Dillogic wrote:
aghogday,
You can trust me with Martin Bryant; the Crown appointed team diagnosed him with Asperger's. Said disorder leading to social exclusion; he mentioned that people would make fun of him when in public due to his odd and eccentric behavior, and this was one of his "reasons"
The fact that Anders has been said to have AS by one team acknowledges that he has something similar in the least; a social disorder. Albeit, his seems to manifest as extreme egocentricity and black and white thinking (AS symptoms)--a comorbid PD seems to be likely too
Cho was diagnosed with a social disorder (selective mutism), which led to being socially shunned; he showed ASD symptoms at school with listening to a single song over and over again, socially inappropriate behavior and odd approaches to females, in addition to being socially isolated
What's apparent and shared with all of these individuals is social isolation (plus the extreme lack of empathy which can lead to demonizing others and doing what they did), such being deviate behavior compared to the majority.
There's nothing wrong with social isolation if it's what the individual wants, but if it's forced on people who don't want it due to mental illness and society, there's a problem.
It's also apparent that symptoms of ASDs can actually lead to these events; lack of empathy, egocentricity and black and white thinking.
According to the Wiki Article Martin Bryant was possibly autistic, but a potential diagnosis was disputed. While I trust that you believe he was diagnosed, there is no evidence presented in the Wiki article other than the one psychiatrist, Dr. Sale from the Crown Prosecution, that suggests he could be diagnosed with Aspergers and another psychiatrist from the defense that provides a description of a language delay, and a lack of RRB's that he indicates would negate such a possibility of a diagnosis of Aspergers; he doesn't mention the measured IQ of less than 70, but that would also prohibit such a diagnosis. Martin has some associated traits, but not enough warranted for a diagnosis per professional analysis, for Aspergers, under any current diagnostic standard.
Up to 30% of the population in US and Sweden have been evidenced to have at least one criteria associated with autism through research, yet none of these individuals are diagnosed. If you have evidence to refute what Wiki suggests, please provide it, but at this point the evidence presented indicates he does not have the symptoms required for Aspergers. I think it is possible that he could have been diagnosed with PDD NOS, but that is just speculation on the facts presented below. None of the credentialed experts suggested such a potential so I will defer to their analysis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_BryantQuote:
He was revealed to have an I.Q. of 66,[6] equivalent to an 11-year-old and in the bottom 1.17 percent of the Australian population, and was possibly autistic.
http://kildall.apana.org.au/autism/articles/bryant.htmlQuote:
Dr Sale, in his report of the 6 August 1996, indicates that in his opinion Mr Bryant manifested severe developmental problems during childhood and that he could be regarded as having shown a mixture of conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity and a rare condition known as Asperger's Syndrome. I am in agreement with Dr Sale that the records indicate that Mr Bryant was grossly disturbed from early childhood. He can certainly be fitted within the criteria for conduct disorder, but all this amounts to in the diagnostic manual is a list of a range of aggressive destructive and deceitful behaviors during childhood and as such does not advance understanding to any degree. Asperger's Syndrome is a condition which could explain some of the abnormalities in Mr Bryant and in noting this possibility Dr Sale raises a potentially important question. The section from the text on Forensic Psychiatry covering Asperger's Syndrome appended to his report by Dr Sale though providing a good account of the forensic implications does not adequately describe the critical clinical features (as one of the authors of the chapter I can perhaps be allowed this criticism). Mr Bryant craves the attention of others. He desires relationships but fails to effectively communicate with others unlike the patients with Asperger's who are blandly indifferent to others. Mr Bryant also lacks, in my opinion, the central features of this condition which are repetitive activities, unusual skills with all absorbing obsessive interests and problems with motor coordination. He also showed marked delay in the acquisition of language skills and required remedial therapy for this language deficit which is contrary to the picture found in those with Asperger's Syndrome.
There are many different disorders that have overlaps in symptoms with ASD's, as well as the 30% of individuals in the general population evidenced with traits not diagnosed with any disorder.
It is likely that close to 30% of rampage killers have at least one trait associated with autism spectrum disorders, considering that one can find that in the general population per the research that has been.
The factors associated with rampage killing have already been researched per 102 killers per the 2000 study, that I provided a link to earlier; the major factor associated is mental illness, but Autism Spectrum Disorders were not mentioned as a significant associated factor. There is a big difference between the broader autism phenotype and a diagnosis of a disorder.
If Joe Scarborough was referring to the broader autism phenotype in his comment about somewhere on an autism scale, it appears to be the equivalent of what you are suggesting here, as most of these recent rampage killers have a few symptoms that some have speculated upon, as well as the psychiatrist that has provided a diagnosis for Breivik, and Dr. Sale that expressed that Martin could be diagnosed with a mix of conditions including Aspergers.
The factors associated with why someone actually commits a rampage killer can only be provided definitively by the killer. In many cases the suspects either commits suicide or are killed in the events, so it becomes a third party analysis of possibilities. So far, the largest body of evidence provided was the 2000 research, indicates many factors potentially involved; social isolation or being shunned by others is certainly potentially one of them, but far from the only potential one.
And to clarify a lack of empathy and egocentricity are not criteria associated with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders; that was a theory proposed at one point in time by Samuel Baron Cohen, that he has since modified, but it has never been part of the diagnostic criteria.
Those two symptoms of a lack of empathy and egocentricity are criteria associated with anti-social personality disorder. Problems with empathy per the cognitive understanding aspect are an associated clinical feature of autism spectrum disorders.
Social isolation can be a result of problems associated with autism spectrum disorders, but by itself is not a criteria of autism spectrum disorders, as almost anyone in society can become socially isolated by their own efforts or related problems, or if shunned by others for many different reasons, some of which are not part of any diagnosis.
25 Jul 2012, 8:00 am
