A US soldier who shot dead three comrades and wounded 16 others before killing himself was on a cocktail of prescription drugs.
He had been prescribed drugs including anti-depressants and Ambien for insomnia, had been deployed to Iraq as a truck driver for four months in 2011.
After his return he told senior officers he had suffered a traumatic brain injury, but military officials said he had not been directly involved in combat and had not been wounded.
According to friends in his home town, he had been devastated by the death of his mother from a heart attack in October, and his grandmother earlier this year.
The bible gives principles for living that may help avoid mental illness, but let me stress that if someone develops a mental illness, that person should seek professional help from a trained professional, preferably with a biblical worldview.
That being said, there are principles, by which, Christians should live. Mental illness, I believe is a type of bondage that we fall into, that is why the primary principle is that where the Lord is, there is liberty.
We and our families should draw near to the Lord.
- Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
- Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
- Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8
- The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. Revelation 18:23
