Virginia Tech: Listening to The Clues

This has been a painful week for a lot of people.

The 32 families of the Virginia Tech victims, the university and Blacksburg communities, and our nation as a whole watched in horror as the shootings unfolded. Now we are learning more about the perpetrator of these horrors, and learning that he may have been a victim himself. Although it doesn't make anyone feel better to know that he was a tortured soul whom killed so many on Monday morning, it should make everyone take pause.

On network television and local news, every reporter and columnist has been trying to get to the root of why Cho Sung Hui woke up Monday morning and decided to go on a rampage. Above all the noise that has been made of the two guns he bought at a Roanoke area gun shop, the many times he was identified as a potential stalker, and even the rambling notes he left in his dorm suite; we are beginning to hear the quiet whisper of desperation. Last night NBC News reported they received a "multimedia manifesto" of writings, photos, and videos of Cho telling the world why.

A lot of it is incomprehensible. All of is is very hard to watch. However, it is important that we all realize what we're looking at in Cho's message from beyond. This was a young man consumed by his own mental illness--his madness had taken over his ability to keep it hidden. Because no one seemed to really pinpoint and maintain focus on his rapidly deteriorating state of mind, though, he was allowed to purchase two guns and go ballistic on his classmates at VT.

Over and over, Cho's contact with "the system" is notable, because it seems that there were tons of warning signs over the last couple of years. Indeed, even his professors and the VT Chief of Police admit that they made attempts to get him some help. Somehow, though, this young man fell through the cracks, was maligned, and deteriorated to the extent that eventually, he cracked and began to plan the ultimate curtain call for himself and his victims. In his pathetic obscurity, he spun like a top, quietly suffering under the weight of his own pain, until he exploded.

Make no mistake, I am not condoning his actions. However, in watching the videos of him reading his multiple diatribes against the world, I instantly understood that this young man was incredibly depressed, and had essentially lost his ability to think rationally because of it. Often, reaching this point is the greatest fear of someone who is suffering from depression—the inability to deal with it. We need to remember that Cho was a person, not a monster. He was someone who was obviously under severe duress, and he could not escape from his own pain. It is an open question whether anyone could have helped him and therefore prevented this tragedy from happening.

My hope in looking for the cause of Cho's angry rampage, is that the white hot lens of the media eventually will focus on better treatment of mental illness in this country. For too long the U.S. has swept its mentally unwell under the rug, resulting in greater numbers of homelessness, violent incidents, and increases in other "symptoms" of the problem. It is clear to me that unless we begin to take up the cause of the mentally ill and strengthen the safety net for people who can't help themselves, there are going to be a lot more Cho Sung Hui's to come.

Today marks the 12-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, perpetrated by other seemingly mentally ill young men. It is the 8th anniversary week of the Columbine High School massacre, also carried out by two young loners who lashed out when they couldn't discern right from wrong anymore. When are we as a nation going to wake up and start caring about the loners, the rejects, the outcasts; out there?

When are we going to realize that labels and ridicule eventually can cause so much harm to the mental states of the individuals that are targeted, that "cracking" is not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when." We must begin to take care of these individuals and get them the help they need in order to stem the tide of violence and outrageously devastating occurrences that keep repeating themselves like a broken record.

We must start to care enough to not let it happen again.

Copyright © 2007 Scott B. Foval