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Let's Honor Hitler--A Stupid Stress Management Question

I don’t believe that there is any one news media would give that question the time it takes to answer, “NO,” At least I hope so. Now suppose I write a complete course on how to murder a minimum of thirty college students with two hand guns and six clips of ammo, do you think I could get any free publicity to publicize my course? Stupid question, right? I can’t even get any free publicity on how to extend life through managing stress. Publicity on how to kill people? That would be a real laugh. What a stupid idea! How about if I demonstrate it and kill myself? Suddenly we have a different answer. Why is the answer to the first question, “NO,” and the answer to the second question, “YES?” Is it a double standard, stupidity or ignorance? My specialty is hypnosis and stress management. Normally I write about managing one’s personal stressors—which stressors to avoid and which ones to tackle head on--how to mange your bodily reactions to stress—how to eat and be healthy. That’s a micro scale (the individual). On a macro scale we have the effects of stress on a society. It’s ironic, Don Imus got fired for his racist remarks; and what I found amazing is that not one news media played his actual comments. They all carried the story—“Don Imus Fired!” but not one repeated what he said or even played a recording of his comments.  Yet we have a deranged mentally ill young adult male named Joe who kills thirty two other young adults, maims many more, and the news media show his tortured soul via his self made video manifesto—he didn’t even have to hire a professional company to shoot it to have it shown all across this great country—free publicity. And what’s even sicker is that some day in the near future, some other deranged mind will probably make a movie of it. I wonder who will play Joe?

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Now there are several issues that create this tragedy dramatically increasing the stress load on our society. Yes, it’s something that simply could have been avoided—one way of minimizing stress. The definition of stress is, “anything that requires the individual (or in this case—the society) to adapt or change.” And this event is certainly a tragedy from which our society needs to adapt or change. Everything we do has a price associated with it. The goal in managing stress is to choose the action with the lowest price tag to the individual or society.

For instance, you might have an issue with your supervisor always asking for overtime. You could:

1. say nothing and put up with it.
2. tell him to get lost and that there are others who are never required to put in overtime.

3. Responsibly express your disappointment free of making him wrong—an entire article could be written on how to express yourself responsibly in a situation such as this.

Both options #1 and #2 have a high price tag. Option #3 may not change your supervisor’s choice or action, but nonetheless, you released your feelings and they won’t be “eating at your guts” or cause you to get fired for insubordination. Option #3 has the lowest price tag and is responsible both to you and your supervisor.

What is the price that our society will pay? To get the answer, all you have to do is extrapolate. What happened after DB Cooper was popularized by the news media? What happened after the first case of Tylenol product tampering was popularized by the media? What happed after the first case of anthrax was popularized? What happened after…? Copycats, right?

I use the word popularized because what the media has done is beyond “INFORM.” 

I believe we all agree that it takes a deranged, sick, desperate mind to perform a heinous act such as the massacre of innocent students. So, what are the chances of other sick deranged, desperate minds coming up with the same or similar heinous acts? The odds are much higher with the media helping, right?

The first issue is suggestibility. From my two decades of private practice many of my client’s problems were from catching suggestions. Or example, one fellow and his wife (happily married for twenty years) attended a party during which time they learned that close friends (who they thought were happily married) were getting a divorce after fifteen years of marriage. The first thing my client wanted to know was if he should be questioning his relationship—he caught a suggestion. This is how easily suggestions can be caught.

Yes, it’s true that you can’t hypnotize anyone to do anything they normally wouldn’t do, yet there are many mentally ill individuals who would be mass murders given a free course on how to murder over 30 people with two guns and a half dozen clips of ammo. I imagine they would even go to the trouble of taking lessons at a local gun club so their aim would be as good as possible.  

We don’t need Al qaeda in this country to create terror; we have all the terror we want from our friendly news agencies feeding ideas to our own grudge carrying citizens. The executive responsible for airing the killer’s photo and manifesto justified it by saying, “When that material landed on my door steps, I though we had an obligation to air it.”

The second issue is responsibility. Just as Imus was irresponsible, the news media is being irresponsible, but who’s going to fire the news media? What is needed is a “Responsibility Rating.” Zero is totally irresponsible equivalent to showing Hitler spouting his ideology and ten is totally responsible equivalent to doing a story on each of the Blacksburg victims—making them the Heroes. How many sick deranged people would want to make those whom they hate into important people—no they want to be the martyr.

Why do they kill themselves after a blood bath? Maybe it’s because they don’t want to be accountable for their wrong distraught angry deeds by sitting in a jail cell for the rest of their lives. Answering that question can keep psychologists and philosophers busy for a life-time.

The visual and auditory suggestions the sick deranged individuals get by seeing another sick angry deranged individual in a Clint Eastwood pose pointing two hand guns at the world and then hearing the audio (no matter how inept) justifies their own ill feelings and fuels them to do a better job at creating terror to get even with society, their mother, father, other students…

In summary, the news media hides behind free speech and the public’s “right to know” in order to sell advertising space thru sensationalism. The cost is irresponsible news reporting. Too bad the sponsors don’t use a responsibility scale in selecting the news programs they sponsor. On a side note, we are technically at war and the news media are guilty of treason any time they air which railroad corridor, nuclear facilities, watershed… is vulnerable to terrorist attack.

It’s amazing, during the airing of the deranged young man’s video, one of the commentators on CNN asked the other commentator if they should be airing the clips. That tells me some are capable of thinking, why not more of them? It’s time for the news media to “step up to the plate,” and be responsible. Sooner or later someone will invent technology that measure suggestibility that will be accepted in a court of law which will hold irresponsible news castors accountable for inciting terror with copycats. Can you imagine how many millions of dollars each victim’s family could win in a court settlement?

Some evidence is in Joe’s manifesto where he mentions Columbine. Is it possible that the way the media handled the Columbine catastrophe played it up in Joe’s deranged mind and resulted in the Blacksburg Virginia Tech massacre.

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Resource Box:

Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E. NGH certified, a prominent figure in the personal change field. His aim is to make it possible for anyone desiring to handle anger more effectively to do so and actually benefit from it
For more information please visit http://www.DStressDoc.com/Handling_Anger.html 
He has several websites with self help materials:
Self help mp3 downloads for you personal change and improvement plan at http://www.DstressDoc.com
How to Build and Improve Self Worth at http://www.SelfEsteemCure.com
Stop Binging and Comfort Eating at http://www.EmotionalEatingCure.com
Over come panic disorder with agoraphobia at http://www.PanicBusters.com
Pendulums for self discovery at http://www.PendulumWarehouse.com
Special Diet for Morgellons and Skin Parasites at http://www.SkinParasitesEbook.com