WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — A Warner Robins teacher is accused of threatening to behead a student after she made a comment about his Israeli flag, according to the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.
It seems to me that he’s getting the perception that the status quo now normalizes with the things that Hamas has done, in light of the Palestinian protesters around the world.
I would not comment on this, however, as I am not legible enough to know whether his characteristics are of psychiatric disorders or high levels of neuroticism. I cannot fully judge this person, as I am not to claim that I was present in his environment where this happened. [Edit: (see next posts in the comments, as I have arrived at a different conclusion)]
I can tell, however, he may be triggered, but he’s not the triggerman.
And yes, put that man in a ward or with a therapist.
When I use the name of a disorder like “psychotic” in this context, I’m using it as a colloquial term. I was a little more specific with the neuropsychological components because that emphasizes my point. I’m a biologist and not a psychologist, and I think that the neuronal bits are more important than the clinical classification. The latter might help with treatment, but the former is what I’m proposing as causal.
We can certainly reasonably speculate that he was following the news. We can make a pretty well educated guess of the slant given by the news he was following, and how he interpreted it. His brain, having taken in the violent imagery and internalized it as an existential threat to himself, his ego-identity, and those with whom he identifies, was primed for this response. The involved physical neurons were in a hypersensitive pre-triggered state, just like yours would be if you sensed you were being stalked by a tiger.
The resulting signals bypass the deliberative brain (which is a whole subject in itself), and moves straight to flight/fight/freeze. These are things we can view diagnostically in people who have committed violence, and they’re ones we can trigger by specific electrical stimulations of the brain.
If you want to fix a problem, you have to identify it and address it. You can’t beat schizophrenia or epilepsy out of someone.
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful insights. Your perspective adds depth to the discussion, and I find your analysis intriguing. It has given me valuable insights.
And it’s great that we align on this matter. I value the exchange of ideas, and it’s reassuring to find common ground in our views.
Who knows what new understandings we might uncover in the future ?
When I read the news I had conflicting emotions of pity but also understanding for his behaviour, in a manner of speaking (hence my initial comment, and my stance in disbelief). “What if he’s only a single piece of pieces that are being moved around by various factors ?”, including his environment. For instance, if his post immediate environment is presenting a supportive attitude towards ALL Palestinians, that could actually be wrongly perceived.
Exuding highly reactive aggressive behaviour is often correlated with high levels of neuroticism and emotional factors at play, from my understanding.
Here is an interesting excerpt from psychologist expert, Arlin Cunic, “A smaller-scale study found that after viewing unpleasant images, people rating higher in neuroticism had lower oxygen levels in their lateral prefrontal cortex than those with lower neuroticism ratings…”, https://www.verywellmind.com/how-neuroticism-affects-your-behavior-4782188
I have come across these concepts before from documentaries and vast inputs, but your insights has driven me to do a brief research about it; specifically about neuroticism. Quite fascinating.
It is indeed of most import to address these complex cases, without having to leave them at the wits of those who prefer idleness.
