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lordredsnake t1_iyq2usz wrote

Reply to comment by MacKelvey in University of Pennsylvania student attacked in Center City; female suspect sought by JBizznass

"She definitely has to be suffering from some kind of mental illness." -Captain Rodger Walls

Everyone wants to scapegoat mental illness for violence. Not all violent people meet the criteria for being deemed mentally ill.

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8_Foot_Vertical_Leap t1_iyqnm8n wrote

What would you say is the cause then for a pattern of attacking total strangers unprovoked? What was her reasoning, in sound mind, for doing this?

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Mike81890 t1_iyriu06 wrote

... while muttering to herself.

I'm not a mental health professional either, but I feel pretty confident guessing

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lordredsnake t1_iys2rlg wrote

What was Jeffrey Dahmer's cause? Or any number of other serial killers? Forget serial killers, how about the guys who shot up Roxborough high school and also killed someone the day before? Are they all mentally ill? Psychologists say no. Not every heinously violent person gets that diagnosis.

The SEPTA police captain here doesn't have any qualifications to make that judgment, and saying so downplays the severity of the attacks.

People here need to do a little reading.

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