Clinical Psychologist
A Former Student from Virginia Tech Discusses the Tragedy
By Steve Amoia
Our theme this month is humility. I remember something that Grandmaster Ed Parker said about Elvis Presley after their initial meeting: “He came over and introduced himself to me. He didn’t assume I knew who he was. He was genuinely humble.” Being humble is not a common character trait of the famous, not to mention the rest of us. Like a great warrior who only fights when all other means fail, a humble man or woman doesn’t wear their egos on their sleeves.
Dr. Alfred C. Thompson, who is a clinical psychologist, was born and raised in the West African nation of Sierra Leone. He has been a social services and mental health professional for over twenty years. Presently, Dr. Thompson is employed by the City of Rockville, Maryland, in their Youth and Family Services division. He is licensed as a psychologist by the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with the States of Maryland and New York, respectively.
Dr. Thompson earned his undergraduate degree in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Maryland at College Park, and his graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He obtained his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Last May, Dr. Thompson visited his alma mater to perform voluntary counseling services after the tragic events of April 16th, 2007.
Dr. Thompson kindly consented to an interview from his unique perspective as a mental health and social services professional, along with as a concerned member of the Virginia Tech community. His commentary represents his own personal views, and does not represent the City of Rockville and/or others that employ his services.
For most of us who did not know much about Virginia Tech or Blacksburg, the media images were of a close-knit community with a deep affection for their school. As a former student, would you care to elaborate about the unique nature of this community?
Because of the population size, and the closeness of the community, everything is tied around the University. This is a town where the University closes down in the summer, when most of the students are gone, the McDonald's with twenty employees is reduced to a mere three persons. For example, the campus is not as big as the University of Maryland at College Park. All the buildings are built out of stone; it looks like a fortress from medieval times. It is a very nice and clean campus. Everything is slow. People don't drive fast in Blacksburg. Life is slower, and very different. It was a very bad thing that happened to a very nice school.
You have counseled a great variety of people and situations during your career. How would you gauge the mood of the Virginia Tech community, both from a general perspective, along with a more personal level?
It was very solemn. Because in smaller communities, you don't expect this. People were still in shock. It is not expected in a small college town. They really don't know how to deal with it. They took it very personal. I'm not a resident there, but the fact is that you belong to that community to a certain degree. They asked us, those alumni with counseling experience, to come down to help. If you walk into that campus, you would shed tears. It was like the Titanic.
In terms of respect and privacy for the victims, their families, friends, students, and employees of the University, how would you evaluate the overall media coverage and presence during the initial days after the tragedy?
You can look at it two ways: People who live in bigger cites, like ours (Washington metropolitan area), want to see and know everything. In a small-niche community, from a mental health standpoint, people think that they can support each other. That is what has happened in rural parts of this country. They believe in supporting each other. They rely on that support. Emotionally and psychologically.
When you compare it to other parts of the country, you will find their values are very different than in metropolitan areas. The media didn't respect boundaries in the sense that what was on TV should have been kept from being publicized out of respect to the families.
NBC decided to release a video tape, pictures, and declarations by Cho Seung-Hui two days after the tragic event. In your opinion as a mental health professional, was the decision to air this tape, along with Cho's statements and images, in the best interests of all concerned?
It was disrespectful to the families. As I mentioned before, they (media) don't respect boundaries very well. Regardless of the families' wishes, they were not respected. They worried about who was first to tell the story. They should have investigated. But this was the first time, on such a large scale, that this ever happened. These factors should be taken into consideration. The majority of the victims were very young adults. When you compare the age of those who were killed versus those who were killed in Iraq, it seems that we don't value that age group anymore. We, in bigger cities, are immune when we see this age group die all the time. People in larger metropolitan areas, in my opinion, could cope with this situation better.
Can you please comment upon voluntary and involuntary psychiatric commitment in the Commonwealth of Virginia?
He had a lot of mental health issues that were identified. Red flags were raised. The evil in all of this is the fact that you can't involuntarily commit a person until they are deemed harmful to themselves or others. What came into play, in my opinion, was that he was a student, and they didn't want to stigmatize him. He threatened suicide, one of the roommates reported it to the authorities, he voluntarily went to a psychiatric facility, and shortly thereafter was adjudicated to have a mental illness.
Involuntarily, through court orders, you can get someone committed. As an adult, in this case, his family could have committed him, but they would have to go to court and obtain an emergency petition. A family member or significant other, in the legal sense, can do this. Authorities, like social services, can come to take charge when family or next of kin are not present.
This whole thing relies on how we see mental health in this country. Stigma and culture also plays a lot into the equation. Even if his parents knew that he was not behaving within society's norms, they deal with these issues differently. People from non-Western cultures (Dr. Thompson is from Sierra Leone) deal with mental health very differently. They tend to keep mental health issues within the family.
How can we help the community of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg?
The University and student community have set up funds to help families who lost loved-ones, and for those who were affected at Virginia Tech.
If you would like to donate to the funds, here are two secure online links:
Fund in Honor or Memory of the Victims
For more information, you may call 1-800-533-1144.
Dr. Thompson, thank you for consenting to this discussion, along with your insights and opinions.
You are quite welcome, Steve.
