12/12
As we are learning more about Robert Hawkins, the mall shooter in Omaha, Nebraska. It is clear he had signs of brain problems…
- he dropped out of high school
- he was diagnosed with ADHD and depression (brain problems)
- he was arrested several times before
He was also under great stress for a 19 year old, everything seemed to be going wrong.
- he was recently fired from McDonald’s
- he recently broke up with girlfriend, which often causes severe stress to the brain
- he had been arrested and was expected in court in a month
- he had trouble at home and had to live with friends
Felt like he was a burden to others and had no hope.
He committed suicide by killing others. He wanted some meaning, even if it was evil meaning.
We have research on ADHD, depression, suicide and homicide that show the brain is involved in all of these illnesses.
He was on antidepressants and possibly ADHD meds? Were they the right ones? Probably not.
His mother said he was a dysfunctional boy in a good family, which means he may have had a brain injury, some form of toxic exposure, like Kip Kinkel, the 15 year old Oregon school shooter who murdered his mother and shot 25 people at his high school in 1998.
At our clinics have seen many young men like Robert Hawkins. Without the right help, these kids can snap at any time when you combine high stress with brain dysfunction. With a profession that never looks at brain function how was the physician who treated him supposed to really know what to do?
Before I did imaging I hated seeing violent teenagers and young adults. It just took too long to get them well and everyone was frustrated. After starting our brain imaging work, I started to feel much better about treating these kids because I could better see their problems and target treatment for them and be more effective.
Until next time, please know that success starts with a healthy brain. Failure is often the result of a brain gone wrong. The good news is that no matter how bad you have been to your brain it is never too late to change your brain and change your life.
To your brain health,
Daniel Amen, MD
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11 Comments
In my work I get to interact with and hopefully help people with brain dysfunction on a daily basis. I refer patients frequently for SPECT scans and have found it fascinating. Do I believe that the brain dysfunction that Robert Hawkins was suffering from was a basis for his behavior? ABSOLUTELY! How could it not be. I have seen many many cases of when a person with ADD who has very little pre-frontal cortex activity become extremly frustrated with their inpulsivity and blame everyone else for their behavior. Without taking responsibility for our actions throughout life, we can’t grown emotionally as people. Isn’t that what life is about? If we can’t learn from our mistakes, life becomes very discouraging. We keep experiencing the same problems over and over again. Sounds like this may have been part of what Robert was experiencing.
Dr.
I understand that there are many instances where dysfunction is caused from physical brain injury. Do you think that brain injury can be caused by cognition? like in the which came first the chicken or the egg debate.
Deb Tay…
Psych. student
We definitely should require brain scanning for people who are habitually getting into trouble with the law. The system can probably do a lot more for them if they have a better understanding of how their brain works. I’m really glad that you have a blog. One tip from a seasoned blogger – you should have the RSS symbol at the top of your page so it’s easy for people to add your feed to their reader.
You stated that the Omaha shooter was on the wrong meds. I agree. But how can we tell if we are on the right meds? Would this require a scan with every medicine we tried? I really wish that was the case, but we know this is not reality. I was happy to have saved enough money to get the first scan so I had a base point to start with. But how do I know if I am on the right medicine? Insurance won’t go near this procedure, even though they should because we might get better. Imagine that! I can bet there are millions on the wrong meds, but what should we do about it? Is it better to be on no meds or the wrong meds? Are we making killers with medicine?
