Mental Health and Virgina Tech

In trying to make sense of the Virginia Tech massacre we search for answers . .namely, how could one person do this ..

Speaking with a psychologists over the past few days, the common thought is the shooter was a paranoid schizophrenic.
What does that mean? This is what the Mayo Clinic site has to say:
'Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness. People with schizophrenia don't perceive and respond to the world as most other people do.
People with paranoid schizophrenia hold untrue beliefs (delusions) or hear things others don't hear (auditory hallucinations).
The onset of schizophrenia in men is usually in the teens or 20s. The onset in women is usually in the 20s or early 30s. Paranoid schizophrenia tends to appear toward the later end of this range. '

This is a mental disease. There's no way to protect against it and truth be told, as the experts will explain, very few people with the diagnosis will be violent.

Perhaps the folks at the Clearview Center - a community health organization - have the right idea .. improve mental health services on college campuses as a number of mental health disorders show their face during the college years.

http://www.mayoclinic.com
http://www.schizophrenia.com/ami/