# Lanza "couldn't feel physical pain." Explanations, please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320 "2012-12-17T17:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/1 "2012-12-17T17:18:32Z")
From [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/portrait-of-adam-lanza-and-his-family-begins-to-emerge/2012/12/17/376759ce-4862-11e2-820e-17eefac2f939_story_1.html)Washington Post story on the CT school shooter: \*Another bizarre detail that has not been officially established and may or may not be significant: Lanza couldn’t feel physical pain, according to an AP report. \* Would this be congenital insensitivity to pain, according to this wiki: > **[Congenital insensitivity to pain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_insensitivity_to_pain)** > > Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, is one or more extraordinarily rare conditions in which a person cannot feel (and has never felt) physical pain. The conditions described here are separate from the HSAN group of disorders, which have more specific signs and cause. Because feeling physical pain is vital for survival, CIP is an extremely dangerous condition. It is common for people with the condition to die in childhood due to injuries or illnesses g For p... Or are there other conditions that can cause this? Little has been mentioned about this in the news WRT the shooter. It’s pretty bizarre and rare, so it would seem newsworthy. Haven’t found any solid cite or reference. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/2 "2012-12-17T17:40:44Z")
The DSM IV-TR says that odd responses to sensory stimuli are among the possible associated features of autistic disorder, and lists high threshold for pain as an example. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/3 "2012-12-17T17:43:47Z")
I am going to WAG that (if there is any truth to this at all) it is not congenital insensitivity (which is a physiological thing), but one of these weird autistic things that mean that he does (did) not react normally to painful stimuli: something like not crying out or grimacing when in pain, and perhaps not making a normal amount of effort to get away from the cause. It is probably not that he does not feel pain, or even that it is not unpleasant to him, but that he somehow has not learned the normal human way to react to it. A lot of how we react to pain is essentially communicative, and it is human communication that autistics are messed up at. Certainly some autistic people have weird reactions to some types of physical stimulus. They may be very upset by things that don’t bother most people, but I think it can go the other way too. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/4 "2012-12-17T18:00:36Z")
Ah! It didn’t occur to me that it may be linked with his (probable) autism. Googling it that way brings up all sorts of information on [sensory dysfunction](http://www.autism-help.org/comorbid-sensory-problems.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/5 "2012-12-17T18:31:53Z")
In [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675704), **China Guy** posted this: > [@Would male adolescents prone to rage fits respond to beatings as discipline?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-male-adolescents-prone-to-rage-fits-respond-to-beatings-as-discipline/644189/29): > > I have a daughter on the autism spectrum (whatever that means). > > She has a very high pain tolerance. Whatever way she is wired, if you spank her, she will just turn it into a game in the future. As in deliberately misbehave and asked to be spanked. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/6 "2012-12-17T18:49:03Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/7 "2012-12-20T19:38:51Z")
Based on this report it certainly sounds like Lanza suffered from congenital analgesia: > **[Mom left school gunman Adam Lanza alone for days before school massacre: report](https://nypost.com/2012/12/19/mom-left-school-gunman-adam-lanza-alone-for-days-before-school-massacre-report/)** > > Mass murderer Adam Lanza spent two and half days home alone with his mom’s arsenal of weapons, giving him plenty of time to hatch one of America’s worst school shootings, according to broadcast rep… > [@](#): > > Nancy Lanza often took mini-vacations by herself, friends said. She trusted leaving Adam alone, but didn’t want him cooking, so she always prepared all his meals before her trips. There’s no reason I can think of that an otherwise intelligent adult couldn’t cook his own food unless he was completely insensitive to pain and unable to recognize that his skin was burning when touching a hot stove. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/8 "2012-12-21T04:56:28Z")
If he’s autistic, he’s not an “otherwise intelligent adult” in the manner you indicate. What I’m saying is, dealing with cooking may be a part of the neurotypical world that he couldn’t handle. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/9 "2012-12-21T05:20:51Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Based on this report it certainly sounds like Lanza suffered from congenital analgesia: > > [Mom left school gunman Adam Lanza alone for days before school massacre: report](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/massacre_left_killer_adam_lanza_ryNR31OfvVKAMm6Aw1y8FO) > > There’s no reason I can think of that an otherwise intelligent adult couldn’t cook his own food unless he was completely insensitive to pain and unable to recognize that his skin was burning when touching a hot stove. I have heard motherly concerns from more than one woman that their kids or significant other weren’t able to make what they considered good food choices - as in wholesome or nutritious meals. This person obviously had problems - and it appears his mother may have as well. I think it is more likely that his mother was over protective or concerned about his food choices - than he was physically unable to feel pain. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/10 "2012-12-21T05:49:45Z")
Hell I’ve known women that didn’t want their kid or sig other to cook just because they didn’t want to come home to a giant mess, so they would put stuff in the freezer for them. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/11 "2012-12-21T13:07:45Z")
If the account in this article is true I’m leaning toward the afraid to let him near a stove theory. > **[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News](https://www.huffpost.com/?err_code=404&err_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2012%2F12%2F19%2Fadam-lanzas-barber_n_2332396.html%3Futm_hp_ref%3Dmostpopular)** > > Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/12 "2012-12-21T21:13:05Z")
There was an article in the Times Magazine a while back about a kid who could not feel pain. (Unless it was the New Yorker.) It was not associated in any way with autism, but it was a very dangerous condition, exactly because of things like touching hot pans and not realizing that the skin was burning. Without pain as feedback, a lot of these kids seriously injured themselves before they got old enough to understand the dangers. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/13 "2012-12-21T21:26:28Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > There was an article in the Times Magazine a while back about a kid who could not feel pain. (Unless it was the New Yorker.) It was not associated in any way with autism, but it was a very dangerous condition, exactly because of things like touching hot pans and not realizing that the skin was burning. Without pain as feedback, a lot of these kids seriously injured themselves before they got old enough to understand the dangers. See Surreal’s post above, ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/14 "2012-12-22T01:08:26Z")
Is there any overlap between an inability to feel physical pain and an inability to feel emotional pain? I have read the parts of the brain that process physical and emotional pain are connected together (the emotional pain centers were wired on top of the physical pain sensors) and doing things like taking tylenol help numb you to social pain. So is it possible the kid also had trouble with feeling emotional pain or empathy for other’s emotional pain due to this condition? ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanza-couldnt-feel-physical-pain-explanations-please/644320/15 "2013-02-19T16:10:31Z")
It wasn’t congenital insensitivity to pain, it was Sensory Integration Disorder coupled with Asperger’s: [http://articles.courant.com/2013-02-17/news/hc-raising-adam-lanza-20130217\_1\_nancy-lanza-peter-lanza-adam](http://articles.courant.com/2013-02-17/news/hc-raising-adam-lanza-20130217_1_nancy-lanza-peter-lanza-adam) > [@](#): > > But Adam, 6, then diagnosed with a condition that made it difficult for him to manage and respond to sights, touch and smell, eventually struggled in the first grade at his new school — Sandy Hook Elementary. > > His mother would respond, touching off a 10-year educational shuffle with moves in and out of schools and programs that addressed his sensory integration disorder and another diagnosis that would come by middle school: Asperger’s syndrome.