stargazer
Member
I'm pretty sure there's a thread somewhere about the recent shooting at Northern Illinois University, but I haven't yet been able to locate it through the search device.
What I wanted to say is that I am finding it disturbing whenever I hear or read a news story about this shooting, that there seems to be an undue emphasis on the fact that he had "gone off antidepressants" in the two weeks prior to the shooting.
It's not that the facts ought not to be reported, but there's something ugly in the way that this is emphasized -- with a raise in the tone of voice, and an apparent increase in rhetoric. The subtle implication is that anyone who goes off their meds is going to become a mass murderer, AND/OR, the reason why people go onto meds in the first place is that they would otherwise be mass murderers.
Both of these, to my mind, perpetuate stigma and misconception regarding the nature of mental health conditions. I, for one, find this disturbing.
What I wanted to say is that I am finding it disturbing whenever I hear or read a news story about this shooting, that there seems to be an undue emphasis on the fact that he had "gone off antidepressants" in the two weeks prior to the shooting.
It's not that the facts ought not to be reported, but there's something ugly in the way that this is emphasized -- with a raise in the tone of voice, and an apparent increase in rhetoric. The subtle implication is that anyone who goes off their meds is going to become a mass murderer, AND/OR, the reason why people go onto meds in the first place is that they would otherwise be mass murderers.
Both of these, to my mind, perpetuate stigma and misconception regarding the nature of mental health conditions. I, for one, find this disturbing.