Depression and psychopathy are conditions of the mind that often lead people, who have either, to act in in extreme ways. These conditions often cause
people who experience them to make harmful decisions that not only affect themselves but also others. This is evident in the many of the mass shootings that
take place in our country, as seen in the shooting at Columbine. Even though both depression and psychopathy affect the mind they are opposite mental
conditions.
Investigators and psychiatrists have said that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters in the Columbine Massacre were very different individuals, with
different motives and opposite mental conditions. According to them, Klebold is easier to understand, a more familiar type. He was hotheaded, but depressive
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Adults, and even some other kids, described him as nice. However, Harris was cold, calculating, and homicidal. Klebold was hurting inside
while Harris wanted to hurt people. Harris was not just a troubled kid, psychiatrists say, he was a psychopath.
Depression usually is more of an inward condition, affecting only the person himself. People who experience depression have feelings of intense sadness.
They often have feelings of being helpless, hopeless, and worthless, having a very low selfesteem. According to Dylan Klebold's journal he felt all of these.
The feelings can last for a long period of time and keep the person from functioning normally, such as in his thinking sleeping, eating and work patterns.
Depending on how severe the depression is sometimes the person, to escape it, commits suicide. According to statistics, one out of every ten people with
depression attempts suicide. Psychopathy is a mental illness in which an individual displays unacceptable and antisocial behavior. He lacks the ability to love
or establish meaningful personal relationships. He is selfcentered. He has a greater concern for himself than for others to an extreme degree. He is