Man killed Son to Prevent Armageddon

[libstaK]

A mentally ill father believed he was compelled to kill his 12-year-old son to prevent Armageddon, a Sydney judge has found.

The then 30-year-old stabbed his son repeatedly before using the knife to seriously wound a neighbour and another man on October 9, 2010, at Liverpool in Sydney's southwest....

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8465948/man-killed-son-to-prevent-armageddon

Why do the voices in peoples heads so often tell them to "kill for (insert "good" reason)" or "make a sacrifice" ? How awful.

[Leonardo]

His partner, the mother of his son, must have known of his condition. So why did she leave him alone with their child?

A person is not that unwell without others knowing about it.

I understand your question regarding why schizophrenia seems to lead to violence, but the bigger issue here is why people with serious mental health issues appear to be left to their own devices - until something terrible happens. I'm not suggesting all schizophrenics should be institutionalised, but those around them should teach themselves to appreciate fully the danger schizophrenia poses to the sufferer and others.

[Abramelin]

A mentally ill father believed he was compelled to kill his 12-year-old son to prevent Armageddon, a Sydney judge has found.

The then 30-year-old stabbed his son repeatedly before using the knife to seriously wound a neighbour and another man on October 9, 2010, at Liverpool in Sydney's southwest....

http://news.ninemsn....vent-armageddon

Why do the voices in peoples heads so often tell them to "kill for (insert "good" reason)" or "make a sacrifice" ? How awful.

Maybe that's what one gets when reading in the Bible too much (Abraham/Isaac).

Add to that another mental disease, and things will get ugly.

[+and-then]

His partner, the mother of his son, must have known of his condition. So why did she leave him alone with their child?

A person is not that unwell without others knowing about it.

I understand your question regarding why schizophrenia seems to lead to violence, but the bigger issue here is why people with serious mental health issues appear to be left to their own devices - until something terrible happens. I'm not suggesting all schizophrenics should be institutionalised, but those around them should teach themselves to appreciate fully the danger schizophrenia poses to the sufferer and others.

I think that close family is usually overwhelmed and in denial when the loved one has slipped near such a place as to do this. It probably requires a dispassionate outsider to see it and move forcefully and unfortunately there was no one to fill that role.

[Leonardo]

I think that close family is usually overwhelmed and in denial when the loved one has slipped near such a place as to do this. It probably requires a dispassionate outsider to see it and move forcefully and unfortunately there was no one to fill that role.

Wise words, and then. This sentiment would seem to be relevant to many other situations in our lives, would you not agree?

[libstaK]

His partner, the mother of his son, must have known of his condition. So why did she leave him alone with their child?

A person is not that unwell without others knowing about it.

I understand your question regarding why schizophrenia seems to lead to violence, but the bigger issue here is why people with serious mental health issues appear to be left to their own devices - until something terrible happens. I'm not suggesting all schizophrenics should be institutionalised, but those around them should teach themselves to appreciate fully the danger schizophrenia poses to the sufferer and others.

Thanks Leonardo, you are entirely correct, people should have been aware of the nature of the manifestation of his illness if he already has a documented history. I wonder at the nature of the documentation though - this could be a total break from the past, or, it also occurred to me a convenient excuse to get away with a horrendous crime born of simple rage/anger or vengeance against the estranged partner.

However, I have to also say I was not speaking to "schizophrenia" specifically with the comment either, but to the many cases of "voices in the head" which is a small percentage of schizophrenic cases but also can be symptomatic of other mental illnesses. The messages are so often negative in the extreme. It is a curiosity, although thinking it through, perhaps those whose voices speak immensely "positive" thoughts are less likely to be diagnosed with more than a case of "eccentricity" in some instances being as there is no inherent potential for harm to the public or self harm.

Edit to add: The fixation on "Armageddon" and "saving the world" is a timely reminder of the level of harm a "little bit of information" can do in the wrong hands.

Edited May 11, 2012 by libstaK

[Rlyeh]

Is a religious experience that different from mental illness?

There was this guy on Myspace who had these fantastic religious experiences involving things like prophetic visions, enounters with God, Satan, devils, etc. He was completely positive his nephew and niece was the anti-christ and whore of babylon.

He had HIV, and we suspected he was suffering from HIV dementia.

[Leonardo]

Thanks Leonardo, you are entirely correct, people should have been aware of the nature of the manifestation of his illness if he already has a documented history. I wonder at the nature of the documentation though - this could be a total break from the past, or, it also occurred to me a convenient excuse to get away with a horrendous crime born of simple rage/anger or vengeance against the estranged partner.

However, I have to also say I was not speaking to "schizophrenia" specifically with the comment either, but to the many cases of "voices in the head" which is a small percentage of schizophrenic cases but also can be symptomatic of other mental illnesses. The messages are so often negative in the extreme. It is a curiosity, although thinking it through, perhaps those whose voices speak immensely "positive" thoughts are less likely to be diagnosed with more than a case of "eccentricity" in some instances being as there is no inherent potential for harm to the public or self harm.

Edit to add: The fixation on "Armageddon" and "saving the world" is a timely reminder of the level of harm a "little bit of information" can do in the wrong hands.

