Are We All Psychiatrists?

Quote of the day:
“Commuters run to their destinations and away from themselves.”
--Timothy “Speed” Levitch, New York tour guide

Quote of the day no. 2:
“It comes down to a balance between providing a platform to a madman and helping explain a riddle that has confounded many Americans.”
--Jon Klein, CNN president

Klein’s comment has become the standard response to those who have complained about the airing of videos, photos and writings of the man who killed 32 people last Monday at Virginia Tech. The way Klein frames it, I’m not sure it’s a true choice.

He says the good in airing it is “helping to explain a riddle.” To the extent the killer’s actions are a “riddle,” they will remain a “riddle” until all the evidence is thoroughly examined by experienced clinical psychiatrists.

I believe we already know the answer to the “riddle” as much as most of us ever will, or need to. Klein suggests it by using the archaic word “madman.”

Wasn’t it pretty clear before we all saw this stuff that there is no rational reason for this man’s actions? At best, any rational “cause” will wind up being just an irrational trigger for him to act on his delusions.

And “delusions” is the key word. Isn’t it also clear that this man was delusional? His thoughts and beliefs were disconnected from reality.

Of course there is a specific clinical diagnosis for what was wrong with him, and that diagnosis will likely be made sometime in coming days by people who know what they’re doing. Most likely that diagnosis is not going to add much to our understanding of why this happened.

For me, it’s enough to know that 1) he was seriously ill and 2) he was seriously delusional.

The really serious question is: what do we do now?