I was dismayed to learn that Mark Manson’s article “We All Miss The Point On School Shootings” May 27, 2014 went viral. While he makes some good points, he seems to offer a simple and naïve solution to a complex problem. That is, he appears to imply that to prevent school shootings the world should be a nicer place. The article is laced with pseudo-science and psychobabble. For one thing, he claims that terrorism works because “it takes advantage of psychological inefficiencies in our brains”. Oh really? Show me the data. Where does he get this from? Terrorism works because it pierces our denial that there really is no safety in the world. In order to function normally, we all deny the inevitable. Terrorism interferes with our ability to do that. In my psychotherapy practice, most patients say that more than anything else in life they value safety. Without it, little else is possible. Manson calls for empathy as a solution to the problem of school shootings; but here’s the thing. While it’s true that some people need help, it’s also true that unless an individual believes that they need help and personally seeks it out, and sometimes even then, therapy is worthless. From what I can gather from my readings about these guys, the school shooters were okay with doing evil. They didn’t want our empathy and help. So much for empathy. Here’s my sound bite: Not all mentally ill people are killers but all killers are mentally ill. The awful reality is that terrorist killings are part of a larger culture context.
School shootings could not have occurred 30 years ago, at least on the same scale as today, for a combination of complicated psychological and sociological reasons. In my book “Emotional Incest in Group Psychotherapy–A Conspiracy of Silence”, I write that bad things can happen in any kind of group if members collude to protect themselves from knowing too much about what’s going on, and experiencing the anxiety of making necessary changes. Whistleblowers are not particularly welcome in groups because they do exactly that; they challenge the status quo. As Manson notes, the school shooters’ heinous plans were hiding in plain sight. In the case of the Virginia Tech shooter, as Manson notes, the campus police had been warned and one of his professors threatened to resign rather than teach another class with him in it. Obviously, it’s not always possible to monitor someone’s behavior 24/7 before the fact. What was the college administration’s thinking in allowing him on campus? If whistleblowers aren’t taken seriously, is violence inevitable? What do you think?
Alas, after reading this article, I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t appeal to the Huffington Post. While he makes some good points, the article is laced with pseudo-science and psychobabble. For one thing, the defense mechanism of denial is not caused by a psychological deficiency in our brains. Terrorists groups are more frightening than the lone terrorist precisely because they exist in groups with a shared twisted value system. And while it’s true that some people need help, it’s also true that unless a person believes that they need help, and sometimes even then, therapy is worthless. So much for empathy. Here’s my sound bite: Not all mental cases are killers but all killers are mental cases. The awful reality is that terrorist killings are part of a larger culture context, school shootings could not have occurred 30 years ago on the same scale as today for a combination of complicated psychological and sociological reasons, and as such there are here to stay. Do you agree?
