What if Verbal Abuse left physical scars??

[HairOfTheDog]

Every single time we have a public massacre (be it in school, or not) the focus is always put on guns. It's a shame that the media focuses on a weapon, rather than the underlying cause.

I see a lot of media focus on all of it, not just the weapons, Cannongal...the shooters'/ stabbers'/bombers' backgrounds, mental states, the weapons themselves, their affiliations, the police response, impacts on the victims and their families.

I agree with you that there will always be people who lash out at society because they feel bullied or rejected or otherwise psychologically scarred or victimized. I too hope that those such occurrences can be minimized by more awareness of the patterns of behavior and guidelines for reporting them, more effective professional treatment for them, less access to firearms, etc.. I don't think there's one solution that will help curb the problem, like take all the guns away, or lock up everybody who seems to have a chip on their shoulders, or station armed security guards everywhere. It's gonna have to be a combination of efforts and addressing mental/psychological factors is part of the mix.

Some of the mass murderers felt bullied or verbally abused, but some of them were instead loved and treated and protected -- they were just plain angry and mentally ill (or looking for infamy) and wanted to kill people to satisfy an urge; to kill even people they didn't know and even though their violent urges weren't a result of any kind of abuse.

In regards to the OP, it's challenging interacting with children and adults who don't value themselves or who resent other people because they've truly been physically or verbally abused -- it becomes part of who they are sometimes and it's not easy for them to change, even if they recognize it. Very sad.

IMO, a lot of adults today are just too damned sensitive when it comes to dealing with criticism (real or mock), viewing honest unfiltered opinions as bullying or abuse, and not being able to take what they've dished out. Luckily, most adults that I know personally are confident and understand that we're responsible for cultivating our own self esteems and are still able to laugh at our ourselves, even if our childhoods weren't ideal.