[ SECRET POST #3022 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3022 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Angel]


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03.
[Steven Moffat]


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04.
[Harry Potter]


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05.
[Trailer Park Boys]


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06.
(The Little Flying Bears)


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07.
[Once Upon a Time]


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08.
[Felicia Day]


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09.
[Doctor Who]


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10.
[Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory]


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11.
[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]


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12.
[The Simpsons - Tapped Out]


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13.
[Red Dwarf]


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14.
[Kyuhyun/Super Junior]


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15.
[X-Files]


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16.
[Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy]


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17.
[Madame Secretary]


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18.
[Amanda Palmer]








Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 075 secrets from Secret Submission Post #432.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[a_potato]

Hmm. You make some very good points.

I do think, however, that the final thrust of what ayrt was saying, that there are people who do terrible things without being ill, is an important point. Mental illness is a bit of a scapegoat for some in that way.

[(Anonymous)]

Sure, but here's the thing, and I am talking as someone who works directly with violent(!) clients at a psychology agency (people with illnesses/disabilities committed by the government who must have 24/7 supervision, many of whom are a serious risk to others as well as themselves)...

Mental illness is really hard to define. When it comes down to it, we still struggle to define it, let alone treat it. Defining mental illness as negative abnormalities is fine, but how does one apply that? We try to define what is "normal" behavior, and how "normal" people relate to society and the people around them. These are all really tough questions and psychologists can only do their best to fit people into DSM defined criteria. I agree that non-mentally ill people can do terrible things, especially as we define mentally ill. But is it "normal" behavior for a teenager who ostensibly was leading a typical college life to suddenly blow people up? I don't have an opinion about this one way or the other, that's between him and his psychologist. My point just is that defining things like mental illness, normal and abnormal, can be really hard to do.

[a_potato]

That's absolutely true, and you're right, it is really difficult to tease it all apart. And we probably won't really be able to until we can move beyond "normal" vs. "abnormal" (especially since what counts as normal or abnormal is constantly in flux).

I'm having a bit of trouble putting these thoughts together, but I'm going to give it a shot and see how it goes. When it comes to things like this, I think there's a lot of denial that goes on, and othering people who do terrible things by labeling them mentally ill is part of that denial. I think there's very few people who don't have a breaking point, and who aren't able to be pushed to do things that they truly believed they weren't capable of doing. It's a terrifying thought, so we tell ourselves it can't happen to us.

But that, of course, brings up the question of whether, once someone has been pushed to do terrible things, they haven't actually become mentally ill. And that brings up the question of whether doing terrible things is truly abnormal, since we all possess the ability to do terrible things, and that leads back to the idea of "normal" being a shifting concept that's defined by social acceptability.

It's a tough thing. A really tough thing. I think I'd be happy with it just be acknowledge as complicated, though, and a lot of times it's viewed very simplistically.

Hopefully that made some kind of sense, but either way, I really appreciate your perspective, especially since it's making me think a lot.

[insanenoodlyguy]

I think sometimes people and mad dogs end up in the same category: It's just better for the world to put them down, no matter how they ended up the way they are. I'll freely admit the system we have now is much worse at this then I'd like, but I don't find it entirely without merit.

I've little doubt if this guy ever got out he'd attempt something else horrible. And there's not really any good reasons to keep him alive, so...

[a_potato]

I agree. I definitely wouldn't want him to go free, especially given the crap some of his other family members have been saying.

I'm concerned about the othering that happens when it comes to things like this because I think it's easier to keep from doing terrible things when we admit that we're capable of them, and also because we have an alarming tendency to ignore or shrug off the awful people in our midst when those people don't fit a certain mold. We like to believe that predators are these easily recognizable cardboard cut-out villains, but they're usually not. Granted, I don't think it's good to go overboard with that recognition and start acting totally paranoid, but it'd be nice if more people would, for example, kick the creepy guy out of the group instead of saying, "oh, hey, he can get a little touchy-feely, so just don't get too close to him," because gosh, he's such a nice guy otherwise, and it's really pretty harmless...

[(Anonymous)]

Do you agree with state murder?

[(Anonymous)]

Have you stopped beating your spouse yet?

[a_potato]

That's a question I have some difficulty with. I've gone back and forth on it over the years, and it's troubling to me.

On balance, however, I am against capital punishment. I agree he shouldn't go free; I don't agree that he should be executed.

[(Anonymous)]

The death penalty is wrong is a good reason to keep him alive. We should keep our humanity even when others don't.

Humanity?

[insanenoodlyguy]

Humans kill the everloving fuck out of EVERYTHING! All the time!

Re: Humanity?

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed, it's kind of our nature. We pretend that it isn't, but at the end of the day...

[(Anonymous)]

Fucking Americans...

[(Anonymous)]

Non-American also here for the death penalty, in certain circumstances.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

Fucking non-Americans...