Gunman's doctor before rampage: 'No problem there'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-EXCITE

WASHINGTON (AP) - The gunman who killed 12 people in last year's rampage at Washington's Navy Yard lied so convincingly to Veterans Affairs doctors before the shootings that they concluded he had no mental health issues despite serious problems and encounters with police during the same period, according to a review by The Associated Press of his confidential medical files.

Just weeks before the shootings, a doctor treating him for insomnia noted that the patient worked for the Defense Department but wrote hauntingly "no problem there."

The AP obtained more than 100 pages of treatment and disability claims evaluation records for Aaron Alexis, spanning more than two years. They show Alexis complaining of minor physical ailments, including foot and knee injuries, slight hearing loss and later insomnia, but resolutely denying any mental health issues. He directly denied having suicidal or homicidal thoughts when government doctors asked him about it just three weeks before the shootings.

In a bizarre incident in Newport, R.I., Alexis told police on Aug. 7 that disembodied voices were harassing him at his hotel using a microwave machine to prevent him from sleeping. After police reported the incident to the Navy, his employer, a defense contracting company, pulled his access to classified material for two days after his mental health problems became evident but restored it quickly and never told Navy officials it had done so.

FULL story at link.


Read more: By KEVIN FREKING

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This image released by the FBI shows a photo of Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis. Alexis, who killed 12 people in last year's rampage at Washington's Navy Yard lied so convincingly to Veterans Affairs doctors before the shootings that they concluded he had no mental health issues despite serious problems and encounters with police during the same period, according to a review by The Associated Press of his confidential medical files. (AP Photo/FBI)

[Blue_Tires]

1. In theory, aren't mental health professionals supposed be

able to see through that kind of stuff?? One or two sessions I can understand, but that many people over that period of time doesn't look good...


"convincingly lied to" seems to be a shield for "rubber-stamping"

[Kelvin Mace]

2. A VERY informative read

from a "humor" site:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-everyone-gets-wrong-about-mental-illness/

Mental health "professionals" is a rather subjective term.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Yeah, I'm speaking as someone who has been in treatment

for the better part of his life...