It's happened again -- another mass slaying. This time it took place in Binghamton, NY and current reports suggest as many as 13 may be dead and plenty more wounded. It wasn't that long ago that we learned of a killing spree in a nursing home in North Carolina or two family murder-suicides in California. Just say the words "Columbine" or "Virginia Tech" and most people immediately know what you're referring to.
My heart goes out to the families of the dead. I also feel much sympathy for those -- physically harmed or not -- who managed to live through the ordeal. While the physical wounds will often heal in time, the psychological ones tend to hold on much longer.
One of my fears is that we're going to be reading and hearing about more such acts in the future. Our economic free fall is creating stress and tension on our society as a whole. For some people, when the stress becomes too much to hold back, it explodes in a frenzy of random violence.
When horrific events such as this occur, one of the common sentiments expressed by people is that they can't understand what would drive a person this far over the edge. As I've written in this space before, I don't think that's what really scares most of us. No, what frightens us to no end is that we DO understand.
The difference between most of the perpetrators of random violence and the rest of us is that we have social support systems and they usually don't. When we feel like we can't take it any longer, we have people in our lives to help us get perspective and to choose more healthy ways to deal with our frustration, depression and anger.
But while we are able to suppress and work through our feelings, we understand those feelings well. The fear comes when we think, "What if my support system fails me?" or "What if the stress overwhelmed my support system?"
I'm not suggesting that I expect to hear that one of my faithful readers has just gunned down 40 people in a bus mall in Peoria or Miami. And I'm not suggesting any of you will read about me committing this type of heinous act. All I'm suggesting is that, if we're really honest with ourselves, we do have an inkling of why and how a person could commit such acts.
My heart goes out to the families of the dead. I also feel much sympathy for those -- physically harmed or not -- who managed to live through the ordeal. While the physical wounds will often heal in time, the psychological ones tend to hold on much longer.
One of my fears is that we're going to be reading and hearing about more such acts in the future. Our economic free fall is creating stress and tension on our society as a whole. For some people, when the stress becomes too much to hold back, it explodes in a frenzy of random violence.
When horrific events such as this occur, one of the common sentiments expressed by people is that they can't understand what would drive a person this far over the edge. As I've written in this space before, I don't think that's what really scares most of us. No, what frightens us to no end is that we DO understand.
The difference between most of the perpetrators of random violence and the rest of us is that we have social support systems and they usually don't. When we feel like we can't take it any longer, we have people in our lives to help us get perspective and to choose more healthy ways to deal with our frustration, depression and anger.
But while we are able to suppress and work through our feelings, we understand those feelings well. The fear comes when we think, "What if my support system fails me?" or "What if the stress overwhelmed my support system?"
I'm not suggesting that I expect to hear that one of my faithful readers has just gunned down 40 people in a bus mall in Peoria or Miami. And I'm not suggesting any of you will read about me committing this type of heinous act. All I'm suggesting is that, if we're really honest with ourselves, we do have an inkling of why and how a person could commit such acts.
RT,
ReplyDeleteYou always keep it real.
Thank you.