Sandy Hook mass murderer Adam Lanza, 20, 'deeply disturbed kid'

[FarCenter]

He was dark and disturbed, a deeply troubled boy from a wealthy family who unnerved his neighbors and classmates. Mass murderer Adam Lanza, 20, was a ticking time bomb, people who knew him told the Daily News.

“This was a deeply disturbed kid,” a family insider told the Daily News. “He certainly had major issues. He was subject to outbursts from what I recall.” Lanza, who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger’s syndrome or a personality disorder, had a tortured mind.

...

Lanza’s strange behavior was well-known among his well-heeled neighbors in leafy Newtown, Conn. His antics irked several residents. “Adam Lanza has been a weird kid since we were 5 years old,” a neighbor and former classmate named Tim Dalton wrote on Twitter. “As horrible as this was, I can't say I am surprised . . . Burn in hell, Adam.”

...

Lanza was living with his devoted mother, Nancy, in the family’s four-bedroom, 3,100-square-foot estate. Nancy Lanza divorced Adam’s father, Peter, in 2008. Peter Lanza, now a vice president of taxes for GE Energy Financial Services, agreed to annual alimony payments that started at $240,000 and would have reached $298,800 in 2015.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752

[morningfog]

1. Wasn't the Aurora shooter's dad wealthy and connected , too?

[former-republican]

2. The local news said from a unconfirmed source "his brother said

He had a split personality and might have been on meds

Unconfirmed I want to emphasize but it was said on local news.

[kestrel91316]

3. "Split personality" is a meaningless lay term.

It is mistakenly applied to schizophrenics, who suffer from psychotic delusions, when those words would more rightly apply to multiple personality disorder. But now they have apparently decided that MPD is fake.

So there is no such thing as a split personality. It's an epithet and nothing more.

[former-republican]

5. I'm just saying what the local news reported

[FarCenter]

7. The question now is "Who was his doctor, what did the doctor know, and what meds was he on?"

[still_one]

16. I would be curious why his mother thought it necessary to have an assault weapon in the house

[tosh]

59. and why it wasn't secured and inaccessible to this son who she knew

to be disturbed.

[Cetacea]

28. "Schizophernia" literally means "broken soul or heart". Very close to the cause, imo

The ancients were on the right track long before we started treating them like sub-humans, rather than real people undergoing what is perhaps the most painful of all disabilities. There odd behaviors mask their suffering very well.IMO, they are people who had their hearts or spirits broken at a very early age along with limited coping skills of childhood. Young girls who turn in on themselves and become "mad" rather than out their beloved abusive parents, for instance.
My theory is that behind every mentally ill person lies a crimnal act or another king of early trauma. The biochemical effects onset follows.

[Ecumenist]

30. Actually, Schizophrenia literally means "cracked head" and it seems to be

an apt name to apply to a horrific mental illness.

[Cetacea]

38. Close enough and debatable. It still does mean "split personality"

And "cracked head " isn't exactly accurately descriptive or flattering to describe PEOPLE who have a sadness too deep for most people to comprehend.

[kestrel91316]

61. Schizophrenia has nothing to do with "deep sadness". It has nothing to do with

depression or emotional trauma (though it famously causes these in family and friends of the affected becauseof all the crap we have to witness and deal with from them).

You know ZERO about it. Please stop perpetuating these myths.

[Cetacea]

66. I should know.

I don't care if your alleged sister has it. Is she happy?


Goodbye Keesie. Go bully somebody else. I son't see you attacking Cali's OP, which is the same as mine was before I deleted it.

[kestrel91316]

73. My sister is in fine mental health. My mom had it and she's dead, prematurely

because her illness made her paranoid about doctors for decades and health problems went untreated.

You really don't belong here if you are going to be needlessly cruel along with making false statements about mental illness and its victims.

[Ecumenist]

71. Thank you, Kestrel. This person strikes me as someone who knows NOTHING about SchizoPhrenia

Schizo= cracked while Phrenia=Head. I was ENGAGED to a guy who turned out to be a PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC for 3 years...exactly, 2 years, 365.5 TOO LONG!! He was a jerk too but good grief, the ignorance is astounding.

[kestrel91316]

74. The schizo in schizophrenia means "split", and it refers to the split from reality that they have.

They live in a world of fantasy and paranoid delusions.

[Ecumenist]

75. Amen. The have visual and auditory hallucinations..... BOY, once you;ve

known a schizophrenic, you NEVER forget it. NEVER.

