My sister's law partner has a paranoid schiz son, and they have done everything they could possibly do, to help him. He was cherished and loved in appropriate ways by a nurturing, intelligent Catholic family with other siblings who are normal. It has been agonizing for everyone, to try to protect and help their son, and to protect society. There is no permanent lockdown ward that they can sequester him in--the long-term institutions closed down decades ago, and he has run away from every residential facility they found for him.
We had a neighbor who developed this mental illness in his 50s after his wife died (their children, normal, are grown). He had been a fine and loving person, although I suppose the potential had always been there. Since he lived alone in a rural area, he was quite far gone by the time anyone knew he was sick. This fine man became dangerous to everyone, and was eventually put in prison for crimes (not including murder--no humans were harmed) He may be released, though, some day. Then what?
No one knows how to treat this illness effectively without the use of force. In my first example, the young man is content to be homeless, to avoid taking the medication he needs to function safely in society. He hates the medication, says it takes away his independence and makes him a robot. How would you treat that? So far, he has only threatened family members and himself. In spite of being treated (many times) in a locked facility, he cannot be held forever, according to the law.
In the second example, the man is in prison and is over 60 yo now, he may die of heart disease or something else before his sentence (for arson) is up. Or he may be discharged, still suffering from that mental illness.
In my opinion, there are serious mental illnesses that require long-term institutional treatment, but there are no longer state institutions to house the patients. Also my opinion, these illnesses can exist completely independent of social or familial context. I don't blame Cho's family, my heart goes out to them in sorrow.
Hi Judith Anne,
You have covered the case with examples just as I would have done if I knew those folks. In Cho’s family’s case, we don’t know what they might have tried to do to get help for him, or not tried to do. Haven’t heard anything about them except that they required hospitalization after the massacres, which is not a reaction I’ve ever heard for parents of a mass killer, leading to more questions in my mind.
From what (little) I know of the Asian culture, seeking help for aberrancy is the same as losing face, and losing face is simply not to be borne. Perhaps in some way that factored into this.
In any event, since we don’t have answers at this time, I am left with the same conclusion the English professor (department head?) at VT said. She reported him to several authorities; no one was authorized to take action; if schools could take action without fear of lawsuits, things might be different (i.e., more students might live).
We need to take another look at how to handle people whose behavior is threatening and who have signs of or are provably unstable or mentally ill. One of Cho’s professors said he was taking photos under the desk of girl students’ legs and knees. His behavior overall got so bad that something like 63 out of 70 of her students who had class with Cho protested his behavior and (I can’t remember this exactly) either refused to attend class or else sent their work in online. That should never be allowed to happen. It is bowing to a form of anarchy, and it clearly demonstrates how unsafe his classmates felt ... and were.