Mental & Emotional Health

The U.S. Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juveniles under 18 in 2005.

I agree with that decision but the conclusions drawn regarding past abuse, mental illness and addiction problems are things that will probably remain constant so will still apply when they’re adults.

Past abuse

Most of the convicted had suffered from some form of psychological, sexual and/or extreme physical abuse in their families. Past family abuse is a well known risk factor for future violent behavior so this doesn’t seem like a surprising find.

Mental Illness

A study of 18 convicted males was “to clarify the ways in which immaturity of their central nervous systems, traumas to their brains, predispositions to psychiatric illness, and chaotic, violent and abusive upbringings may have diminished their judgment and self-control.” (Lewis and colleagues study, 2004)

Signs and symptoms were present in 83% of the condemned, indicating either bi-polar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. I’m not sure how they came up with those labels. It seems many juveniles don’t have fully developed consciences so could be accused of being anti-social as well.

Yet another study confirmed that most psychosocial maturity is incomplete up until the age of 19. This could explain the bi-polar and/or schizo affective disorder suggestion since impulse control is lacking in both. Being mentally ill alone does not necessarily make a person more likely to be violent but an abusive violent family home does.

Addictions

Addictions were also mentioned as a contributing factor but how many youths suffered from a drug addiction wasn’t mentioned. This wouldn’t help anyone’s judgment though regardless of age.

• The only thing that will change is they will probably mature so their impulse control may improve. If juveniles are mentally ill and their frontal lobe is affected, growing older does not guarantee better impulse controls either. Medication may help but that’s only if they’re properly diagnosed and treated once released.

See When is it ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment’? Supreme Court Bans Juvenile Death Penalty, Arline Kaplin, 2005 for more.

While reading American Scientist magazine, I came across this “Southpaw Gene”(LRRTM1) blurb stating that researchers discovered a gene that predisposes people to be left handed.

This same gene apparently may also increase the likelihood of developing schizophrenia. It can only be inherited from the father for some reason and is inactive in the mother.

This isn’t the same thing as saying all left handed people are schizophrenic because there are various factors that lead to its development. I have also read that the same gene that predisposes you to developing schizophrenia also makes you more susceptible to becoming bi-polar.

Anyway, according to the American Journal of Genetics, severe stress in childhood is also a factor and can actually lead to brain damage. In other words, it’s both biological and environmental. The bottom line is no one factor determines whether you will develop it. Even identical twins only have a 50% chance compared to the other.

I’m sure these researchers could find other conditions that right handed people were more prone to as well. In fact, I know people who are bi-polar and schizophrenic and they’re right handed. It’s important to be cautious with any sweeping generalizations, especially since left handed people have faced ongoing prejudice as it is.

Famous Left Handed People

On Wikipedia, I came across a listing of several musicians who are/were left handed. They include Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney and Freddy Mercury from Queen. That does explain why Jimi Hendrix played his Fender Stratocaster upside down and Paul McCartney did the same thing when he first played.

It was an interesting discovery so thought I would share and although it might be old news to some, I’m just reading about it. For further reading, see National Geographic’s article on the gene for left handedness.

• If you’re interested in reading about which genes are linked to breast cancer, check out Discussing Breast Cancer’s BRCA1 Research Update post.