[kestrel91316]

77. After 40 years of dealing with my mom, I do know a thing

or three about how schizophrenics think and act, and what motivates them to do a lot of the things they do.

You can't imagine how much I wish I didn't know, and hadn't had to learn.

[eShirl]

36. Wow, you know nothing about it.

[Cetacea]

37. Wow. Try me.

You have no idea about what I know dearie, do you?

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. "It must be because of a traumatic childhood" is a comforting fiction.

mental illness can strike anyone, or their children.

We look for causes to try to make us feel less vulnerable.

[Cetacea]

47. You are misquoting.

I wrote that it was my own opinion.

To clarify, mental illness has many cofactors including socio/economics conditions,childhood trauma, abusive parents, and biochemical disruptions. However, I believe that the biochemical disruptions come after the other factors, not before. Unless there is clear organic brain damage or other neurological conditions.

[Cetacea]

49. In addition...

It is , to use your words, a "comforting fiction" to believe people do not have the means or capacities to make children mentally ill. Ask any social worker. Or Psychiatrist.

[kestrel91316]

64. People, no matter how poor their parenting skills, can not make a child schizophrenic.

And good parenting cannot fix it. Psychotherapy cannot fix it. Drugs cannot cure it, though some can help diminish the paranoia and delusions. It is a CHRONIC, incurable disease of the brain. It is NOT a sign of bad personal character nor is it a personality defect. It's not bad behavior - it's a broken brain.

Are you aware that schizophrenia is the exact name for a specific disease? That it is not just some vague descriptive term?

[kestrel91316]

63. Mental illness is a catch-all term for a lot of different disorders.

Some, like schizophrenia, are due to physical brain disease with genetic and infectious disease and in utero nutritional influences.

Others, like depression and some of the behavioral and temperament problems have a huge environmental component.

Your belief system is not correct.

[Cetacea]

68. Until there is a cure, everyone's belief systems are incorrect.

And that is all we have to work with, theories and belief systems. And we haven't even scratched the surface on the role of side effects various psych meds on people once they are diagnose (or misdiagnosed). The side effects of many of the drugs can produce the symptoms they are intended to stop.
Read the black box warnings and entries in the PDR.
I am not anti-meds.

[kestrel91316]

62. Stop perpetuating these myths about schizophrenia.

Seriously. Such gross misconceptions are not helpful to victims or families.

[Cetacea]

65. I am a diagnosed schizophrenic.

We only have theories to work with, dear. Psychiatry has no known solutuion and they really do not what causes this hell.
In the meantime, I will continue to theorize and search for a real cure as well as the real cause.
And yes, people are capable of driving other people mad.

[Shiraz]

57. All mental illness is not caused by abuse.

I have a family full of mental disorders and it is linked to Fragile X syndrome.

[kestrel91316]

60. Schizophrenia is a physical brain disease. There is a genetic component - children of

the affected have at least double the normal chance of developing the disease. They also suspect in utero neurologic damage (there is some speculation about exposure to Toxoplasma gondii).

What they DO know is that it it NOT caused by emotional trauma of any kind. Parental abuse does not make a person schizophrenic. Again, it's multiple personality disorder that was supposedly brought about by trauma from abuse - but now they have decided that MPD is fake. I tend to concur. The three faces of Eve story and the Sybil story were proven to be faked.

I'm sort of an expert. My mom was schizophrenic and we had a whole lot of nonsense to deal with from her for most of her life.

[Ecumenist]

72. CETACEA. with all due respect, it's not biochemical. It's ORGANIC It can actually be seen on

live scans of the brain. There are theories that the age of onset may be related to puberty and the action os sex hormones on an affected brain. One can have Schizoid issues that mimic some parts of schizophrenia as a result of certain drug ingestion, for instance but true SCHIZOPHRENIA IS NOT CHEMICAL., not in the classical sense, ie, Bipolar syndrome or clinical depression.

[ananda]

14. Meds are key here.

They were in other shootings too.

[former-republican]

20. If the report is accurate he was on some type of psychiatric medication

I'm sure the physician is having a long night tonight.

This is probably something that will take a couple of days to develop and be reported accurately.

[FarCenter]

22. It seems that violence can be a side effect or a result of withdrawal when the patient goes off meds

Not sure what percent of mass murderers have been on meds, but it seems high.

[underpants]

48. Having worked in the MH field "take their meds" is the key phrase

we have made huge gains in MH drugs. As long as they TAKE THEIR MEDS that removes about 95% of the threat of a problem.

