Were the columbine shooters mentally ill?

I heard that they played many violent videogames, but what I want to know is if they were mentally ill from the start?

Were the columbine shooters mentally ill?
I don't think they were actually DIAGNOSED as mentally ill, nor were they ACTUALLY mentally ill, just from what I've read about them. And I'm not going to assume that they WERE mentally ill because they killed people, because what you're asking is WERE they mentally ill, not "do YOU think they're mentally ill." I'll give you facts, and not my opinion. I know one of them had to take anger management classes, and was on an anti-depressant for it (Luvox). They also underwent psychiatic treatment after some prior misdemeanors, but I think that was just standard protocol for youth offenders. Wikipedia has a good page on them. You can follow the links at the bottom of the page too, for more info. Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Harris...





It's far too easy for everyone to say "they did it because they're mentally ill and that's final" without looking at the societal roots and causes of a tragedy like this. And btw, the boys didn't actually listen to Marilyn Manson.





Hope this helps you out!
Reply:they must have been to do something so horrible...
Reply:yeah their moms claim to have dropped them on their heads as infants so then they suffered violent trauma causing them to react like that....
Reply:it's very possible. they were angry and probably depressed kids.
Reply:I liked kelly s's answer best





And will add: Even if they did have depression or ADHD or bipolar, those illnesses do NOT make someone kill or hurt people. Folks with almost all kinds of mental illnesses are violent at about the same rate as people without the mental illness. I think it was the bullying. Killing people, even in such a horrible and senseless way, is not a mental illness. What would you call it, killing frenzy disorder?





Someone on here was going on about how bullying isn't that big a deal, folks should learn to stand up to it. Well he probably was in a school where teachers paid attention to what was going on. I was viciously bullied in junior high in a school in massachusetts, and when I moved to Minnesota, I rarely got bullied and it was very minor stuff. In some schools, kids get severely beaten etc. He lives in fairyland. Obviously those two kids didn't handle the bullying just fine, and not most of those other shooters. The violent videogames just reinforce the anger, imo.





Anyway, just some additional thoughts for you that weren't already covered by others.
Reply:Well no. They were bullied and tortored because they were different. Kids were bullies and they got sick and tired of it and made a huge mistake! If someone knew about this they could have helped them, like Rachel Joy Scott, who is an awesome person! Thats why I'm nice to everyone. I don't want to be responsible for something like that happening! I think they were so mad that they didn't think about what they were doing! I bet these kids could have had a great life but it ended short and they caused the world to be in great pain. I'm saying its good to do this, but I think they wanted to be heard and they thought this was the only choice they had! I mean they are a little nuts cause I mean nobody in their right mind would do this, but you have to think of it in their shoes. I know what it feels like to be an outsider and its not good, I cried and cried and I always thought non sence things but my now time friends reached out and now I hate to see someone down. So I wouldn't call them dumb, stuiped, or mentally dumb, because that can't change what they did it only makes it work. So please if you see someone alone boy or gril help them out! It feels great to help and be kind!! Like the song Hands in the end only kindness matters!
Reply:I don't like mental illness as an excuse for killing people. Anyone who goes around murdering is mentally ill, and should be put to death.
Reply:Naw, they weren't mentally ill. . . They just came into school and murdered a bunch of people. I wouldn't say there's anything 'ill' about that, seems completely normal now-a-days anyway.
Reply:Ask yourself this - do you think a mentally stable and sane person would do something that atrocious?!
Reply:Videogames, TV and movies Have NOTHING to do with Columbine or other tragedies.





Yes they were mentally ill, but clearly rational with regards to thier plan. They just wanted to die and get famous in the process. Clearly they saw themselves as little specks.
Reply:No, they weren't. Nor were their actions actually inspired by violent video games.





They did struggle with family and friends, which played a part in what they did. Kids at school made fun of them for being different, which is probably the biggest factor in them actually going through with it...





However, the unnecessary amount of sympathy that was generated for kids "like them" (who are made fun of in school), in order to avoid what people actually believe is a possibility for incidents like this in the future, caused a huge movement of liberals trying to change the way punishment is carried out in schools, and to punish people who might abuse other kids verbally and physically. While those things do get out of hand, what actually happened is that we now have a system where everything is labeled as abuse, and instead of kids learning how to stand up for and take care of themselves, or live through even the negative experiences that could define them as a person, we now have a system where kids and their parents are conniving and try to abuse the rules of the system in order to get their way.





It's pretty sad what's happened as a result.
Reply:I think they were bipolar but I'm not sure
Reply:yes


its all about killing
Reply:I think so.





It's not really Marilyn Manson's fault- but I have to say that I do not like him personally.
Reply:I don;t think that they were mentally ill. I just think that they had a lot of problems and were depressed.
Reply:um.. do ya think?


normal people dont think of attemptive mass murder at a high school. I would say they definately had some issues. as do every person who has tried to copy the act or has done it prior.
Reply:Could have been. At the very least, serious anger issues
Reply:maybe, or probably just had a lot of hatred in their hearts .
Reply:nope i don't think they were mentally ill i read a book call "No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine by Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt " its supposedly by a friend of theres and it said hat they were basically tormented on a daily bases glas bottles thrown at them and other things i think it was from bullying they got pushed way too far i don't think they decided to shoot there school from games they played or the music they listened to
Reply:well normal people don't go around shooting people and the violent games desensitize so they probably didn't help
Reply:Its sad how people try making excuses for sorry losers like them.


Of course they were mentally ill- anyone who can take another human beings life, is sick to say the least..
Reply:probably. do you think Doom really did that to kids?
Reply:yes. they were probably depressed. They never really had friends or anything, and some people can just be born violent,plus with influences (such as videogames)..they became inspired to become more violent.
Reply:i think they were bullied and treated like outsiders because they did things differently..mental illness does have to play a part in it....violence does tend to be more numbing no days bvecause of all the violence......
Reply:Young and stupid. They were not mentally ill, though anyone that could do something like that has to have something really wrong with their thought process. I played Doom for years, and I never felt the need to go kill people.
Reply:video games don't make killers, everyone needs to take responsibility for there own actions. as far as I know the columbine shooters were outcast, they probably felt misunderstood, sad, depressed, probably had a bad home life. Every killer has a motive, every killer has a reason to kill, they were probably weak minded because of all the things he went threw, and they just didn't know how to handle it. most people that kill have mental disorders, and I'm sure they did. but video games don't make killers.





P.S. I do not sympathize with killers at all, but they all think they have a reason to do it.
Reply:I think that it's theorized that while both eric harris and dylan klebold were bullied at certain times throughout high school or such, that their motives were far more sinister and that harris was thought to be sociopathic while klebold a follower and perhaps depressed. Both students were said to have laughed while doing the shootings and one even stooped down under the table and said 'peekaboo' before shooting which even sounds evil. They both knew that what they were doing was wrong which, according to the law, meant that they were of 'sound mind' and would've been 'competent to stand trial'. Time magazine did an article in december of 1999 and talks about how they'd planned the massacre out for over a year. It was not as though they snapped and such. You may be able to get an archived copy of that article from Time or look for it on microfilm at the local library.





On the note of bullying, 'bullycide' is when a person is bullied to the point where he or she commits suicide as in the tragic case of Jared: http://www.jaredstory.com





There is a videoclip (about 9 videoclips) where a reenactment was done on the shootings at youtube: http://www.youtube.com and search 'zero hour' (Not zero day which is a film loosely based on columbine).
Reply:No, just really pissed off.
Reply:Marilyn Manson's fault.