Do you think serial killers are mentally ill?

[SickoPsycho01]

As someone who can relate to these guys a lot more than the next person, I feel like the diagnoses that are slapped on serial killers by prison shrinks are given to them a bit too haphazardly/eagerly. I feel as if a normal person would desperately be looking for a reason to dismiss this behavior as “mental illness” rather than admit that the capability to do the types of things they have done lives inside each one of us, and is a naturally occurring desire even. I think many serial killers are misdiagnosed with things in order to discredit them as well. It’s a commonly held belief that these guys kill for fame, so if you go ahead and say a murderer is schizophrenic it stains their credibility and makes it easier for the observer to set themselves apart from the killer in question. This all makes me think that they are more lenient in attributing certain behaviors exhibited by the prisoner to mental illnesses that would further paint a calm, lucid man who presents as sane, instead as crazy. I don’t think they are crazy, just different.
…What do you fine folk think?

 

[Darkwing87]

As someone who can relate to these guys a lot more than the next person, I feel like the diagnoses that are slapped on serial killers by prison shrinks are given to them a bit too haphazardly/eagerly. I feel as if a normal person would desperately be looking for a reason to dismiss this behavior as “mental illness” rather than admit that the capability to do the types of things they have done lives inside each one of us, and is a naturally occurring desire even. I think many serial killers are misdiagnosed with things in order to discredit them as well. It’s a commonly held belief that these guys kill for fame, so if you go ahead and say a murderer is schizophrenic it stains their credibility and makes it easier for the observer to set themselves apart from the killer in question. This all makes me think that they are more lenient in attributing certain behaviors exhibited by the prisoner to mental illnesses that would further paint a calm, lucid man who presents as sane, instead as crazy. I don’t think they are crazy, just different.
…What do you fine folk think?

I assume so, since the majority aren't serial killers and are considered mostly not mentally ill.

 

[Dolly]

it's a kinda a fact that serial killers exhibit patterns of behavior that deviate, you know, like hugely from societal norms.

Research in psychology and neuroscience consistently demonstrates that individuals who engage in serial killing often display abnormalities in brain structure and function. These abnormalities can contribute to a range of psychiatric disorders, including antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, and other conditions that impair impulse control, empathy, and moral reasoning. So yes, they are indeed mentally ill.

 

[cannedkittens]

I would say based on their need to kill alone that most have mental illness but that does not dismiss their culpability. The standard of proof in the US for a “not guilty due to insanity” is something like : due to mental illness they have no ability to know the difference between right/wrong. I agree that they are not criminally responsible if they are that out of touch with reality….still think they should be put in an institution for the rest of their lives though.

 

[Harumph]

"Okay, I've saved my favorite group for last. The maniacs and crazy people. Yeah. The ones who live out where the buses don't run. And I distinguish between maniacs and crazy people. A maniac will beat nine people to death with a steel dildo. A crazy person will beat nine people to death with a steel dildo, but he'll be wearing a Bugs Bunny suit at the time. So you can't put them all away. You know you got to keep some of them around just for the entertainment. Like a guy who tells you the King of Sweden is using his penis as a radio transmitter to send anti-semitic lesbian meatloaf recipies to Soupy Sales and Marvin Hamlisch. A guy like that you want to give him his own radio show. No, the maniac farm will be reserved strictly for hopeless cases. Like a guy who gets a big tattoo on his chest of Liza Minnelli taking a shit, you know? And he tells you if he wiggles a certain way it looks like she's wiping her ass, you know? A guy like that, you want to get him into custody as quickly as possible. Now, for the maniac farm, I think there's no question we got to go with Utah." - George Carlin in "State Prison Farms" from Back in Town (1996)

 

[1fktmind]

Actually, people and doctors, can only fake to a certain degree. But you can be temporarily misdiagnosed to a very large degree. Cognitive disorders however is much easier to patternize over a long period of time. So, if you are in an certain emotional state while showing specific behavorial patterns, you are more than likely to get misdiagnosed, as the doctor can only work with very short term data. I do believe jealouxi, greed and alkohol kills way more people than any mental disorder. However a lot of people is also very busy occupying their mind with self-diagnosed mental disorders, so they study them and then get's placebo symptoms. This can cause so much confusion and nocebo. Getting a mental disorder diagnose can also have very heavy unwanted impacts on your life and rights, so all these placebo people should really think twice before thinking society will pity them.

 

[Choppy]

Yes because something happened to them that caused them to become that way.

Mental health is a bitch and so many people have no clue about it.

