butterfly88
Member
An old friend recently took his own life only after attempting to kill his former girlfriend, with whom he was still on very friendly terms.
The news reports conjured up images of an extremely violent scene - (I won't go into details). And it was incomprehensible to me - and I couldn't (can't) reconcile the man I knew with this senseless act of violence perpetrated on another and then himself. The victim of his attack herself was completely shocked, as he had never demonstrated any aggression, violence etc. He had no criminal record of any kind and was just an all around great person - happy, loving, social - and gave the all time best hugs. So none of this makes any sense.
Then I found out that there is a positive family history of schizophrenia. And while no one will either confirm nor deny if he, himself was diagnosed, my brother and other close friends revealed that he was showing signs of paranoia. This knowledge doesn't make me feel any better about the loss - but it does answer that question - "Why?" - though not fully.
I guess I don't know enough about schizophrenia to understand the total break from reality that would lead someone to engage in such egregious behavior. I am trying to understand it. And it's the only thing that makes sense in this case. If the man that I knew was of sound mind - he never would have done this. The demons he was fighting overtook and ultimately conquered him. And we all want him back ...
The news reports conjured up images of an extremely violent scene - (I won't go into details). And it was incomprehensible to me - and I couldn't (can't) reconcile the man I knew with this senseless act of violence perpetrated on another and then himself. The victim of his attack herself was completely shocked, as he had never demonstrated any aggression, violence etc. He had no criminal record of any kind and was just an all around great person - happy, loving, social - and gave the all time best hugs. So none of this makes any sense.
Then I found out that there is a positive family history of schizophrenia. And while no one will either confirm nor deny if he, himself was diagnosed, my brother and other close friends revealed that he was showing signs of paranoia. This knowledge doesn't make me feel any better about the loss - but it does answer that question - "Why?" - though not fully.
I guess I don't know enough about schizophrenia to understand the total break from reality that would lead someone to engage in such egregious behavior. I am trying to understand it. And it's the only thing that makes sense in this case. If the man that I knew was of sound mind - he never would have done this. The demons he was fighting overtook and ultimately conquered him. And we all want him back ...