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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 Special Series from 6A But do definitions even mat- ter in Kinkel’s case? Even if he had not been diagnosed with mental illness, the question remains: Doesn’t the very act of shooting strangers en masse qualify as evidence of mental illness? As reported by U.S. News in February, the psychology of mass shooters is difficult to study. “It’s such an extreme psy- chology that it’s a special cate- gory,” former American Psychological Association president Dr. Frank Farley said. “In a sense, every mass mur- derer and serial killer has men- WE HAVE MOVED!! 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But getting such a diagnosis can be a difficult task, as Kinkel’s case illustrates. “I’d be ostracized” “You have to have some kind of mental health release,” one gun reform advocate at Florence’s recent March for Our Lives demonstration said. Another marcher at the event suggested having a mental health checklist before pur- chasing a gun. But this shows a fundamen- tal misunderstanding of how mental health diagnoses are 101 Barbershop See Jim for your auto sales needs! Open Mon-Fri 8-4 Off ering A Gentlemans Haircut! Frank and Dwight have over 80 years combined Barber experience! 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 396 Highway 101, Florence Life‛s Short. Get Dirty. Time for Spring Planting at LAUREL BAY GARDENS! See What’s New at the Nursery! SEED POTATOES! YUKON GOLD & RED PONTIAC GARDEN METAL ART FISH-IN-THE-GARDEN BLOOMING AZALEAS FRAGRANT DAPHNE Time to Fertilize Lawns & Shrubs! 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In fact, Kinkel had been having delusions since the sixth grade: “I thought maybe others heard voices too but never talked about it,” Kinkel said. “It’s something I don’t want to talk about. I decided not to tell anyone about it. I didn’t want anyone to think I was nuts. I didn’t want to go to a mental hospital. I didn’t want my friends to know because that would end my friendships. I really didn’t want any girls to know because they wouldn’t want to be seen with me. ... My parents might think I was nuts; they would be disappointed with me. ... I’d be ostracized.” There is thought to be a genetic component to schizo- phrenia, with higher incidents in families that have been diag- nosed with forms of the illness. Kinkel’s family was no excep- tion. A year and a half study of Kinkel family history found an “astonishing number of mental- ly ill individuals” going back three generations, a private investigator hired by Kinkel’s attorney found. Even his moth- er exhibited depression, being treated with antidepressants in 1981 and 1987. But she didn’t tell Kinkel’s counselor that. In fact, according to Swanson’s report, she clearly stated there was no history of mental illness in the family when asked by Kinkel’s coun- selor. As to why she didn’t tell, Swanson offered the following possibilities in the University of Oregon report: “Either Faith knew about this history of serious mental illnesses, and chose to deny its existence to Dr. Hicks in the hopes that, by not discussing it, Kip might be less likely to be labeled mentally ill, or Faith did not know about this history because other family members shamefully hid their own men- tal illness and/or that of their relatives. In either case, stigma was the cause.” This kind of information is vital when diagnosing schizo- phrenia, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “It can be difficult to diag- nose schizophrenia in teens,” their literature on the disease states. “This is because the first signs can include a change of friends, a drop in grades, sleep problems and irritability — common and nonspecific ado- lescent behavior. Other factors include isolating oneself and withdrawing from others, an increase in unusual thoughts and suspicions, and a family history of psychosis. In young people who develop schizo- phrenia, this stage of the disor- der is called the ‘prodromal’ period.” Beyond those symptoms, schizophrenia can also mimic other disorders, like bipolar and major depression. This is why it can take years, if not decades, to receive a proper medical diagnosis of schizo- phrenia, or any other mental ill- ness. There were other signs of Kinkel’s condition in school, but they were largely ignored. “Three weeks before the shooting occurred, Kip blurted out in class: ‘Goddamn this voice inside my head.’” Swanson reported. “His teacher filled out a ‘respect sheet’ regarding the incident. The bot- tom of the sheet stated, ‘The expected behavior for this situ- ation was not to say ‘damn.’’ It continued: ‘In the future, what could you do differently to pre- vent the problem? Not to say ‘damn.’ The teacher, Kip, and Let me Showcase your property. Dan Gilday Broker 541 554-1844 10818 Hwy 36 – Large commercial building on two city lots at the junction of Hwy 36 and 126 in Mapleton, a high traffi c area. Metal building with high open beam ceiling, 3 phase power on one meter. Check with Lane County for zoning uses. Property is being sold “as is”. $74,000. #2802- 18047518 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 7 A Kip’s mother all signed the respect sheet.” Once found, schizophrenia can be controlled while on medication. While it is a life- long illness, the recovery rates for those who receive treatment are 60 percent, according to the National Advisory Mental Health Council. However, the stigma against those with the illness persists. Sixty percent of Americans believe that people with schizo- phrenia were likely to act vio- lently toward someone else, per a January 2001 article by Harvard Health Publishing. But the Harvard article puts that public theory into ques- tion. “Research suggests that this public perception does not reflect reality,” the article read. “Most individuals with psychi- atric disorders are not violent. Although a subset of people with psychiatric disorders com- mit assaults and violent crimes, findings have been inconsistent about how much mental illness contributes to this behavior and how much substance abuse and other factors do.” A little over 27 percent of those diagnosed with schizo- phrenia are prone to acts of vio- lence when drug and alcohol abuse are part of the equation. However, if drugs and alcohol are replaced with proper med- ication and counseling, the number drops dramatically to levels comparable to that of the general public. “Kip later told Dr. Orin Bolstad that the Prozac was effective at alleviating the voic- es in his head and reducing the stress levels he felt; he charac- terized the summer he was in therapy and on Prozac as a ‘wonderful time’ and the ‘best summer ever,’” the Swanson study read. Yet after only three months on the medication, Kinkel went off of it. Frontline reported that Kinkel had requested to be off the medication, but how the decision was finally made with the parents is unknown. Swanson suggested that it was because of Bill’s feelings toward psychiatry as a whole: “My dad wasn’t too excited about it,” Kinkel’s sister said. “He felt that psychologists were like chiropractors, in the sense that they may not be as heavily needed as we think.” Faith also told Dr. Hicks that her husband was not particular- ly supportive of counseling, did not think it would be helpful and did not want to participate. Still, Bill was desperate to help his son, so he turned to one of the only thing he could think of: Guns. See SPECIAL SERIES 8A