Sacramento media has started the blame game on the Colorado shooter
Anne Hart
According to reports, 12 people have been killed and at least 59 wounded when James Holmes allegedly opened fire inside a movie theater.
Sacramento media puts random violence usually on the second page of newspapers. If you look at the hundreds of headlines in mainstream and niche media, you can see the blame game has started on speculating the motive for the murders that the Aurora, Colorado shooter had for dressing up like the Joker in a Batman comic book or movie, and doing the wild thing that only the joker would do: mass killings with guns and booby trap explosions, chaos and mayhem. The media, like the shooter will go to any length of blame gaming to seek attention...or make an impact.
The shooter didn't dress up like the Dark Knight, a hero character. He choose the Joker, the evil side of humanity. Sacramento mainstream newspapers and radio programs are playing the blame game. This afternoon, one radio talk show host speculated that the shooter may have been taking anti-depressants which might have given him angry, aggressive thoughts as one motive as to why the shooter committed random violence. Meanwhile the statistics change from 59 to 70 injured and back again to 59, and from 12 to 14 killed thirty minutes into the premier at midnight of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Allegedly, the shooter tinted his hair red like the joker. Why the joker role instead of the Batman role at a midnight event where coming in costume wasn't the venue as in the Rocky Picture Horror Show. Did he want to make an impact like the joker does? It's out of character...for him. Or is it? The focus now is on the media and the blame game started in the news stories of motive and background.
If one gun won't go off, another will says the old adage
As the media sometimes surmises, when one gun won't go off, another will. See, Profile on sex site could belong to the Colorado shooter. The shooter's family lives in San Diego, CA. And the shooter graduated with honors from the University of California, Riverside before enrolling in graduate work in Colorado. There's only a thin line between violence and sex. Did the shooter get sexual satisfaction out of shooting guns or setting explosive booby traps in his apartment to distract the police to another part of the city?
Did the shooter want to go from depressive to manic? That's what today's radio talk show hosts may have surmised, but only the shooter knows for sure, or perhaps his physicians. Shootings don't take place in children's animation movies, and they don't take place usually in sexy movies. It seems stuffed toys and stuffed bikinis keep beasts at bay, at least that's the speculation. Yet the media contrasts how much out of character the Colorado shooter appears as he now sits in jail, himself not harmed by the chaos he created.
The Aurora, Colorado shooter graduated with honors in neuroscience from the University of California, Riverside and was a doctoral student in neuroscience until he recently dropped out of graduate school. Was he depressed after spending all that money on education and only being able to find a job that didn't pay enough?
He also worked in some of the research towers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Holmes was not in the medical school, but worked in research facilities on the campus. Holmes voluntarily left that program last month.
If you want to do a psychological profile on him, check out the article, A closer look at Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes. The shooter distinguished himself in academia. He was remembered as an outstanding student who attended college on a merit-based scholarship. But suddenly he was in the process of dropping out of the neuroscience department, according to the University of Colorado, where he enrolled last June as a graduate student. Check out the article, Aurora Suspect James Holmes' Mother: 'You Have the Right Person'.
What made him change his mind about finishing a graduate program?
The media even published an article about how the mainstream media is blaming the shooting and shooter on a wide variety of possibilities. See, Aurora Batman shootings media blame game begins in record time. Yes, the blame game has started.
Did he drop out due to lack of job future prospects? What you read in the media without references, quotes, and resources is all speculation, of course. Did he take anti-depressants? All these questions are not known. You eventually can look for footnotes in various mainstream media articles wherever the news allows space for fact-checking references.
The media blame game first focused on possible depression
So far the Aurora, CO shooter's behavior was blamed on depression, being bullied, belonging to various organizations, having a variety of cultural influences, moral failings, and political policies. See, 'Dark Knight Rises' Shooting Rattles Hollywood. But so far the medical history of the shooter is not reported yet in the media as of today. So speculation becomes quite creative with apologies that follow in the media, especially when it's commentary from TV and radio sources. Political views are tossed from left to right and back again. But time will unravel the mystery.
So far, the blame game didn't point a finger at prescription drugs for depression. No one yet knows whether the shooter even felt depressed. After all, he was angry enough to booby-trap his apartment so that if anyone entered they would be destroyed. The shooter didn't have a criminal history.
