Dr. Sanjay gupta md begins right now. What might be the most upsetting story i ever reported. I want to start by saying the kind of horrible violence that we saw in newtown, connecticut, it isnt new. The worst School Attack took place more than 80 years ago in michigan. There was this new school, baath Consolidated School which was the pride and joy of that community. This farmer, he became angry about that. So, get this, for weeks he put dynamite under the local school and then eventually blew it up. 38 children died. And then he killed himself with another load of dynamite. Well never truly know for sure why he did all that ask or what made the young man in newtown unload a rifle into a classroom full of first graders. I looked at other School Shootings and they might just provide some clues. First thing you notice when you look around newtown, everyone has that questioning look. Why . What did we miss . To try to make some sense in newtown, connecticut, look for evidence of patterns. Not talking about looking at clothing styles or musical preperances or lifestyle, but rather looking for evidence of specific plans. Could give some clues to what was happening in a persons mind and in their brain. Its hard to know because relatively few tragedies like this one. But a close look at the ten most analyzed mass murder cases in history provide remarkable insight. According to this report, doctors typically start by placing these killers into three categories. Traumatized, psychotic, psychopathic. In 2005, a 16yearold killed five people at a school in minnesota. A look into his past revealed an abused boy with an awful family history. The shooter had been previously traumatized. The have va tech shooter killed 32 people. And 12 lives were taken in an aurora, colorado, movie theaters. The killers showed signs of psychotic behavior, severe di delusions. We now know he even laughed while gunning down his victims. Looking back, none of them had snapped, they had all left clues. Pieced together after it was too late. We still dont know much about the shooter that lived in this home. There is Something Else to clr, what medications he was on. Specifically talking about antidepressants. If you look at shootings like this that happened, medications were a common factor. Not saying that antidepressants cant be effective, but people agree there is a vulnerable time when someone starts these medications and when someone stops could lead to increased and making someone out of touch. None of these behaviors will fully predict or explain why, but, soon, again, there will be hindsight that might just help prevent another tragedy. In terms of medication, you know, one report showed over a sevenyear period 11 episodes of violence related to drug sideeffects. It is worth noting if a death was involved in that violence, most often a suicide. The individual did not, in fact, harm others. I want to bring in an expert in forensic psychiatry and the author of this book almost a psychopath. Thanks for joining us. Im sure youve been thinking about this a lot. A lot of questions you studied rampage killers and you agree that there isnt just one type that shes shooters fall into, but i guess the question is, are they by definition mentally ill just given the crime they just committed . Thanks for having me on, sanjay. Its as complicated a picture as you lay out here. And as you point out that there are these different categories of people who engage in these acts of violence. Most of whom do not have a serious Mental Illness and the mast majority of crimes are not committed by people with Mental Illness. However, a small group of people who are predisposed who have complicating factors of Substance Abuse and other additional risk factors. Just by saying that they dont have Mental Illness, does that mean they werent diagnosed or they werent treated . How do you, i mean, do we know for sure they didnt have it . Well, we dont know for sure, but in general when we look at many of these cases, especially for School Shooting and episodes of workplace violence, we see people who dont have what we consider a severe Mental Illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar, they have personality disturbances and severe personality traits along the antisocial realm and thats where we get along the issue of psychopa psychopathy. But the majority of the cases, there is not a diagnosis of severe Mental Illness. No hard and severe rules here. Im sure everyone has been following the story of newtown so closely. What occurred to you when you heard this . How much more we need to know. How much more we need to know about this individual. You know, we all like to search for so much Simple Solutions and put people into categories and put these people in categories because it gives us an illusion of some sense of control. Id like to know a lot more about him in terms of his personality and his criminal history and about his diagnosis and about his relationships. When we think about risk of violence, we think about three sets of factors. Individual risk factors and environmental risk factors and situational triggers. One thing we heard about in this case is the possibility that his mother was about to commit him to the hospital. I had a number of cases in which people who were paranoid for many years suddenly turn on the family member, often their mother, because they believe the mother has gone to the other side and joined the conspiracy against them. Made the point earlier that it is not sure any answer will prove satisfactory here and a lot of people speculating, as you say. I really appreciate your insights. To the extent they can help people out there who suffer with Mental Illness. Not necessarily saying he had it, but we dont want people to be stigmatized. I really appreciate it. Absolutely, thank you. And so many parents will be watching this weekend and thinking, could that be my kid . What happened to this shooter. How would you know . What would you do about it . Well continue that part of the discussion, next. People have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. But they havent experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. In fact, in a recent survey, 95 of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. Visit fastreliefchallenge. Com today for a special trial offer. Visit fastreliefchallenge. Com progressive direct and other Car Insurance companies . Yes. But youre progressive, and theyre them. Yes. But theyre here. Yes. Are you. . There . Yes. No. Are you them . Im me. But those rates are for. Them. So them are here. Yes you want to run through it again . No, im good. You got it . Yes. Rates for us and them now thats progressive. Call or click today. