Understanding the Brain and Mental Illness.

The finger pointing has begun and excuses are flying around like aircraft at O'Hare Airport. Some are saying "Put prayer back in school, that will fix things", others are saying, "Put more cops in schools". Yeah, that will really work considering some places have had to cut back on their First Responders because the tax base has shrunk. Many are saying, "Arm Principals and Teachers"; oh that is really good. Having teacher walk around teaching class wearing a .45 with a round chambered. While we are at it, why not give Teachers Aides AK-47's with large clips and bayonets.

Many are citing mental illness as the culprit.

Diagnosing mental illness is much akin to having an automotive mechanic diagnose problems with a Spy-In-The-Sky Satellite. He may know electronics, and he may be familiar with running tests, but the schematics will look like Sumerian Script.

The human brain is a complicated computer which can last the user a century or more. Like a computer, things can go wrong. The wiring in the brain, unlike the wiring in a computer is not marked. It has taken years to figure out what part of the brain does what. No one knows what causes a variety of actions that are out of the norm. A person for years could be the nicest, smartest individual you could know. They could be married, have children, be a community fixture and suddenly one day they grab a high powered rifle with a scope, climb into a church steeple and begin shooting people below. If he is captured alive, the inquisition will begin, but no solid answers. He may give vague answers, investigation will reveal maybe he is facing a financial crises, maybe being the pillar of the community was too much, maybe like a computer program, a virus affected a vital part of his brain causing him to do madness.

The money needed  to understand the workings of the brain is sadly miniscule and can only be used to scratch the surface of understanding how a 10 pound piece of muscle, with no outside power, can work. Once we understand how the brain works, we may begin to understand why people do evil. Maybe we can figure out what causes mental illness.

Many will want to use DNA testing to see if there are tendencies to do evil laying dormant in families. This would open an entire Pandoras box. Only 5% of the DNA Helix code has been cracked. The rest of the 95% is considered "junk". Perhaps within this "junk" lies the answer to mental illness, but then again comes ethics and the fear of tampering with the DNA to create a "Super Person".

With research into Mental Illness comes the all too real fear that with each breakthrough to understanding what causes it, comes how to manipulate the brain. Mind altering drugs, surgery, implants, all invented to deal with Mental Illness can be used to increase evil or make someone subservient.

As with Gun Control, there are no easy answers to the question as to how to deal with Mental Illness.