LogFAQs > #888322963

COVxy posted...

Yeah, uh, you wouldn't be able to diagnose most brain and psychological issues in a post mortem examination of brain tissue...

This. The only thing that maybe could be related is a brain tumor causing a mass effect (i.e. pushing up against some structure in the brain involved in personality or impulse control), but it's still a hop, step, jump away from causally linking the event to said hypothetical tumor.

One wouldn't find any evidence of mental illness from an autopsy, and either way that tends to detract from the fact that "mental illness" is a really vague umbrella term that doesn't mean anything in these contexts anyway. The vast majority of "mental illness" does not cause violence and those with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violence than the other way around.

The only ones that might be associated with violence tend to have more of an impulse nature as well. Definitely not premeditating logistics.

I see the appeal in reaching for explanations like this. "Ohh, troubled past. 'mental illness', yep that's why this happened. Matter settled." But the reality is much murkier and there won't ever be definitive answers for things like this.
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"He has two neurons held together by a spirochete."