High Functioning autism and mass shootings correlation?

[Rædwald]

More likely the psych meds, surgeries, identity confusion et cetera. If someone with spectrum disorder shouldn't own a firearm then everyone on this board should be excluded from that privilege as well.

[rothaer]

I will say something controversial: high functioning autism may be a significant factor in many mass shootings by young adults.
(...)

Thanks, a nice compilation.

You will be basically right.

Autism spectrum individuals regularly are more independent mentally and going "their own ways". Considering this, it's close to banal that being an autism spectrum individual is promoting essentially whatever off-mainstream activity.

I guess that autism spectrum individuals in average also do have less empathy than those who are not, which is generally said to ease whatever harmful to others behaviour. I can imagine that less empathy is not necessarly directly connected to having autism spectrum conditions (idk), but I expect that a lower amount of experienced human interactions - as is supposed for such individuals - will give a lesser contribution to the development of empathy. A particularly high amount of empathy is likely also not even needed or useful for those individuals.

Whatever trait can be exaggerated and make the carriers become dysfunctional, you can become too tall, you can become too small, you can become too agressive, you can become too caring for others only etc. etc. And "autistic tendencies" can be exaggerated to autism proper, which is doubtlessly dysfunctional. But "autistic tendencies" have been useful and thus once likely even selected for in the evolution:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0603122849.htm
https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/lonely-hunters/
https://www.zmescience.com/science/n...age-evolution/

And for some tasks such traits will be useful today as well. Maybe even for making the compilation in the OP and the respective observations that it's based on.

[rothaer]

It's not only that. Psychopharmacology is the dinosaur in the room (...)

Yes, and I was first about to comment on the fact that

"Patrick Crusius “has been diagnosed with severe, lifelong neurological and mental disabilities” and was treated with antipsychotic medication following his arrest moments after the massacre in El Paso (...)."

and that than Colonel wrote

"Nothing is specifically stated but I am comfortable claiming him as autistic."

I wanted to comment that a notorious psychotic disorder totally overweights in it's causalty the circumstance that he might have been autistic as well. But actually Colonel didn't state that autism would be the main reason in any of these cases. It's just that it also appears overproportionally and that it might have contributed and thus be linked to that event happening. And indeed, the same psychotic individual without autistic traits (making it easier to go one's own way) might have had a lower probability of carrying out the mass shooting (which is not exactly the mainstream way).

[Todesritter]

Autism spectrum individuals regularly are more independent mentally and going "their own ways". Considering this, it's close to banal that being an autism spectrum individual is promoting essentially whatever off-mainstream activity.

I guess that autism spectrum individuals in average also do have less empathy than those who are not, which is generally said to ease whatever harmful to others behaviour. I can imagine that less empathy is not necessarly directly connected to having autism spectrum conditions (idk), but I expect that a lower amount of experienced human interactions - as is supposed for such individuals - will give a lesser contribution to the development of empathy. A particularly high amount of empathy is likely also not even needed or useful for those individuals.

Lower cognitive empathy - partially caused by lower social adhesion and difficulty communicating the same way non-autists do - is actually a hallmark feature of autism. It's not acquired naturally as with unaffected individuals, or it's developed to a lesser extent, and needs to be taught or modeled cognitively in the mind in order to simulate cognitive empathy by learning to recognize patterns of behaviour among others. There is also a higher correlation between autism and difficulties recognising and identifying emotions, which affects empathy as well.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Well, since autistic people often feel misunderstood, have problems making friends and fitting in, I would assume more of them would be isolated and frustrated with life. That tends to be a common thread with mass shooters….they feel separated and alone, and are lashing out at the people who they feel are rejecting them.

Since this shooter went to that school, she may have held a grudge if she was bullied.

I don't know if she was bullied, but from what I could gather, her parents were religious (which, I guess, would be obvious because they had sent her to that school. However, a religious reason isn't always why someone is sent to a particular school. I went to Catholic school with a Jewish girl and a Protestant, for example).

Her parents had difficulty accepting her choice on religious grounds, apparently, but she lived with them, and so you have to think they were accommodating. In many cases, these people are kicked out of their homes once they turn 18. She was 28. In some instances, they're kicked out before they're 18 (although that isn't legal) and wander to a nearby city where they become prostitutes. Although, for whatever reason, that doesn't appear to be a thing anymore, or maybe I'm just not aware. I do remember in the 90s of runaways in NYC. Often they were gay.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

More likely the psych meds, surgeries, identity confusion et cetera. If someone with spectrum disorder shouldn't own a firearm then everyone on this board should be excluded from that privilege as well.

High functioning autism isn't a mental illness and so I wouldn't restrict their gun rights. Plenty of HFA can live normal, albeit annoying, lives. I wouldn't restrict a law abiding Black man from owning a gun just because of the very high rates of gun violence among Black men. I get worried when people react to extremes.

[hmaohma78]

The Overrepresentation of highly functional autist is the ability of them being able to hyperfocus. So when they do lash out it's to a higher degree. I believe their is an undercount of people who are in the spectrum.

[Anglo-Celtic]

I suspect SSRI are also an issue. Anyone here on SSRIs? Does it make you emotionally numb?

I took Prozac after my dad died. I had fewer black days (worst times) *and* fewer white days (best times), so I had more gray days (meh times). I missed the highs, so I consumed more sugar to boost my mood, even though I wasn't depressed. The meh days can be likened to banal, blah, bland, boring Zoomer culture (as opposed to disco, new wave, grunge rock, hipsters) without the colored hair, if that makes sense.

[Anglo-Celtic]

SSRIs are a fucking scourge and should be forbidden except for fringe cases; all psych meds should be relegated to fringe cases that aren't helpful and people who are on antidepressants and mood stabilisers shouldn't get easy access to weapons, neurological disorders themselves aren't necessarily a precedent for violence except for certain specific types.

I would also add the changing of social and especially familial dynamics, lack of support etc to the list of things contributing to exacerbated violence among youth today that sees no other outlets of life, and general lack of faith, nihilistic postmodern outlooks. All things that might drive someone to a suicidal mass shooting. I suspect a lot of these are suicide-by-proxy or outright suicidal, no one reasonably expects to live a normal life after committing a mass shooting.

Community ties and familial ties are vital to most people's emotional health, and modern society lost so much of both in First World countries over the past few decades. The psychotropic drugs just pour gas on the fire. There are other factors that make bad situations worse, but they play less significant roles. None of this is considered by the Washington gun-grabbers who work as pharmaceutical company representatives.

[Anglo-Celtic]

Yes, and I was first about to comment on the fact that

"Patrick Crusius “has been diagnosed with severe, lifelong neurological and mental disabilities” and was treated with antipsychotic medication following his arrest moments after the massacre in El Paso (...)."

and that than Colonel wrote

"Nothing is specifically stated but I am comfortable claiming him as autistic."

I wanted to comment that a notorious psychotic disorder totally overweights in it's causalty the circumstance that he might have been autistic as well. But actually Colonel didn't state that autism would be the main reason in any of these cases. It's just that it also appears overproportionally and that it might have contributed and thus be linked to that event happening. And indeed, the same psychotic individual without autistic traits (making it easier to go one's own way) might have had a lower probability of carrying out the mass shooting (which is not exactly the mainstream way).

It's obviously a contributing factor, if not *the* contributing factor. Yet, the propagandists treat it like fairy dust. One could find correlations between the rise of psychotropic drug usage and school shooting events, as well as a comparison between shooters who took them and shooters who didn't. In a sane world, psychotropic drug usage would be addressed if there were definitive links, but our world is not sane.