[frazzled]

4. I don't understand what this "devoted mother" was doing ...

with such an arsenal of weapons registered in her name, when she knew she had a disturbed son in the house. I honestly don't understand it.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. That has me puzzled, too.

I could see maybe having one weapon for protection since she seems to be well-to-do and might have been a target for thieves, but three high-powered weapons seems a bit much. Maybe she got them in the divorce settlement.

A shame the kid couldn't have gotten the help he so obviously needed.

[FarCenter]

8. With alimony at $250+ K / year, I'd bet that Adam was in some kind of treatment

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I would hope so,

but sometimes parents refuse to see the flaws in their children or think they can handle the child themselves. Or there is also the possibility that he had an unfortunate reaction to some psychotropic drug that he had been prescribed. I assume that any treating physician would be released from doctor-patient confidentiality constraints now that Adam and his mother are dead; perhaps someone will come forward with more insight.

[JI7]

9. and it's making me really angry at the parents

[napi21]

10. Boy do I agree with that!

When I heard it was Mom who bought the gunsd, I questionhed the same thing. A teacher, more than any other professional, should recognize a problem child, and why in the world would she buy guns (for them) if she knew one of her sons had a problem? Obviously we'l never know since mom and dad is dead and so is the son. How much his living brother knows or will tell anyone is debateable.

[FarCenter]

11. The father is alive and well. Early reports were wrong.

The father is living in Stamford with his new wife. Nancy initiated the divorce.

[napi21]

15. I wonder if he was close enough to his son to provide any answers? nt

[FarCenter]

23. Earlier on TV, a neighbor said that they'd never seen the son at the house in Stamford

However, they didn't spend much time at home. He had a full time job and also taught college on the side.

[Michigan Alum]

19. Not very smart. Unless she had them to protect herself from him.

[underpants]

51. “She said she would often go target shooting with her kids,” landscaper Dan Holmes said

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021990374

[Cetacea]

56. Maybe she was a gun nut. We just don't know many of the facts yet.

And according to some reports, he was an intelligent and level headed person. I don't think he just "snapped". There must have been events occurring within this family that we simply do not know about.

Too sad all around.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Like most people that buy guns

to protect herself from all threats...outside and inside.

And they never think that somehow the person they are scared of the most will get hold of the gun. And they almost always do.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

27. For all we know she got half her husbands gun collection in the divorce.

This was what I started wondering when I heard it reported the father also owned several guns.

Sometimes people do stupid things during a divorce.

[vaberella]

31. Lots of people like guns. I knew a surfing Grandmother with a hip replacement.

Unusual things happen.

[kysrsoze]

12. And yet his fucking stupid mother kept 5 guns, one an assault rifle, in the house.

We are now in bizarro world.

[still_one]

18. Unbelievable

[FarCenter]

17. "Adam Lanza’s mother found dead, ‘badly disfigured’"

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50205180#50205180

[vaberella]

32. So that was a head shot. n/t

[FarCenter]

33. Earlier reports were that she was shot in the face

However, entry wounds from a 9 mm would not disfigure her face. So either he shot her in the back of the head, and her face was disfigured by the exit wounds (which would need to be multiple to cause disfiguration), or he caused trauma to her face by other means.

[TwilightGardener]

24. He clearly had a long history of mental disturbance--as others

have said, WHY would his mother keep ANY guns in the house? It makes zero sense. But it does sadden me to read that no one outside of his parents ever seemed to love or care about this kid. He was a pariah all his life, if the quotes are accurate. Doesn't take a lot of imagination to see what this does to a young person's sense of empathy and his world view.

[former-republican]

25. found this

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752



Lanza, who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger’s syndrome or a personality disorder, had a tortured mind

[FarCenter]

26. He had a nevous system defect

A “longtime” family friend said Lanza had a condition “where he couldn’t feel pain.”

“A few years ago when he was on the baseball team, everyone had to be careful that he didn’t fall because he could get hurt and not feel it,” said the friend. “Adam had a lot of mental problems.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752

[Cetacea]

42. The mentally ill are no more violent than any other group. Why deprive them of guns?

And in fact they are more likely to be victims of violent crime than the rest of the population. Therefore, they are even more entitled to self-defense than the rest of us.

[tabasco]

46. LOL!

Good one.

