Does everybody have the capacity to 'go postal' if pushed, or only those who are unstable in the first place?

Question

By 'going postal' I mean committing mass murder, not just shouting at the ducks in the park.

Answer 1

I think it is possible for ANYONE to "Go postal" if pushed far enough. Everyone has a limit. I'm a very easy going person and try to get along with everyone but I've been pushed too far before and done some really....really stupid things.

Answer 2

I believe so!

I only have to think of someone murdering my kids to reach my end, and many others if involved.

Answer 3

It depends if they've lost their jobs and are American.

Answer 4

only a person who is highly unstable will resort to mass murder.

Answer 5

i think anyone has it in them it just takes a little bit of help to get it out something has to happen to set it off Theres my belif anyway

Answer 6

i haven't met a person yet who can't 'go postal'

i think everyone can

Answer 7

I don't think so. First of all, some people mass murder without being pushed at all. That's psychopathy.

If pushed, eg, tormented by a gang of bullies, ostracised by one's family, etc, some people will just commit suicide, others will flee, some will commit a murder- surely it is only the minority that will decide to kill all their tormentors. The incidence of mass murder is quite low.

Maybe we can't really tell who has the capacity until after the fact though.

Harris and Klebold are interesting- one was a psycopath, one was a depressive. The original plan was propane bombing of the school, shooting the fleeing survivors, and then suicide car bombings to finish off. Harris would have done murder anyway, Klebold would probably have just killed himself, meeting each other sort of changed their fates. Again though, if just anyone met this Harris character, they wouldn't necessarily be sucked into going on a killing spree.

Answer 8

Depends on the person, how far you push them and HOW you push them.If you learn the right buttons, and say the right things at the right time, you can drive almost anyone to a mental break.  Everybody has a point at which they will snap.

What they do when they snap is another matter. Some people just lie down and cry, some like you say, yell at ducks in the park, some people pick up an over and under and take potshots at padestrians.

Not everybody has it in them to commit mass murder and I don't think anyone is absolutely stable - mental stability is a pretty lie, put there to make us all feel in control :P It has the net effect that if a person struggles far enough out of the box to realise they aren't stable, this knowledge alone can cause them to snap!

I think, mass murder aside, every human being is more than capable of being highly destructive. After all, death isn't the most destructive thing you can do to someone. Consider the current mass obsession with weight gain. It's a form of psychological damage inflicted by 98% of the population over 98% of the population.

A self propagating tide that grips huge numbers of otherwise rational people, forcing many to cause harm to their bodies in the name of 'beauty' :P No, murder really isn't the worst we do to each other :P

Answer 9

Everyone has a threshold. Not everyone would snap in the same way though. So, I don't think that everyone would go postal when they snapped, some would instead choose to take their own lives instead of others.

Answer 10

A question many of the more intellectual minds ponder.

Personally, I think everyone has a mental image of committing homicide for revenge, but the only ones who are pushed far enough to do it are the ones who feel they have nothing else to lose.

Answer 11

I'm going thru menopause.  I have dreams of killing my grandson's father.  I could do it, too.  He would have to cause me reason for it, tho.  I'm not going there to kill him, but if he tries to cause me harm, you bet your sweet bippy I'd shoot him in a hare's heartbeat.

He's a slug.  He has 5 kids, doesn't work and doesn't pay child support for any child.  He's 27 and still lives with mommy.

I live in Texas.  I don't go looking for trouble, but my shotgun's loaded and ready.

Answer 12

By "go postal" I assume you mean a psychotic break.

Truthfully, anyone can reach this point, but just when we do is highly individual.

A psychotic break can be triggered by an existing condition, ie manic depression, or in an otherwise mentally healthy individual, stress can cause it.

Just what the break means, what the individual does is dependent on their own psychology.

Harris & Klebold for example, might have just run away from home if they were more introverted, and further from pubescent aggression.

In sum anyone can experience a psychotic break, but what it entails and when it happens is highly individual.

Answer 13

Usually it's the stable quiet person who goes postal. I was feeling postal because of the sudden anger I felt towards someone who wronged me and felt like killing them so I went into therapy to control my feelings. I am otherwise the nice quiet girl next door type. The unstable person on the other hand doesn't keep their feelings to themselves and are very predictible and would show signs of instability and going postal, causing them to be institutionalized or at the least monitored, preventing an opportunity to "go postal."

Answer 14

Can you illucidate a bit ? what "go postal' means ?