Social creatures, we humans tend to be empathetic. This trait, the capacity to recognize suffering and commiserate with those in distress, is essential to the health of our families, our communities and society as a whole. Depending upon our personal level of comfort and capability, we are prone to offer assistance or, at the very least, to avoid comments and actions that might exacerbate their physical or emotional pain.
Unfortunately, there are some members of human society that have a limited capacity to experience empathy. These individuals, victims of mental illness, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, organic brain pathology (tumors, strokes, dementia) or the toxic effects of certain medications and illicit drugs, may demonstrate little or no concern for the welfare of others. Serial killers and, as we witnessed in Connecticut this week, mass murderers, generally fall into one of these categories and often feel no empathy for their victims. Indeed, how else could one engage in such horrendous behavior?
Faced with a significant number of violence-prone, empathy-deficient individuals in our communities, it is imperative that we devote more resources toward the diagnosis and treatment of their conditions and develop effective programs to monitor and restrict their activity (including psychiatric commitment when necessary). Friends, family members and co-workers must feel free to report their concerns to social service personnel or law enforcement authorities and mental health professionals must have the funding, manpower and legal authority to intervene. Finally, the tools of mass murder must be removed from public access, despite the paranoid, self-righteous objections of survivalists and the gun lobby.
