Did Eric have reactive attachment disorder rather than psychopathy

My first post but I have been interested in Columbine for a while due to the fact a lot of it is still shrouded in mystery. However I never believed that Eric was a psychopath. There are way too many signs to suggest he wasn't; the love of animals, crying about his upcoming death, apologies to his parents just to name a few.

I believe Eric had a reactive attachment disorder instead - and here's why.
Eric moved around a lot as a kid and he even noted himself that he hated this, he could never form long lasting attachments to people. His father seemed emotionally distant and he probably didn't get to see too much of him if he was busy at the base. This continued upheaval could have really affected the young Eric and knocked his confidence time and time again. Why make links with anyone if he wasn't going to be around? The feelings of sadness and loss of another friend he would never see again must have been awful for a sensitive boy like Eric.

Attachment disorder for children presents itself as the child having a need for control, problems with self monitoring behaviour (understanding why something is wrong), problems expressing anger (they will keep it to themselves), an underdeveloped conscience and a difficulty in showing affection.

I'm guessing that young Eric had all of these and never outwardly complained to his parents about being moved and about his emotional problems. His mother stated that he liked to spend a lot of time alone as a kid, which is really quite heartbreaking when you think about it.

As the child gets older and none of this is resolved the teen/ adults behaviour will morph with the following symptoms.
difficulty trusting others
a need to control their environment
anger issues, often lashing out at others
impulsive
negative thinking, potentially provoking others to feel the same
difficulty connecting to others
resistance to accepting guidance or advice
addictions may become a coping mechanism
isolating themselves and withdrawing from social activities

Doesn't this sound like Eric? Like exactly like Eric, its as if he had textbook symptoms? I think if Eric had been truly psychopathic he would have murdered his parents but he just didn't have it in him. He got cheap kicks out of fooling them and lying to them over some really petty stuff but he couldn't ever physically hurt them - that would have been morally wrong to Eric. He could safely blame school as the target of his pain though. School was where it all began and school was where it was going to end.

What do you guys think?

It sounds like Eric except for the "withdrawing from social activities" in my opinion.
He did go to great lenghts to get peoples attention and even if near the end only seemed to be about getting laid I think a deeply isolated person would rather surpress their sexuality and not ask people out 10 times in a row.

I recently read in the 11k that someone saw he went alone to a party and played videogames.

That does not seem like something an antisocial person would do

I think this sounds a lot like him from what we know.

Maybe. Eric had a lot of weird traits but so do a lot of other teens. Acting impulsive or angry is par for the course for a lot of teens. I also agree that Eric was not as anti social. Maybe a bit, but that would be a better descriptor for Dylan rather than Eric. Unless it was mostly an act from Eric.

Here is the Columbine High School Shooting in one sentence:

Two teenagers decide to shoot up their school and then kill themselves.

/thread


Lol ok I'm not serious, but sometimes I do feel like we over-complicate things. There has to be a balance between that and oversimplifying.

Like when someone reads Dylan's journals and does an analysis of it, while it is interesting, it could be that he was a depressed 16 year old on his 4th screw driver and writing nonsense?

We will never be able to determine his mental state as we never saw him in reality. The videos and writings of him are just fragments and not a complete portrayal of his personality.

sororityalpha wrote:

Here is the Columbine High School Shooting in one sentence:

Two teenagers decide to shoot up their school and then kill themselves.

That's accurate but the two main questions that inspire interest are why they decided it was a good idea to kill people (and more specifically, why they chose Columbine as their target) and why they were so eager to do it knowing that it would lead to their deaths. That is what is open to interpretation and why it's worth writing more than one sentence about it.

I always considered Eric to be a narcissist, similar to Elliot Roger. After all, narcissists can feel love and guilt, both of which Eric was capable of, but like a psychopath lack empathy for other people, which Eric also showed.

But we will never know for certain, as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] pointed out.

Very true. I just find Eric WAY more interesting than Dylan. I wish we knew more about him from his parents; all we seem to have on Eric is his diary (which was for an audience so not really reliable to judge on his personality) and a few friends who have come forward and said he was either extremely angry or extremely polite. He seems a complete dichotomy.

I wish they would release his medical records after a certain number of years, like they are doing with the depositions. To know what he discussed with his therapist would be extremely interesting.

sororityalpha wrote:

Here is the Columbine High School Shooting in one sentence:

Two teenagers decide to shoot up their school and then kill themselves.