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. Because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. Plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. Celebrex can be taken with or without food. And its not a narcotic. You and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. All prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. They all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. This chance increases if you have Heart Disease or risk factors such as high Blood Pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. Nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. Patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. Do not take celebrex if youve had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. Get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. Tell your doctor your medical history and find an Arthritis Treatment for you. Visit celebrex. Com and ask your doctor about celebrex. For a body in motion. Theres been a lot of attention put on the mother of the young man in newtown. Was she wrong to keep all those guns, for example. Did she know her son was a potential killer . And what we know for sure is parenting a troubled child, especially as they get older, can be a tremendous challenge. Andrew salmon is the author of far from the tree parents, children and the search for identity. He joins us to talk about this. Thanks for joining us im been watching your comments on this, i think your voice is really important around this issue. You know, one thing i should point out and you know this already. We dont know if adam lanza, the connecticut shooter, had Mental Illness, although some Family Friends out there say he did. Dr. Schouten says he thinks these people who commit these mass attacks are not mentally ill. I wondered, andrew, what do you think of that . Well, first of all, its a pleasure to be on the show. And i think its a semantic argument. People who are mentally solid and sane dont shoot up a whole room of first graders. There is always the danger that by suggesting people who do these things have Mental Illnesses, we somehow implicate many other people who have Mental Illnesses and will never do any such thing. And there is no particular likelihood of people with Mental Illnesses committing crimes like this. But i think if the crime itself shows there is some kind of profound dysfunction and i think pyschopathy, even though not listed in the diagnostic and statistical manual, along with schizophrenia and so on, is equally a Mental Illness. I heard a stat that people with many Mental Illnesses are more likely to be victims of violence as opposed to perpetrating it. Again, i think your point is a good one. In the book, terrific book, you write about the families of people who develop schizophrenia and how hard it is to push your child into treatment. Was that the case with the people you met and interviewed . You know, schizophrenia is a very disturbing illness for many, many reasons. But one of them is that it has a relatively late onset stage. It tends to come on in late adolescence or early adulthood. Its very difficult when you see someone whom youve known well and loved and admired for 20 years turn into somebody else, to figure out what to do about it. And we tend to stick with a kind of bacterial model in which we think there is something that has happened to this person, and if we took it away, the person would be there whole and intact underneath that. And, in fact, schizophrenia can obliterate much of the person who was there. Now, there are people who respond incredibly well to the medications and treatments that there are for schizophrenia. There are people who have the discipline to pursue them. And there are many people with schizophrenia leading rich and rewarding and productive lives. But its a difficult illness to manage. And when it comes on, its shocking. Its shocking how profoundly it changes people and its shocking how the command hallucinations they have, the sense of voices instructing them to do things they would never do can determine their behavior. So what do you do . I mean, right . I think people watching, andrew, are thinking, okay, gosh. What does this all mean . If if im worried about my own child, or i mean, you wrote about how people became afraid of their children. What do you think is the message for parents, perhaps, of people just post adolescence watching this and concerned . I think the biggest message is vigilance. I think children should be screened more often than they mostly are. I think parents who think their childs behavior is strange should get that child in to see a psychiatrist. I think if you remove some of the stigma, well make it easier for people to talk about their hallucinations or anything else theyre going through that is distorting their sense of reality. But i think its really the question ultimately is attention. And the attention has to come from the parents, the attention should come from the schools, the attention should come from the society at large. And when it becomes clear that its needed, the attention should come from medical professionals. As i said, andrew, always a pleasure to speak with you. I enjoy hearing your comments. Thanks for joining us. Its a pleasure to be here. Thank you. Turning back to the victims now. For most of us, its almost inconceivable what those children in newtown experienced and what the survivors are still going through now. This week my friend and colleague, elizabeth cohen, met two young men who have been there before and want to share their stories in the hopes they can help. I saw some of the bullets going past the hall. We heard yelling and put your hands up. Dont shoot. We heard lots of scary stuff. Reporter these innocent eyes have witnessed unspeakable horrors. Everybody was like crying. Reporter images that could haunt them forever. Walked past, saw the principal, saw the blood. Reporter physically, they escaped, but how will these young survivors do mentally . Very serious situation. The north Valley Jewish Community center. Reporter ben kadish and josh know what its like to face the nightmare. 