead animal was full of maggots inside and out and thats impossible for the duration it was dead. my father buried it with me. when i was floating in the corner of the room i was coming back from being abducted and i had an implant put in the back of my neck. the movie communion almost exactly depicts what i went through then.
then in december 28 2005 i had my second alien encounter. it was after 300am and there were lots of bright lights coming through my windows all around the house. there were strange noises coming from whom i did not understand who or what but the noises made no sense. i got real scared. turned off the small amount of light i had on. went into the bathroom turned around and ran into one of them. i didnt see the entity but i know what i ran into me and it scared the hell out of me. went back to the couch and called my dad in florida at around 320am. talked to him then during the call some kind of electrical stimulation started happening to my center of my back. i was screaming on the phone to my dad telling him they were hurting me. the pain was intense. while this was going on i saw a square headed shaped entity crouched down near my table against the wall starring at me. it had a whiteish tint and i know i can be of help scetching this out with an artist.
my implant bothered me for years. i am the real article and would like to be taken seriously. i have been seeing dr. douglas ruben, phd in okemos and have no psychological disorder but see him for communication. after six and a half years he finally sided with me, is getting me a hypnotyist, gave me your website and prior to lately all these years this topic was off limits even though i talked about proff with the movie communion and other proofv i have. please take me seriously , i will pass all your testing modalities and gettin my story out there means everything to me, so does having one more of these encounters with these beings cause im ready and its going to be different next time. MUFON CMS
Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens
The THREAT: Revealing the Secret Alien Agenda
The Allagash Abductions: Undeniable Evidence of Alien Intervention
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Charge dropped on hacker McKinnon
THE mother of a UFO enthusiast who hacked into NASA files is ready for the “best Christmas ever” after British officials dropped charges against him.
Janis Sharp, of Brookmans Park, got the news on her 64th birthday her son Gary McKinnon was now in the clear after a decade long legal battle and will not stand trial.
It comes weeks after the government ruled he would not be extradited to the USA, where he could have faced 60 years behind bars if convicted.
Mrs Sharp said: “We can get on with our lives, Gary will take time it is not something that will happen overnight.
“This is our 11th Christmas since his arrest and it is going to be the best Christmas ever, we are not going to have that kind of terror [hanging over us].
“I can’t put it into words, for Gary it is just fantastic. I have seen Gary smile for the first time in a long time.”
Mr McKinnon, 46, admitted accessing US government computers but says he was looking for evidence of UFOs.
Last Friday’s announcement not to prosecute comes three months after Home Secretary Theresa May stopped the Asperger Syndrome sufferer’s extradition.
Although he is now in the clear, if he goes abroad he could be snatched and spirited away to the states to stand trial.
Mrs Sharp said Barack Obama is “a good man” and should withdraw the extradition warrant.
She said: “Our country always stands by America whatever they do, it would show mutual respect and collaboration and it would be the correct thing to withdraw the extradition warrant eventually.” - WH Times
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Anonymous targets hate group Westboro Baptist Church
Hacktivist group Anonymous published what it claims to be personal information of members of the Westboro Baptist Church after the group announced on Saturday it would picket Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 children and adults were killed.
Anonymous published private e-mail addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of various members, and teased the group about the hack on Twitter. Anonymous also posted a video condemning the group for "breeding hatred" and adding, "We will destroy you. We are coming."
The Westboro group holds protests at military funerals, and targets various cultures and demographics, particularly gay people. The group blames them for tragedies such as shootings, saying it's God's punishment for their actions.
The Westboro Baptist Church has previously been warned by Anonymous, who in February 2011 told the group to "Cease and desist" its protest campaign in 2011, or face damage to its website. "The damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover," Anonymous wrote.
And the group may be forced to stop picketing if several new petitions gain enough momentum.
Two White House petitions, both published on Friday, aim to classify the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. "Legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group" has more than 72,000 signatures, while another called "Define the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group due to promoting animosity against differing cultural demographics" clocks in at 17,000 signatures.
Petitions that gain 25,000 signatures by Jan. 13, 2013 will be viewed by the Obama Administration, and a response will be issued.
The American Bar Association defines hate speech as "speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits."
Do you think the Westboro Baptist Church is exercising its right to free speech, or does this classify as hate speech? Tell us in the comments. - CNN