Given that the judge was convinced of his history of "chronic schizophrenia", I doubt it was an act to lessen the severity of any punishment he might receive for the crime. I do appreciate that there have been instances where 'mental illness' has been used in such a manner, however.

As for the negativity commonly expressed through such conditions, I suspect this has to do with the 'voices' being the uninhibited expressions of our innermost fears. The 'personalities' these voices represent are ourselves untainted by any veneer of civilisation, but still built upon our own experiences and fears. Because the voices are built upon fear (and that seems to be a commn theme in such conditions - fear of Armageddon, etc) the advice they give or influence they exert is invariably negative.

[Habitat]

On the face of it this is a tragic case of undiagnosed or untreated schizophrenia. If it is the latter, it is one case of many that calls in to question the modern policy of releasing mentally ill people into society, where failures to administer medication reliably lead to innocents losing their lives.

[libstaK]

Given that the judge was convinced of his history of "chronic schizophrenia", I doubt it was an act to lessen the severity of any punishment he might receive for the crime. I do appreciate that there have been instances where 'mental illness' has been used in such a manner, however.

As for the negativity commonly expressed through such conditions, I suspect this has to do with the 'voices' being the uninhibited expressions of our innermost fears. The 'personalities' these voices represent are ourselves untainted by any veneer of civilisation, but still built upon our own experiences and fears. Because the voices are built upon fear (and that seems to be a commn theme in such conditions - fear of Armageddon, etc) the advice they give or influence they exert is invariably negative.

I think that speaks to something it is very important for people to understand, especially given the influences on our collective fears that have been exerted over the past few years and for this year in particular.

[Toadie]

Not all voices in someone head make them kill it just the ones that do end up in the paper this why you think voices in ones head is always evil

[Habitat]

A friend has a sister who developed schizophrenia in her late 20's. She apparently hears voices telling her she is 'no good'. Tragic, and difficult to comprehend that the psyche can somehow not so much descend into chaos, but active sabotage of the host.

[Habitat]

Not all voices in someone head make them kill it just the ones that do end up in the paper this why you think voices in ones head is always evil

I was thinking much the same, it wouldn't make the news if the impulse was, e.g., to hand out flowers to strangers.

[Toadie]

I guess it takes a strong person to push the negative thoughts away and believe they are better then what a voice is saying

[DKO]

I watched a show on schizophrenia, they said that some sufferers will hear voices but try and keep it hidden from family and friends. So this guy might have been hearing these bad voices and not saying anything about which lead to the family thinking it wasn't that bad. Until it finally ended up in with a bad ending.

I know his family might have known something was up but like 'and then' said, they didn't think it was that bad.

[Habitat]

I watched a show on schizophrenia, they said that some sufferers will hear voices but try and keep it hidden from family and friends. So this guy might have been hearing these bad voices and not saying anything about which lead to the family thinking it wasn't that bad. Until it finally ended up in with a bad ending.

I know his family might have known something was up but like 'and then' said, they didn't think it was that bad.

It is hard to imagine any family easily adopting the realisation there is mental illness in the ranks. It does't require much imagination to realise this state of denial has prevented interventions that might have avoided terrible consequences.

[Shosanna Dreyfus]

I know a friend who suffers from schizophrenia and has a lot of "troubling thoughts" about religion. He keeps fearing that he is going to hell, worries about selling his soul to the devil (if he wishes for something for example) and thinks that if he does too many things he enjoys then the devil will get him. He lives in sheltered housing and has trained professionals to help him. He also tells that all his carers, counsellors and christian friends (including a minister) all tell him not to worry, but he just keeps coming back to these delusions and can't shake them.

[WoIverine]

I don't think that will prevent Armageddon, somebody should've let him in on that.

[Rlyeh]

Well armageddon hasn't happened, maybe he really did stop it.

[sam12six]

It is hard to imagine any family easily adopting the realisation there is mental illness in the ranks. It does't require much imagination to realise this state of denial has prevented interventions that might have avoided terrible consequences.

Plus, a lot of people with serious mental issues don't necessarily act like raving lunatics.

I was once installing some network cabling in a secure hospital for people with medical issues. One of the patients/inmates walks up to me and asks politely to borrow a saw I had in my pocket. Asking him what he needed it for, his calm response was, "I'm going to stab one of the doctors."

I told him I couldn't let him use my saw for that or I might lose my job. He was calmly disappointed and just said, "OK, thanks anyway.", and walked off. I later asked one of the nurses whether the guy was serious or if that was a loony-bin joke. She told me that the reason he was there was that he always came up with violent ideas like that and would readily abandon the plan if he received any sort of discouragement, but if he got no discouragement he'd follow through.

The point being, there are people who fly into rages over nothing and are clearly a danger to people around them. There are also people harboring serious issues who are calm and nonchalant about it. With the latter, unless they talk about it, there's no way to know they're dangerous until after they snap.

[Habitat]

I don't think that will prevent Armageddon, somebody should've let him in on that.

Well armageddon hasn't happened, maybe he really did stop it.

Seeing humour in a ghastly tragedy is an ability I have no intention of acquiring. Wake up to yourselves.