13 years ago, the boys were at summer camp in los angeles when a gunman stormed in and shot them. Ben was 5. What do you remember happening around you . Screaming, tons of screaming. Reporter josh was 6. He came in and he shot all the way around, and the next thing i remember, i was just getting up and running as fast as i could that way. Reporter the boys survived, but were never the same emotionally. I didnt live a normal childhood. In no means did i have a normal childhood. Reporter the shooter, buford furrow, had robbed them of their security. When you were dropped off at school, you wondered, am i safe . Yes. For how long . Probably through middle school. If we heard helicopters, sirens, loud noises, anything that would startle me, the house was on lockdown. So you would lock doors . Every door and window. Why would you lock every door and window . That was the closest thing i could feel safe. Reporter now 19, these two young men are among people who have experienced what the connecticut children have experienced. The pictures of the kids being taken out and all standing in this line, i could accidentally mistake the pictures from when i got shot. Reporter they worry for the newtown children. I think they are going to feel, you know, afraid of the dark, afraid of loud noises. Reporter what advice would you give to these parents in connecticut . Listen to your kids. You know . Theyre a lot smarter than we take them for. And so you really have to just listen to them and be understanding to them and know that there will be times when they really do want to talk about it and there will be times when they dont. And if they dont want to talk about it, dont push them. Elizabeth cohen joins us now. Im always struck how mature kids become after this. They have lots of words of wisdom and i wonder if theyll fly across the country and get to meet those kids. I asked ben, what was the one thing your parents did most helpful . And they would say to him, ben, you are stronger because of this. So he would repeat kind of this he called it a slogan. Ben kadish can do anything. Because he said if i survived that, i can do anything. And are they still fearful . He was talking about, you know, how it was in the immediate aftermath. Theyre grown up now. Do they still seem fearful at all . They do. They will say that themselves. You know, when they were thinking about where to go to college, theyre both 19. They thought about going out of state but they decided to stay right in los angeles because they said they have moments that are tough. And when they have a tough moment, they want to be a fiveminute drive home. They dont want to have to be a plane ride home. Thats their safety zone. Its interesting. Im sure you thought about this as well with your kids. People most exposed, like the two men in the piece, they obviously they were injured are the most at risk. But then people who witness it, people close by it. But then there is a whole bunch of kids all over the world or farther away. How much of an impact do you think it makes on your kids and my kids . I think that were fortunate in that we can limit it as much as we possibly can. You know, ive made a point of not emphasizing it with my children. Not talking about it too much this past week. And we kept the television off. If they ask about it, we answer their questions. But i think one of the keys is, is to just sort of keep it away from them. If you can. Right. Yeah. Ive tried to do that, as well. But its just social media nowadays, amazing the questions they ask. Good stuff. Thanks, elizabeth. And theres another thing that caught my eye as well up in newtown. You may have seen some of these images. The comfort dogs. Nine specially trained golden retrievers made their way up from illinois to connecticut to help children and adults alike cope and grieve. These pooches, ive seen them in other places, flood zones, hurricane zones and now newtown, hopefully bringing some smiles and sense of relief to a community thats still trying to make sense of what has happened here. Up next, another type of assistance dog. In this case, to alert a young boy and his parents to impending seizures. Youre going to meet 9yearold evan moss and his dog, mindy. [ woman ] ring. Ring. Progresso. I just finished a bowl of your new light Chicken Pot Pie soup and its so rich and creamy. Is it really 100 calories . Let me put you on webcan. Lean roasted chicken. And a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Welcome back. I want to take a moment to share a nice, uplifting story with you. Its about a boy, his dog and the spirit of giving. 9yearold evan moss is a boy who only cares about one, simple thing. All of these are filled with poke mon cards. Unfortunately his life isnt so simple s. When he was a couple weeks old he had little shaky movements. It was one arm that would sort of twitch a little bit and last a few seconds. They took their son to dozens of doctors appointments and he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease that caused nonmalignant tumors to grow inside the brain and other organs. It includes one of the hallmark symptoms, potentially lifethreatening seizures that can happen at any moment. Since they cant watch over him all the time, they began to look for an extra set of eyes, ears and a nose. We found out that not only did these dogs respond to seizure seizures good dog. That they had the capability to alert you you to tell you that the individual might have a seizure or might soon be having a seizure. As you might imagine, these types of highly Trained Service dogs, dogs that can literally sniff out chemical changes in the body leads up to a seizure, dont come cheap. A service dog generally costs from 22,000 to 25,000. They ask for each recipient family to fund raise 13,000 of that to offset the cost. As part of the application they ask for something from the child receiving the dog. He said can ci wreeite a book . My he seizure dog by me. I will get a seizure dog to help me when i have a seizure. We will be best friends. Big sister aria suggested their apparents selfpublish his book on amazon, where it top to twuft sites best seller lists. A book signing followed at a neighborhood coffee shop. The turnout was overwhelming. We did end up raising around 45,000, and we helped about seven additional children complete her fundraising. Come on, climb you up. Mindy rarely leaves evan as side during the day, at school, on the bus, in the backyard, and never leaves his side at night. The seizure dog will sleep with me. If i have a seizure during my sleep, the seizure dog will tell my parents. Mindy moss, family pet, parents security blanket and evans best friend. If you want to learn more, you can buy evans book or make a donation, do that by logging on by dogforevan. Com. For many people this is a popular regift, but do you know that the fruitcake may be the bar. Its finding fans in bikers and hikers who are looking for foods high in carbohydrates that can fuel them on long hauls. One serving in case youre curious packed with nuts and dried fruit can have 7 of your daily iron intake. Maybe it really is the food that keeps on giving. You know, all those tempting treats this time of year, they can wreck havoc on your body. How to chase life to 100 this Holiday Season is my gift to you. I have a cold, and i took nyquil, but im still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesnt unstuff your nose. What . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. Thanks. Thats the cold truth . The holidays can be a wintry mix of happiness and stress. Did you know