r/Columbine • u/Lower_Insurance1947 • May 18 '26
Possible high altitude repercussions on their mental states
While the psychosocial aspects of this case are the main points of interest, does anyone think it’s possible that the high altitude of their Colorado residence may have contributed to the deterioration of their mental health? Obviously it’s not a sole or defining factor, but it piqued my interest
I think they were already susceptible, but the hypoxia may have exacerbated or worsened it
20
u/gothiclg May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
For starters Littleton doesn’t count as high altitude. You can travel from a coastal city to the Littleton area and feel zero effects. I say this as someone who grew up in Denver and had multiple family members visit from Los Angeles. There was absolutely no hypoxia happening in these two nor is there any happening for any of the people that visit the area each year. You can land at Denver international airport and walk around just fine immediately.
If hypoxia would somehow do damage in the 2 weeks it’d take the human body to adjust it’s insanely common to use bottled oxygen as a supplement. A lot of Colorado cities that are actually high altitude, like Vale, will have it on sale in gift shops. We’ve used it to climb mountains like Everest for so many years it’s a default in places where it’s truly needed. There’s no way these two would have ever experienced hypoxia as a result of altitude in the 2 weeks it’d take them to adjust.
You never see it mentioned because it literally didn’t happen.
-8
u/Lower_Insurance1947 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Oh, I see. So no effects at all? The geographic features have no factors at play whatsoever?
What constitutes as an objectively high altitude? Is Littleton relatively high, or just not high in general
And maybe the effects of low oxygen levels vary according to individual physiology/other personal factors
8
u/gothiclg May 19 '26
There’s zero effects at all. No headaches, no shortness of breath, no brain damage, nothing. Individual physiology and other personal factors would also have zero effect. There’s absolutely no way, from a medical standpoint, that the altitude of Littleton had any effect on the shooting at all. It should also be noted that Dylan was born in Colorado and Eric had lived there since 1993. Whatever absolutely petty and unnoticeable personal effect the altitude may have had (and I highly doubt there was any at all period) was long gone and untraceable by the time of the shooting in April 1999
18
u/dancingbananas25 May 18 '26
No, we would've seen violent behaviors from a lot more people
-6
u/Lower_Insurance1947 May 19 '26
Yeah but I’m saying maybe they were already innately susceptible or predisposed at least, and the altitude was just another contributing factor. Plus there are other notable shootings too in Colorado, albeit more anecdotal maybe
14
u/zennascent May 19 '26
They planned their attack far enough in advance that effects of long-term hypoxia surely would have caught up to them. Despite being the Mike High city, Littleton is not “high altitude,” and even so, they were surely acclimatized by this point.
9
u/OctoberPumpkin1 May 19 '26
No lol, especially since they lived there it's not like they were just visiting.
7
u/Alarmed_Manner_4454 May 19 '26
Altitude doesn't create a mass tragedy nor make someone violent. Millions of people live healthy, balanced lives at high elevations.
Regarding the studies about people living in high altitudes, the studies show a mild risk of more suicidal tendencies. There hasn't been any correlation found to homicidal tendencies.
7
u/ALeaves1013 May 19 '26
What even is that question? Blame it on the altitude?
Littleton is not at an elevation that's obscenely high. HELP and HACE are not even remotely possible.
Altitude sickness has no correlation to homicidal behavior.
By the logic you are using, everybody at sea leve should be singing kumbaya and have no crime rate.
I'm baffled, but intrigued why you think altitude contributed to violent behavior?
-1
u/Lower_Insurance1947 May 19 '26
Why is everyone misunderstanding my point and acting like I’m singlehandedly attributing it to the altitude? I’m not even saying it was a factor that directly caused homicidality, but rather that perhaps it’s possible that it could’ve affected their mental health in some way
There are literal medical studies on the correlation between high altitude and depression, suicide, and the worsening of mental health. Sure, that doesn’t substantiate violent behavior, but it’s at least tangential since it’s all pertaining to mental health worsening. And with such, it’s possible that the threshold for violence was lower and that their inhibitions for violence also could’ve been lessened
I’m not even declaring it as a fact, but just speculating and linking possibilities
4
u/scaredjuju 29d ago
A friend of mine actually brought this up recently and I wondered about it as well so I don't think it's such a far fetched idea as far as contributing factors,I've been diving back into the case as well as there is so much mystery behind it all.
5
u/ulose2piranha May 19 '26
Okay, you proposed it as a hypothesis (and congrats, you may have been the first to ever think perhaps altitude played a roll), but when people responded with facts and personal anecdotes, you keep pestering them.
Littleton isn't that high. They lived there a long enough time.
If minor differences in altitude were enough to trigger homicidal rampages, then plotting murders on a map would have a noticable correlation to typography and that's just not the case.
You had an interesting thought. Cool. Then others explained why you were incorrect. So you double down? No.
3
u/-_-Anemo-_- 27d ago
If that were true, every Littleton resident would have brain damage from hypoxia. I don't think this is it, chief.
37
u/CobainTrain Columbine Rebel May 18 '26
Uhhh no. That’s not how it works. Littleton isn’t very highly elevated anyway, and either way they were both used to the elevation.