10ofRods
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In the state of Washington, that is likely true regarding firearm purchases. It just wouldn't be worth him even attempting to try it there (I did a quick scan of the laws). Here in Ky., I could probably trade a decent used cellphone for one, on the courthouse steps. We're not called Guntucky for nothing!
The depersonalisation, with VSS, seemed more to me, like an out-of-body experience, that one would know is not real, but it would still be frightening. One would feel disconnected from themself. So far, I've not read of a correlation with violence. Though I feel that he depersonalizes others, in another use of the word, and lacks empathy, in order to have committed these murders. If he has VSS, w/depersonalization, I don't see how he functioned. I'm very wary that he truly had VSS, due to his ability to move around freely, grade papers, see at night, drive a car, easily get in and out of the victims' homes, and progress so far in pursuing his education. (Just based on my very limited research, and having only just learned of it. I may not be fully understanding the condition. )
JIC anyone wants to look;
Washington State's Guidelines
The visual disturbances themselves are on a continuum (so some people can drive at night).
That being said, I don't see how he functioned either, which is why I'm comparing him to the murderer, David Attias, whose parents thought he was functioning well enough to send him off to university, where he fairly quickly decompensated. He got halfway through his freshman year:
David Attias | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Murderpedia, the free online encyclopedic dictionary of murderers. The largest database about serial killers, mass murderers and spree killers around the world
murderpedia.org
I don't think anyone fully understands VSS. Most of the research is fairly recent:
Visual snow syndrome
Objective To validate the current criteria of visual snow and to describe its common phenotype using a substantial clinical database. Methods We performed a web-based survey of patients with self-assessed visual snow (n = 1,104), with either the complete visual snow syndrome (n = 1,061) or...
n.neurology.org
Some people have it really badly, others do not. This article actually goes into depersonalization as a symptom in VSS. It appears to be a dysfunction of the visual cortices (in the back of the head). Most of the research on it is very recent. Here's a good rundown of the psychiatric research into VSS:
Frontiers | The Psychiatric Symptomology of Visual Snow Syndrome
Objective: To characterise the psychiatric symptoms of visual snow syndrome (VSS), and determine their relationship to quality of life and severity of visual...
www.frontiersin.org
It's really hard to know how to separate the visual symptoms from other possibly psychological symptoms.
There are MRI and other pictures in those articles, it's quite clear there's brain dysfunction.