[TwilightGardener]

67. There are different forms of mental illness, and it's all on

a spectrum anyway. I don't consider Aspergers to be a mental illness, BTW, that is a development issue. I do consider schizophrenia to be one of the reasons not to own a gun. Severe depression, PTSD, certain personality disorders, etc.--reasons not to own a gun, at least not until there is certain recovery and normal functioning. You wouldn't want a person with poorly controlled epilepsy to drive a car. You don't want someone with poorly controlled moods, thoughts, emotions, and impulses to be able to take out a schoolroom full of children.

[LarryNM]

29. If Caretakers Can Not or Will Not Provide Necessary Care

Then Mandatory InPatient Care should be Required for the safety and well being of the rest of society, as well as, the patient themselves.

[Barack_America]

40. Republicans have shut those resources down.

The mentally ill have been forced to fend for themselves in most states. They can get periodic inpatient treatment, but long-term resources have been gutted.

[Jefferson23]

34. Asperger's OR a personality disorder?? The press seems to believe they do not owe the public

validated information. Among other false reports, his mother was a teacher at the school, now
that is not true either. The shooter's brother gets named as the shooter, on an on with mistakes.

Now the shooter was an Asperger kid OR a personality disorder..as if the two are in any way
similar...what fucking bullshit shoddy reporting.

Instead of waiting to confirm anything, they release speculation.

[lumberjack_jeff]

43. +1 n/t

[CountAllVotes]

54. That is absolutely the case!

n/t

[zen_bohemian]

35. Lanza's mom, according to another article, was an avid gun collector

and target shooter, thus the guns in the home. I am not sure if these guns were locked up in the home or what, but knowing that this young man was mentally ill and recently having more chronic episodes, maybe the guns should have been taken out of the home or locked up and all ammo taken out of the home, for his protection as well as the protection of others, what a horrible senseless heinous tragedy, it just makes me sick.

[underpants]

52. “She said she would often go target shooting with her kids,” landscaper Dan Holmes said

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021990374

[zen_bohemian]

58. geeze

I am not a gun person, so I guess I just can't understand this obsession with gun collecting and shooting. What a sad situation, those poor children and their families, something needs to be done to protect our children in school, this is happening way too much, it has to stop now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. And yet, another profile has him as shy and intelligent

They talk of a boy who dressed smartly and worked hard, but who barely said a word during his time at school.
...
Lanza was "obviously not well", a relative told ABC News.
...
He went on to Newtown High School, but made few friends. Intelligent but shy and nervous were the most common memories of those who learnt beside him.

A former classmate, Olivia DeVivo, told the New York Times: "I never saw him with anyone. I can't even think of one person that was associated with him."
...
"You know the trouble kids, and you figure, 'Pfft, that one's going to be trouble.' But I never would have thought that about them," she told the Hartford Courant newspaper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20738732

And a similar profile: Shock in Connecticut that nice kid could be responsible for such horror

[Cali_Democrat]

44. What exactly was the mother devoted to? Her guns?

Clearly she is to blame for much of this.

[underpants]

50. Come on - that's not fair

she died yesterday. Can we lay off that for a few days at least?

[reformist2]

45. $240K alimony per year? My God. That kid ought to have been getting the best care in the world.

Instead it looks like he was being left alone all day in a house full of guns? O_O

[Freddie]

55. Only if he wanted treatment

Sadly, as an adult, he could not be forced into any kind of treatment or meds. This is the tragedy of mental illness as many of them, including schizophrenia, manifest in young adults who can no longer be forced into treatment by their parents or school.

[CountAllVotes]

53. or a personality disorder

There you go, a "personality disorder" perhaps. This is what these professionals always come up with as a DX when they do not know what the real problem or DX is!

In any event, this psycho creep has killed 27 people, 20 of them being children.

Personality disorder? Personality disorder my ass!

How about a plain evil human being?

[KamaAina]

69. "who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger’s syndrome or a personality disorder,"

Well, which is it? They are two entirely different things. Personality disorder is consistent with mass murder. Asperger's isn't. But as long as the M$M keeps putting it out there, neurotypicals (the rest of you) are going to continue to view us as potential mass murders, serial killers, what have you.

[Jefferson23]

70. The reporting has been beyond pathetic, worse than their usual for the MSM.

I hear your frustration on the false causation that is implied..it is not helpful and
I worry about the implications of it too.

[Old and In the Way]

76. Really?

Is this news? Of course he was...maybe the most insane of all the mass killers that have committed mass killings. Wouldn't he, by CV, be the gold standard of the Disturbed?