 

[Deleted User 201666]

I wouldn't say mentally illness. But definitely wired up wrong most people I met in jail were bad not mad

 

[lechmich]

I don't think you have a very good handle on psychiatry in general. There is no need or requirement to diagnose a criminal with anything at all. The quest to find an "explanation" for their aberrant behaviour could be pursued through co-operative psychoanalysis, but this kind of thing rarely occurs with convicted criminals.

 

[-ToGGaF-]

I don't think "all" are extremely ill but most do seem to have some degree of psychiatric disorder such as personality disorders, despite being able to appear and function normally on a daily basis. Ted Bundys psychopathy is a pretty good example. Not all who have such disorders doesn't mean they are serial killers either. That's just stigma.

 

[Richard 1986]

As long as I can remember I wanted to kill ! Who? People I don’t like or hate for various reasons ... people who hurt me for free or superiors who used their position to do things they didn’t have to do!!
If the murder was legal I would have already killed a lot of scum ... and I would sleep like a baby!!
Those who act are either crazy in the medical sense or they are not afraid to end their life in prison!
RESPECTS !!

 

[Nobbler]

a person would have to do something bad like kill my family before I would want to kill someone, maybe if you killed once and got a buzz out of it it could be like an addiction , what I really dont get is when they cut up the body. get a saw and cut the legs off and head and stuff, now that has to be mental illness who in their right mind could do that.

 

[Fäthër Cörpsë]

Mentally ill would infer there is some cure for … whatever is vexing them. Sometimes it’s chemical alteration, sometimes it’s suggestive training. Sometimes that shits just broken, no coming back from it.

 

[nostrils]

As someone who can relate to these guys a lot more than the next person, I feel like the diagnoses that are slapped on serial killers by prison shrinks are given to them a bit too haphazardly/eagerly. I feel as if a normal person would desperately be looking for a reason to dismiss this behavior as “mental illness” rather than admit that the capability to do the types of things they have done lives inside each one of us, and is a naturally occurring desire even. I think many serial killers are misdiagnosed with things in order to discredit them as well. It’s a commonly held belief that these guys kill for fame, so if you go ahead and say a murderer is schizophrenic it stains their credibility and makes it easier for the observer to set themselves apart from the killer in question. This all makes me think that they are more lenient in attributing certain behaviors exhibited by the prisoner to mental illnesses that would further paint a calm, lucid man who presents as sane, instead as crazy. I don’t think they are crazy, just different.
…What do you fine folk think?

Some, not all.

 

[Stormy Llewellyn]

Well, I don't want to kill anybody, but if I had some super power that could cause people to black out for a while, there's a few I'd just love to line up and smack 'em in the face with a two by four...

 

[deabeatfucker17]

A handful of them

 

[JawshSB]

As long as I can remember I wanted to kill ! Who? People I don’t like or hate for various reasons ... people who hurt me for free or superiors who used their position to do things they didn’t have to do!!
If the murder was legal I would have already killed a lot of scum ... and I would sleep like a baby!!
Those who act are either crazy in the medical sense or they are not afraid to end their life in prison!
RESPECTS !!

glad im not the only one. Theres people out there i would have no problem killing and would sleep perfectly fine. Only thing that stops me are human made laws, cameras everywhere, dna evidence, digital forensics, etc. Have a brain override and realize the love of family is more import, and that karmatic forces with eventually take of the people that deserve it.

 

[hedgerow]

they should kill all serial killers, and those fat disgusting cereal killers too

 

[D.O.A.]

As someone who can relate to these guys a lot more than the next person, I feel like the diagnoses that are slapped on serial killers by prison shrinks are given to them a bit too haphazardly/eagerly. I feel as if a normal person would desperately be looking for a reason to dismiss this behavior as “mental illness” rather than admit that the capability to do the types of things they have done lives inside each one of us, and is a naturally occurring desire even. I think many serial killers are misdiagnosed with things in order to discredit them as well. It’s a commonly held belief that these guys kill for fame, so if you go ahead and say a murderer is schizophrenic it stains their credibility and makes it easier for the observer to set themselves apart from the killer in question. This all makes me think that they are more lenient in attributing certain behaviors exhibited by the prisoner to mental illnesses that would further paint a calm, lucid man who presents as sane, instead as crazy. I don’t think they are crazy, just different.
…What do you fine folk think?

Kills 10 random white women:

Kills 10 random niggers:

 

[badangel7]

my car won't start
do you guys think it's broken or just stupid? insert long paragraph full of words i think sound smart... i just thought i'd ask a mechanical question of people who are not mechanics, and pretend it's philosophy
i'm a gore fiend, duhhhh