Noted psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Gardere says the law can make it difficult for authorities to spot people with violent mental issues before they act out.
"We do want to protect the civil rights of our individuals, of our citizens, so we have to find the right balance and thus far we haven't found the balance,'' Gardere told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"At one time, many years ago, a person could have easily been picked up for mental health issues. Now the pendulum has swung the other way because we overreacted the first time. Now we're underreacting.
"So, we need to find the balance of protecting the individual as well as protecting society,'' he said Wednesday.
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Elliot Rodger, a California man, went on a bloody spree Friday, killing three people in his apartment, then three more outside, and injuring 13 others before fatally shooting himself — apparently out of frustration that he was having bad luck with women.
Gardere, known as "America's Psycologist,'' said Rodger, 22, detested women because of his inability to interact normally with them.
"Women became a symbol of everything he hated . . . Yes, he did hate women. Yes, he picked on women," he said.
"This discussion really needs to be, what was wrong with him as far as his mental . . . cognitive functioning, where he was so disturbed that women became a psychotic obsession with regard to rejecting him.''
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