Silicon Valley Moms Blog has an interesting entry from Dr. Joyce Hoffspiegel, Ph.D entitled, A letter to Mrs. Cho. The clinical psychologist from California goes out on a professional limb to write,

I speculate that your son was a sensitive, introverted young person with rigid internal demands and unrealistically high ideals. Because he fell short of his own ego ideal it is probable that he harbored an inordinately poor self esteem. I would guess that he never learned to communicate painful feelings through sharing or talking things out with others. He felt shamed by any sense of vulnerability and was easily humiliated and envious of peers who had an easier time interpersonally. Probably, he had a rough time making friends and finding dates.

I suppose any or all of this could be true. I suppose any of a hundred different possibilities may also be true. But I suppose, most of all, we will never really know the truth, because Mrs. Cho’s son took his own life after his deadly shooting spree.

Nonetheless, the closing of the letter rings true–

It wasn’t your fault.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 4 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Apr 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.