Shattered families, shattered lives

Ben Shapiro, Breitbart.com

Whenever a young person engages in a mass shooting, media scrutiny immediately falls on the parents – particularly when, as with Elliott Rodger, there was a long history of mental illness. In this case, a checkered family history marked by consistent but sporadic attempts to find help ended in tragedy. Here is what we know about the shooter’s relationship with his parents:

ShatteredLivesHis Parents Divorced When He Was 7. His mother, Li Chin Rodger, alleged in divorce documents that he had special needs, and was autistic. Peter alleged that he was not aware that Elliott was autistic. Elliott wrote in his manifesto, “I believe it was my mother who told me that she and my father were getting a divorce; my mother, who only a few months before told me that such a thing will never happen. I was absolutely shocked, outraged, and above all, overwhelmed. This was a huge life-changing event… a very sad day.” He added, “The family I grew up with has split in half, and from then on I would grow up in two different households. I remember crying. All the happy times I spent with my mother and father as a family were gone.”

He Was in Therapy from Age 8. We now know that Elliott Rodger had been undergoing therapy since age eight, but in adulthood had stopped taking his medication. During high school, he reportedly saw a therapist “pretty much every day,” and had lately seen two therapists.

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