Seung-Hui Cho Research Paper
Karli Stroman
Dr. Carson
Abnormal Psych.
20, November 2009
Seung-Hui Cho When trying to determine the mind state of a person involved in a catastrophic event such as the Virginia Tech shooting it is difficult. Adding onto that difficulty is that the person that we are interested in, Seung-Hui Cho, committed suicide. Therefore we have to look at everything from that date backwards. We must dig deep into his family past to see if there is any history of depression, anxiety, or any other mental disorder. Not looking far back there are records that show that Seung-Hui Cho received therapy in middle school for Selective Mutism. “More than four months after the attack, the Wall Street Journal reported on August 20, 2007 that Cho had been diagnosed with selective mutism. The Virginia Tech Review Panel report, also released in August 2007, placed this diagnosis in the spring of Cho's eighth grade year, and his parents sought treatment for him through medication and therapy. In high school, Cho was placed in special education under the 'emotional …show more content…
At home he was surrounded by people that loved him and that took care of him; however in a school environment he was shut-out and picked at. “Students who knew him as far back as middle school remember a dramatically uncommunicative boy who never spoke, not even to teachers. Some remember classmates derisively offering dollar bills to Cho if he would just talk. The band director would urge him to play his trombone more loudly and to hold his head up (Cho & Gardner).” He was so alone and shy, that he had no social skills and was unable to communicate to others his problems. Being unable to unload the burdens that he held back only built up the idea in his mind that everyone was mean and cruel. It is natural for humans to have a release; unfortunately for Cho he lacked the ability to release stress because every time he turned around he hit a road block with his
Dr. Carson
Abnormal Psych.
20, November 2009
Seung-Hui Cho When trying to determine the mind state of a person involved in a catastrophic event such as the Virginia Tech shooting it is difficult. Adding onto that difficulty is that the person that we are interested in, Seung-Hui Cho, committed suicide. Therefore we have to look at everything from that date backwards. We must dig deep into his family past to see if there is any history of depression, anxiety, or any other mental disorder. Not looking far back there are records that show that Seung-Hui Cho received therapy in middle school for Selective Mutism. “More than four months after the attack, the Wall Street Journal reported on August 20, 2007 that Cho had been diagnosed with selective mutism. The Virginia Tech Review Panel report, also released in August 2007, placed this diagnosis in the spring of Cho's eighth grade year, and his parents sought treatment for him through medication and therapy. In high school, Cho was placed in special education under the 'emotional …show more content…
At home he was surrounded by people that loved him and that took care of him; however in a school environment he was shut-out and picked at. “Students who knew him as far back as middle school remember a dramatically uncommunicative boy who never spoke, not even to teachers. Some remember classmates derisively offering dollar bills to Cho if he would just talk. The band director would urge him to play his trombone more loudly and to hold his head up (Cho & Gardner).” He was so alone and shy, that he had no social skills and was unable to communicate to others his problems. Being unable to unload the burdens that he held back only built up the idea in his mind that everyone was mean and cruel. It is natural for humans to have a release; unfortunately for Cho he lacked the ability to release stress because every time he turned around he hit a road block with his