Murder Most Foul

Here's a discouraging story involving a young man with bipolar disorder who allegedly murdered his parents last Wednesday in Spokane, Wash. According to media accounts, Bryan Kim was taking meds (whether it was contemporaneous with his alleged act remains to be seen), but stabbed his father and strangled his mother all the same after they told him he'd need to move out of the house by January 1. He'd reportedly been charged with assaulting and kidnapping them in the past.

I'll be interested to see more details in this case as they emerge. For now, I have one thought. If Kim was not psychotic at the time of his alleged deeds, then I hope he rots in prison for the rest of his life.

As usual, I am not asserting or hinting that meds made him do it, but I am fascinated that some in the mental health advocacy world act as if meds are an absolute buffer against bipolars and schizophrenics committing crazy, regrettable acts. It'll be interesting to see if TAC takes this one up, or if they benignly ignore it as they did with the bipolar who allegedly shot up the Jewish Federation in Seattle this summer. He was on meds at the time.