I'm staying out of the school shooting threads.

[hunter]

Not good for me.

[Denninmi]

1. Yeah, I can relate.

The news last summer about Colorado and Wisconsin came at precisely the wrong time for me.

Talk it out here, we're here for you.

[libodem]

2. It's hard

To get your head around. We go into national stages of grief. Denial is the first phase for many. We just can't cope. It is beyond us. We can and should limit our exposure to the graphic horror or such an event. Try to absorb it slowly and learn the details at your own pace. After, Sandy, and the Mall shooting, our country as a whole has taken a big hit. Even if we are not on the front lines I still put out energy in empathy and sorrow for our fellow Countrymens' great grief, and loss. ( I don't know if the English is correct on that. I suspect it is not.)

We need to psychologically duck and cover, for now. I think I know what you mean. I feel numb.

What would be the correct grammar for countrymen possessive? I don't think it looks right. Sorry.

[Denninmi]

3. Grammar looks right.

So sad, watching Diane Sawyer right now. Who could do such a thing?

[haikugal]

4. I haven't been watching the news

it's all so insane. We live in an insane country with angry disfunctional people. 88 guns per 100 population. I have a good idea of why it's like this what with constant noise from the radio and tv spewing fear and hate for 30+ years...defunding of schools, music, sports, libraries, art...it isn't hard to understand.

It's hard to stay positive sometimes.

[mopinko]

5. i can't really watch it either.

his mother. honestly, that hits a little too close to home for me.

[Terra Alta]

6. I know the feeling..

Reading about it is just so damn depressing... but I just can't help myself.

And I am so tired of mental illness being blamed as a reason for the shooting... it just amazes me how ignorant some can be.

[Jamastiene]

7. I don't think people realize that mentally ill does not always mean

violent. I never realized there are so many people that believe that all mentally ill people are violent. They refuse to hear the truth about it too. That is the part that frustrates me.

I am one of the lucky ones though. I finally got the right diagnosis and the right meds that work best for me. I make it a point not to run out of my meds, but even if I wasn't on them, I was never a danger to anyone. I cannot believe how many people believe ALL mentally ill people are potential mass shooters, ticking time bombs waiting to happen. I wish more mental health professionals would point out that not all mentally ill people are likely to become violent.

[Denninmi]

8. I was surprised how many people on the GD threads called bullshit on this.

I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a lynch mob mentality.

[hunter]

10. Yeah, without meds or support I'm just a harmless homeless guy...

... digging through the dumpster.

I won't even ask anyone for spare change.

[Terra Alta]

11. I have never been a violent person

even before I was diagnosed and put on meds.

I make sure to take my meds every day, the only thing that would result if I didn't take them would be severe anxiety and depression. I wouldn't be a danger to anyone but myself.

[Denninmi]

9. I think I have to agree at this point.

I jumped in yesterday, and was reasonably surprised by the results.

It's ugly in GD today.

[HereSince1628]

12. Many of the posters talking down mental illness in GD are scared and unaware

Fear is a power motivator of conservative thinking. The mass murder presents them with existential fear that they've got to reduce if they are to find peace of mind. They'll swallow any idea that does that. If they don't already have a favorite agenda to link to, the dangers of the mentally ill is as handy as any other.

Maybe I missed something or maybe I wanted to miss it, but it seems to me that today the blaming all or unspecified mental illness is less common. I think yours and others' posts did have some good effect.

I'm more concerned about 'US' and how we are coping.

And I just keep repeating...

It's about THEIR fear.
Their fear isn't based in reality.
This about their phantoms,
and not about "ME", at all.