Reply to Adam Lanza, Aspergers and the press-here we go again

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You make some good points. However, from the article it appears that Adam had no involvement with the mental health care system past the age of 14 or so. Multiple trials of medication are often required to find something that works. The nurse apparently told them Adam had a biological disorder that required medication, and expressed concern that he was not taking meds. At that point, who was responsible for ensuring that Adam received proper care? He was 14. There is no mention of further mental health care involvement after that point.

What I find troubling is Mr. Lanza's assertion that nothing could have prevented this tragedy. Do you think that's the right message to send? [/quote]

There is no one alive who fully understands what happened and why, including Mr. Lanza.  Thats the conclusion of the formal investigative report (and they talked with everyone, including Mr. Lanza) and thats the conclusion of everyone who has looked at the situation with professional expertise.  Adam had an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder.  He had some diagnoses, but not the full set.  So while there was clearly an illness that contributed to what he did, no one knows what it was.  There are theories but they are all guesses.  There is also no one alive who understands why he picked Sandy Hook, specifically, and why mass murder.  There are theories -- he went there himself, he was obsessed with mass murder -- but these are again guesses.  The one person who knows is dead.

My point is that of course the tragedy could have been prevented but there is no one who knows how it could have been prevented.  Mr. Lanza certainly doesn't.    Which is why he is left to say he wishes his son had never been born.  That is the one clear way he knows it could have been prevented.    So I strongly disagree about any message being sent.  Mr. lanza is telling the truth.

PP makes has an excellent for why Adam would not have gone through the extended hit and miss trials to find the "right" medication (if it even exists.  Again, we don't know that any medication would have helped).  Adam did try medication and he had an extreme negative reaction.  I know from a medication trial with my DS that when he had an extreme negative reaction, it was YEARS before I was willing to try again with something.  Unless you've seen your DC go through it, you don't understand.  And Adam was a teen.  he was old enough to be fully aware of the negative reaction and therefore not want to try again, and too old to force.  How do you force a teenager to take medication?  How?

I have one point to disagree with in PP's post.  Lexapro is not just an anti-depressent, it is also used for anxiety.  It is the first line medication, often, for both depression and anxiety.  It tends to have a lower side effect profile than the other SSRIs.[/quote]

There are other types of medications to try other than SSRIs for anxiety.  The emergency room doctor prescribed it after Nancy Lanza took Adam to the hospital after he had a severe breakdown.  The Lanzas never followed up on treating the anxiety which by all reports was debilitating - she decided to home school after the incident rather than trying new medications.

It's amazing to me how parents who are loving as well as well educated and well off could have let things go so far for a child - which is basically what he was even at the end, living in the basement and playing violent video games all day and collecting guns on his parent's dime.  The report describes a complete downward spiral with an uninvolved father and a well meaning but overindulgent mother.[/quote]

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