Posted by saturn on April 18, 2007, at 21:08:16
This is not a med post, but I can't think of a more appropriate board to post this. If there is please redirect.
I imagine some of us have encountered people who possess certain attributes comparable to the Virginia Tech murderer; a loner, abnormal affect, seemingly spiteful and mad at the world. The kind of person who may, on a good day, seem relatively normal on the outside, but that you're pretty suspicious of a deeper pathology below the surface. The kind of person who secretly admires people like Stalin. The kind of person who just frankly scares you.
Let's also say this person has made comments regarding certain people deserving violence and being unworthy of life (but no specific threats) etc, which you have written of as racist.
Let's even say you knew someone who the Virginia Tech shooter eerily reminds you of, but this person has never been charged or convicted of a crime and goes about day to day life in society. You know they had seen a psychiatrist at some point, but you don't know if they do anymore.
What does one do in such a case? Call the police? Their boss? Nothing?
Furthermore, what if you knew that saying anything to anyone would result in this person knowing it was you that had done this?
???
poster:saturn
thread:751186
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070413/msgs/751186.html