The TV and radio pundits blamed one event after another from his job status to his education and political leanings. All are theories. And so far fingers have been pointed at every possibility...except perhaps prescription drugs for depression, if the shooter even suffered from depression.
Only the shooter's doctor knows for sure
The shooter tinted his hair orange red and dressed up as the joker in a Batman comic book. He choose the joker's avatar role, not the hero Batman who's supposed to save the world. Will the next step in the media focus on whether or not he was depressed and perhaps taking anti-depressants or other drugs, either prescription or recreational?
Only the shooter's doctor knows for sure what drugs may have been taken, or if any drugs were prescription drugs for depression. Sometimes people with anger management problems are drugged down to keep them docile. Other times anti-depressants are prescribed for those with feelings of both depression and rage. When the rage turned inward (depression) is suddenly turn outward (rage) you get the scenario for either anger or it's escalated form, violence.
Does the shooter have a problem with serotonin?
Powerful psychotropic drugs like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), commonly known as anti-depressants can lead to violence as a result of psychotic breaks. At this time it is not known whether the Aurora, Colorado shooter had been taking any type of anti-depressants or other medicines for depression, even whether he had any depression.
Side effects associated with the class of antidepressants known as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that may drive people to suicide or violence against others is called by the term 'akathisia.' The term is only one of many side effects. If you check out the medical and legal documents, you can read how a 1984 Eli Lilly document showed akathisia occurred in at least 1% of patients long before Prozac was approved.
Homicides in patients taking anti-depressants are in the news
In a paper entitled, "Suicides and Homicides in Patients taking Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft: Why They Keep Happening - And Why They Will Continue," Dr Jay Cohen points out that, as soon SSRI's arrived on the market in the late 1980s, reports of sudden, unexpected suicides and homicides by patients taking the drugs began to come in. See the articles, Suicides and Homicides in Patients taking Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. and Dangerous Medications - Health Talk - Dr. Bob Martin.
Aggression and irritability in akathisia by reducing impulse control
There's a reference book physicians use to define mental issues called the DSM-IV. This reference book acknowledges the association of akathisia with suicidality and states: "Akathisia may be associated with dysphoria, irritability, aggression, or suicide attempts."
According to Dr Cohen, SSRI's can create a combination of side effects that reduce impulse control and cause severe agitation or restlessness that may become intolerable. He says, impulsive behavior coupled with impaired cognitive functioning can be dangerous. Now the question remains, did the Aurora, Colorado shooter suffer from depression and/or aggression, and did he take any of the drugs so many doctors are writing about? Check out the latest: Could A Brave Citizen With a Concealed Weapon Have Prevented the Aurora Shootings?
Holmes was apprehended by police outside the theater after allegedly killing 12 people and injuring another 50 during a late night screening of the blockbuster movie "The Dark Knight Rises," authorities said. Law enforcement officials told ABC News the weapons used in the massacre include a military-style AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and two handguns.
Booby-trapping his apartment to get at the police is something the Joker would do in a comic book
Did the shooter become his avatar? His apartment was booby trapped with loud music playing to attract police to come to the door around 1:00 a.m. If the police didn't send in a robot, the booby trap would have caused more mayhem as soon as the police opened the door. Now the problem for analysts to solve is the motive.
What makes a brilliant student of neuroscience drop out and turn on humanity with seemingly rabid hate? For more information, see the article, Colorado Suspect Bought 4 Guns, 6,000 Rounds of Ammunition in Past 60 Days. Speculation is that it wouldn't have happened in a more docile movie without violence and special effects that stir up the senses and impulses to mayhem, rage, and chaos.
Resources
Mass Violence caused by Anti-depressants and SSRI drugs Warnings that some prescription drugs cause violent thoughtsAntidepressants Cause Suicide and Violence | Encognitive.comAnti-Depressants; Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights)
Anti-depressants | Dave Kenny's Blog
The Role Of SSRI Anti-Depressants in the Columbine Shooting Abolish Suicide-Causing SSRI Anti-Depressants Virginia Tech massacre, crimes of violence, drugs and SSRI anti-depressants
Revealing the Link: SSRIs and School Shootings
'Dark Knight Rises' Shooting Rattles Hollywood