The Tourist
Moderator
BillCA said:rush to judgement...classified as "mentally ill"...very deep rooted anger...self-destructive or anger issues...they're engaged in risky behaviors
Bill, for once we agree 100%. The problem here is that are identifying two distinct types of people. Let me explain.
I believe that there are such people in the world, and for the life of me, I don't know what makes them tick. As I have said ad nauseum, that is not the world of bipolars--people who are driven deep inside themselves in almost an OCD journey of negative self-examination.
However, have you ever heard the expression "suicide by cop"? Well, after learning all that I can about my own disorder, and talking to LEOs and even reading things in combat forums, I think we have identified the wrong group, but for all of the right reasons.
I know you've seen it here, but sometimes a thread will start, with the core scenario being flight/fight and armed conflict of a very lethal nature.
Somewhere in that exchange of posts, we will see a person whom most of us term a "chest thumper." He's the guy who begins his post with "I own numerous combat guns..." and then ends with "...and that's why I'd sacrifice my life."
He's not a soldier, or even a handsomely paid mercenary. He's not even a mall ninja, and that's what ultimately scares me.
He's an individual who is virtually screaming that his life is a worthless bargaining chip, but he has some reservations about eating the barrel of the pistol by himself. Life is miserable for him (by his own deep reflection) and he wants to "earn back status" by doing what he thinks society ordains.
That being his own demise.
I'll bet most of the members here envision a "patient" as a small, emaciated bundle of fears, a terrified little man who sees goblins in every shadow. Not true.
About two years ago a guy I rode with died in a crash. I knew he was bipolar, because we had the same shrink. He was mouthy, brash, and he was a beautifully sculpted body builder. But if you listened to his prose, he might pepper his language with, "I don't care if I rot in the ground."
He died in a motorcycle wreck not long after that.
When I see a member here "over state" his possible actions in a gambit that might take his life, I know that I am seeing an individual in deep depression.
Why does he feel his life means so little? Why is his first reaction to the posted event a move of sacrifice? After all, a police officer running to someone's aid might understand the extreme ramifications, but he's not planning his deliberate death.
So don't seek to tarnish the bipolars who are getting (proper) medical care. They don't wish to die. In fact, a piano has been lifted from their backs and they are enjoying life for the first time. And as I have reminded you, of the thousands of murders in this country, the patients do very few. It's much like an airplane crash--very few of them, it's just that they are spectacular.
Instead, eye the chest-thumper with care. His life means nothing--and he's screaming it at you. The most common reaction of a human is self-preservation. And a guy who wants to go "in a blaze of glory" is undiagnosed and dangerously walking our streets.