Good sentence, but it's missing something:

Two teenagers shoot up their school after failing to blow it up and then kill themselves.

Something about Eric in the cctv footage makes him look really disappointed to me.

I think the bombs failing to detonate totally contributed to him being the first one to commit suicide.

LPorter101 wrote:

sororityalpha wrote:

Here is the Columbine High School Shooting in one sentence:

Two teenagers decide to shoot up their school and then kill themselves.

Good sentence, but it's missing something:

Two teenagers shoot up their school after failing to blow it up and then kill themselves.

Yes. Everyone always forgets that this was supposed to be a bombing and the shooting was just them improvising after the bombs failed.

I love that you have changed your profilepic to Kurt Cobain, I literally watched two documentaries about him last week. Tried to learn their songs on guitar and everything...

QuestionMark wrote:

I always considered Eric to be a narcissist, similar to Elliot Roger. After all, narcissists can feel love and guilt, both of which Eric was capable of, but like a psychopath lack empathy for other people, which Eric also showed.

But we will never know for certain, as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] pointed out.

I actually entertained that exact idea for a long time myself, but now I am doubting it. I remember reading it somewhere that one of the girls he tried to date recalled him saying something to the effect of "i might physically hurt you if we are in a relationship" and that's a very twisted and convoluted yet still valid act of sympathy, even if he didn't see it that way. Because I'm sure it would have been true - Eric would have become a physically abusive partner. However, what sort of botched narcissist warns you like this? Especially considering he wanted to get a girlfriend so bad - surely he must have known a sentence like this could easily turn a girl away?

I never heard that before. There's actually been some discussion about what the boys would be like if they got into a serious relationship. 99% of people contend that it would not be a healthy one and I agree.

But the young girls 1718 and younger think it would be this romantic and dramatic relationship filled with poems and protectiveness.

More than likely you'd get yelling, possessiveness, lack of communication and trying to convince your boyfriend not to kill himself when he's crying and drunk.

Just my 2 cents.

Holloka wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

I always considered Eric to be a narcissist, similar to Elliot Roger. After all, narcissists can feel love and guilt, both of which Eric was capable of, but like a psychopath lack empathy for other people, which Eric also showed.

But we will never know for certain, as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] pointed out.

I actually entertained that exact idea for a long time myself, but now I am doubting it. I remember reading it somewhere that one of the girls he tried to date recalled him saying something to the effect of "i might physically hurt you if we are in a relationship" and that's a very twisted and convoluted yet still valid act of sympathy, even if he didn't see it that way. Because I'm sure it would have been true - Eric would have become a physically abusive partner. However, what sort of botched narcissist warns you like this? Especially considering he wanted to get a girlfriend so bad - surely he must have known a sentence like this could easily turn a girl away?

I haven't came across that anywhere. Any links as to where you may have found it?  

Also in my opinion Eric was very much aware that he had anger problems. If this was something he really said then it would seem that he was trying to warn the girl BEFORE the relationship even started. Now it could have been to make her understand the fact that he had issues, OR he could have been playing on the fact that some girls like guys who are bad, troubled, etc. It plays into the whole "I will fix whats broken in him" mentality that some women have.

I had it myself once upon a time. I spent/wasted 3 years trying to save someone who was determined to make his life and my own a living hell. In trying to save him, I almost lost myself a few times. Way more then I care to remember or admit. I finally wised up and walked away. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I hate being defeated, but I can truly say that I did everything possible to help him. But he didn't want help, he didn't think he had any problems. Or that the ones he would admit to weren't that bad. Trust me they were bad.

This is why I have said many times that no amount of love and understanding would have saved Eric or Dylan. Love will never be a cure all. I learned that lesson the hard way. Eric and Dylan both needed very intensive therapy, with possibly the right combo of meds. BUT they would have also wanted to be helped.

Holloka wrote:

I actually entertained that exact idea for a long time myself, but now I am doubting it. I remember reading it somewhere that one of the girls he tried to date recalled him saying something to the effect of "i might physically hurt you if we are in a relationship"

That conversation sounds like a fabrication to me.

I should really try to locate where on earth I found that anecdote, because now I am very curious too. I don't mind if it turns out its BS I just need to know now Will definitely get back to you guys once I have anything to show.

dont know