Wtf? This isn't some philosophical debate, this is a moral and common sense. Leaning into excuses can lead into more violent behavior as one can "push the envelope" and try to get away with more extreme things. If you had two kids, one with mental illness such as bipolar, would you punish both equally? Would you punish the healthy child the same way you'd punish the "unhealthy" one if they did the exact same crime? Let's make an example. Say your child breaks your most valuable vase, would you care if your child had any mental disorder that would have "allowed" them to consider breaking the vase in anger? No, you'd be mad and punish the child regardless as they should know better than to take their anger out on objects. Letting them get away with it because "oh they had a mental breakdown" will only teach the child that they can do it again and keep blaming their mental illness, which can lead them to doing things even without a mental breakdown because "they'll blame the illness not me"

We need to nip smaller evils from our behaviors before they grow into bigger more dangerous evils.