I believe that these are the reasons for the massive defensiveness when MI is brought up. I also believe it just scares us and makes us feel vulnerable when people can hide in plain sight like this. We just cannot fathom that their pathology would not be on full and obvious display as some sort of overtly obvious warning. It just doesn't work like that. And people do not have to fit stereotypical narratives or ideas about the mentally ill to be actually mentally ill.
I think the most prevalent reason for all of the resistance and push back surrounds the overall stigma and misunderstanding of mental illness, how common it is, It's presence in the overall human condition and its complexity escapes people. The stigma is REAL. It leads to resistance in so many ways.
The 'defensiveness' is based on there being no actual evidence or history of known psychiatric problems.
There is also an aspect of white Americans automatically being cast as mentally ill whenever they commit an outrageous act, a Muslim/alleged/Daesh /AlQ carrying out similar act is automatically called a terrorist and the act an act of terrorism.
In fact any major attack on humanity is blamed first on Islam.. before the facts emerge. They were in this case too. Islamophobia is rampant.
My resistance to a mental illness label on this
dude is that there is no evidence he had lost the plot.
From what we know so far.. he was determined, willful, focused, alert and highly efficient.
He was highly intelligent and his calculations had even included wind velocity.. thats serious precision.
Re the gambling 'addiction' diagnosis, can people not see that some people work at 'gambling'- to make a living.. its a mathematical exercise.. with known odds.. Its their job..no more intense than several hours spent accounting for a salary.
whereas we know he had 2 failed marriages we are not aware of why they failed..
I think, its more likely his addiction was sexual, if that was an addiction..
The most important point is his rationale for a mass killing.
If not politically or personally motivated, then why?
what is the significance of the date October 1, 2017 for him? Add them, it comes to21=3..
What date did his father die?
any date in his life or in history that makes this significant?
Is there any evidence anywhere of his membership in any organisation at all?
This dour man..sometimes I get a feeling he had a deadline here, based on the alleged disintegration of his physical health.
the wSJ article, I posted earlier stated Sheriff was aware of medications but he did not elaborate on what they might have been..
I would be very interested in his autopsy blood tox screen, and general state of his body, possibly was terminal.. speculation..
I wonder if he ever met his father and the kinds of feelings he had about both his diagnosis and his treatment by LE.