Attention to whatever a person in such ill condition is obcessing about is more likey push, than just ‘wanting to get attention for attention’s sake”…. although, IF led by bumbling interviewers after the fact, a very ill person will often cop to anything, even when it isnt true. Same issue: they cannot distinguish the weight of one thing from another, they cannot weigh matters accurately…for them there is no foreground, midground and background in their thinking and acting, only FOREGROUND, in all CAPS, ALL THE TIME.

If this soul is suffering from what I sense he is ill with, he would definitely weave together many kinds of self-perceived oppressions. In persons with this category of illnesses, ( made worse by illicit drugs or alcohol,) their delusions are often interwoven with politics or else religion. There’s a ‘MUST’ inside theirminds that is pushing them, MUST talk to someone, MUST tell the world, MUST… no matter how disorganized.

Neurotics (like all of us), know when our thoughts or behaviors are ‘off.” People suffering a psychosis do not realize their thoughts are ‘way out there,’ nor that their confabulations are strange and most often unworkable. They do not realize, in the same way we would, that their behaviors endanger themselves and others. They have just enough ability to locomote about, just enough grasp of reality to dress, take a bus, etc.

Their functionality in those spheres is often confusing to so-called normal folks… how come if he knows how to tie his necktie and can plan and gather, and show up, and find his own house, he is also delusional? This abilty to be present and seeming ‘normal’ in some ways, at least part of the time, is what throws people off so they dont realize the inherent danger.

Sadly, we see this over and over again, the being thrown off by the cues, and not wanting to intrude in someone else’s life, and also placing a high value on allowing others and self to be free. The young men– Kliebold, Harris, Cho, and so many others suffering from similar illnesses– had very similar features of functionality and yet devastating illness at the same time.

Very ill people often are, functional in certain ordinary ways, and dysfunctional socially, workwise, relationshipwise, with increasingly grandiose claims, demands and behaviors, etc.

In this man’s case, I think, and I am only making an educated guess, I dont think he ‘decided’ to cross a line. I think his brain chemistry pushed him across the line; that there is no choice involved in a very ill person (assuming he is so), only pressure to act according to haunted and unusually orderly– but at the same time– disorganized and delusional thoughts.

hope this helps. your questions are good ones. It is a complicated issue that some want to attribute to willfulness. It isn’t. It’s from being driven. Heavy auto with brake lines cut. Tipping downhill. Tragic. And sometimes, if not contained…tragedies for others as well.

Important to contain. A priori. Vital. And difficult for many reasons

Voice in Wilderness about this matter for years now… early and consistent care of the ill. Too often decided by people who ‘don’t know,’ or those in legislatures trying to save money on the backs of the most ill who walk amongst us. My time at legislatures testifying re this matter of wrongfully turning severely ill people out of group homes and halfway houses… but that too is a story for another time. As often as I testify ‘for’, there are ten who testify to the contrary to fill their own pockets. Yet, I come across so so many people out here in The Wilderness, all trying to influence to the good. The lay of the land.

I love the story of the little tailor who slew 10,000 with one strike of his sword. Even though the ten thousand were only flies. At first. You have GOT to start somewhere. lol
dr.e

We’ll see if my instincts are on the right track or not.

My hat is off to the SWT teams’ negotiators. To make the right call in such circumstances requires more cool nerve that most of us can imagine.

dear jilly: Oh oh, I think you’re on to me… you mean globbleflak is not really an OED word? Re your link… Is that a site dedicated to ‘new words”? If so, can anyone make one up? I suggest “snowclowns.” Can you picture that in your mind? Aw, he’s just snowclowning around. He needs a snowclownectomy. What poor snowclownology. Hey look! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no! it’s …a… omg, a snooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwclown!”
dr.e

The were still praising themselves for this heroic restraint as I was switching channels.

(We would have given Putin another excuse to blame the USA and the West for more problems in Russia had we recovered everyone alive with fentanyl. Bring out the snoozing bodies and place a toy bear on the hostage-taker, heh, heh.)

DAN RATHER

and he didn’t even care about even-handedness.

I just hope the news mediums that are so large and that so many depend upon for factual news, are only funny on purpose, not laughable, (that would include all of us, too… although, I don’t know, it’s sort of hard to avoid being so at least occasionally….hopefully those are few and far between).

It is interesting to follow today, how the journos on the street reporting for tv on this particular story of a man taking hostages and threatening life, seem to carry an entirely different emotional quotient than those reporting from the studio on the same story.

I think you definitely have a career as a
humorist. An intelligent one.

I believe some of the liberals on here would rephrase that, that I am a sick joke. Oh, well. Thank you.

The second factor of potential ‘triggers’ by news media with unintended consequences, is a much discussed factor by journos … an ongoing discussion about how/if/why the interstices of some reportage in media (any media) potentially clashes with what is most needed for tactical safety in an ongoing critical case… whether that be a case where hostages are being held, where an armed person, or a dangerous person’s mental state is undetermined as yet, or even when so… assuming they have posed harm to self and/or others. (addendum) Sorry, I cdn’t finish all my comment to you earlier while trying to answer others and at the same time do the updates for this story. I think you’re right, it would have been better to have added to the article, that I was, with a background in post-trauma crit incident recovery, hoping to shed more light on that particular issue. That would hopefully have made my intent more clear.

Dear Domajot: big media and hospitals seem sometimes to have some of the same issues re being staffed. Yours is a good insight. I notice on Fox, the newscaster referred to in article has not been replayed… in fact, Neil Cavuto, one of their sturdy and reliable newscasters has since been brought in and has been interviewing various since. I think John Gibson is up next, who I think will continue interviewing whichever peripheral witnesses will speak, while taking a direct feed from the site.

There’s just now an alert on this story, so I’ll move to UPDATE in a few seconds here.

ALERT

beacon on the lower right edge of the screen? Will the beacon be shown continuously until the event is concluded? Will Mr. or Ms. CSI be on-site wearing clothing similar to what’s on today’s crime and police shows? (I don’t watch teevee, so I am not sure what is worn now, but it’s probably poorer dress than used to be the case — halter top or if a guy, shirt is stupidly not tucked in, et cetera.)

In the midst of a crisis, being bad is unforgiveable, when you think about those depending on the news for information about people they care about..

Cost cutting is reflected in the quality of those moderating the ongoing news of the day. Sometimes, it seems they are required to pass a stupidity test for job qualification.