Experts Speak Out: Seung-Hui Cho's Video 'Manifesto'

April 19, 2007 — -- To find out how psychological experts view television networks' decision to broadcast the video made by Virginia Tech shooter Seung-hui Cho, ABC News sent a general question out to the mental health community: Should the video have been shown to the public?

More than two dozen of the country's top mental health specialists -- including adolescent psychiatrists, forensic specialists, suicide prevention specialists and others -- responded.

Overwhelmingly, they said the video should not have been broadcast. Their reasons ranged from the threat of copycat violence to the possible stigmatization of those with mental health problems:

Dr. Jerald Kay
Chair of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on College Mental Health
Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, Wright State University

"The critical issue is balancing the public's need to know against the potential danger of provoking copycat behavior. The power of the Columbine tragedy was evident in Cho's writing.

"There appears to be more evidence of copycat behavior in incidents such as the one at Virginia Tech than that of suicide contagion, which refers to the potential influence of reporting suicide in evoking similar experiences in others.

"It would be wise, therefore, not to repeatedly air the video tapes that NBC received. The potential gains are clearly outweighed by the potential dangers."

Dr. Michael Welner
Chairman, The Forensic Panel
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
New York University School of Medicine

"This is a PR tape of him trying to turn himself into a Quentin Tarantino character. This is precisely why this should not be released.

"Parents, you should cut the pictures out of the newspaper. Do not let your children see it. Take them out of the room when these videos are shown, because he's paranoid, and his agenda of blaming the rest of the world is unedited.

"There's nothing to learn from this except giving it validation. If this rambling showed up in an emergency room, my colleagues and I would listen carefully and, when we reflected that it was delusional, would go see the next patient and start the medication."