If necessary, they are given more in-depth psychological assessments or evaluations. As a result, we are identifying more emotional disturbance and mental illness that needs to be treated. The killers in those shooting cases show signs of conditions such as severe depression, conduct disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder, said Dr. Robert Cohen, a psychiatry professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and nationally known expert on childhood mental illness. Their thinking isn't straight. Their feelings are out of control.
Defendants can be deemed mentally ill but still legally responsible for a crime, experts note.
It's a fine line, and it's not an exact science. Often you'll have psychiatrists testifying for the defense and psychiatrists testifying for the prosecution. One Texas Youth Commission facility, at Corsicana, is devoted entirely to offenders with serious emotional disorders. About 42 of the 150 kids are kept in private cells, added three years ago, because of the severity of their mental illness, said Linda Reyes, TYC's deputy executive director for rehabilitation services. Kids have been known to bang their head against a wall until they bleed, cut themselves repeatedly or bite chunks out of their flesh, she said.