Bryan interesting comments- After coming across The Amen Clinic and information, I started to ask the same questions you posed. How do you know if you are on the right meds? I realized that psychiatrists not scanning the brain are playing Russian roulette with their patients. I am a victim of that myself. Since my early 20’s I suffered from Panic Attacks; I’ve been placed on Prozac for 4 yrs, then moved to Paxil for another 7yrs and then to Lexapro for another 5yrs. Half my life I’ve been on meds that did nothing to resolve the problem, but added greatly to further depression (to the point of being borderline crippling) and further contributing to memory loss impacting my relationships and jobs. After reading Healing Anxiety and Depression by Dr Amen, I did a little self diagnosis and decided to get off all meds. I fell into the ADD with Frontal Lobe depression category. The meds I was on were only aggravating the situation. I got off the meds very slowly under my doctor’s supervision. My doctor, considered a top Psychiatrist in the area, was opposed to me getting off and felt I was someone who needed to be on these meds for life. I trusted what I was reading in Dr Amen’s book. Now that I am off all meds, I can say that not being on them was far better (for me) than being on them. The depression completely lifted, my memory has returned and I am able to function in life. What remains is that I still will suffer from Panic attacks on occasion. I also sought help from a “recommended” psychiatrist listed in Dr Amen’s book. I was then prescribed a medication which is indicated purely for anxiety, which I take only at the time of anxiety, not as an everyday med. It is the first time in 20yrs that a med worked for my problem without causing further issues. My next step is to get scanned. I am taking full responsibility to get the best help by determining a platform for my brains state. I can now answer the question: How do you know if you are on the right meds? You won’t truly know until you are scanned. Its better to be on no meds than the wrong meds… but there is a very short timeframe to get the right diagnosis. Its not one or the other… its all about getting the right diagnosis and getting off the wrong meds. That is my personal experience and opinion.
Meds have their place and are important part of treatment for various brain diseases. At the same time they are detrimental when used in a misdiagnosed state. Dr Amen is a blessing to the Psychiatry profession. He not only can change and positively impact the Psychiatric industry but help many young people to getting their lives on track. He has positively impacted my life. I am very blessed and thankful.
Thank goodness that someone like Dr. Amen is around to encourage a balanced approach to this problem. As the mother of a child with Bipolar Disorder (now stable due to being on the right medication for her), I nearly threw a shoe into the TV when I saw a notorious anti-meds “expert” come on one of the cable news networks and say that the problem with these violent kids was entirely the fault of anti-depressants. It’s not…it’s that the kids aren’t being diagnosed and treated correctly. That’s what happened to my daughter who was first put on ADHD medication and then on ADHD meds plus anti-depressants.
I’ve been a believer in scans since attending a seminar by Dr. Amen.
I was wondering when you will have more clinics, especially in the midwest? It is a waste that Robert did not have this and perhaps many lives could have been saved if he could have gotten the right help.
I believe that the trigger for this young man was knowing that in his death he would become “somebody.” The news media really needs to be more responsible in the handling of these sad, sad cases.
Has he not thought of the fame, he might have reaching out in another way.
Susan K. Stewart
http://www.family-4-family.com
Yes, but are the brain differences brain injury or faulty neural wiring because of genetics and experience? The consistency of psychopathic symptoms makes me reluctant to believe that they all bumped their heads.
There is a world of difference (not for the victims, however) between killing someone out of depressive rage and out of psychopathic superiority. The Columbine killers were a formidable team because Klebold was a depressive (and supplied the heat) while Harris was a psychopath (and supplied the cold).
Very sad, the whole thing.
There was a “freeway shooter” who was being prosecuted, the trial was on Court TV a few years ago, in Ohio. He was bipolar, and off his meds. He would go to the freeway overpasses and shoot at cars. He killed a few people, I believe.
His mother testified, she had done her best. His father had thrown up his hands. He had no friends. He would go off his meds. He was not very high functioning, didn’t have a job, lived at home, that kind of thing.
Finally he gave in, and pled guilty (I think this was after a mistrial during a retrial). He said he went off his meds because he truly believed he didn’t need them. He had no excuse for his behavior, except he wanted to demonstrate some sort of power, kind of “duping delight” or something, getting away with something.
Once back on his meds, he seemed very remorseful (although this could have been an act).
So, I don’t know how much psychosis really plays into this and how much it is the pathological need to demonstrate superiority.
i am the parent of a teenager who has adhd and anger issues. We have tried everything from Doctors to the Amen Clinic, therapies, biofeedback.. We have spent every dollar we have to help him.. He still barely gets through school and every now and then can get so angry he breaks things, is violent and destroys alot of property. I don’t know where to go next. We tried the brainscan and the protocol you gave us on two different ocassions. Nothing worked. What do people do then?
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