[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das, London, debunks common myths about murderers.
1. Dr Das, 44, said that the first myth he wanted to debunk is that all murderers must be mentally ill.
'Some definitely do have mental health diagnoses, but most do not. The ones in the psychiatric units, obviously do.'
He continued, explaining that it 'depends how you define mental illness'.
'If you're the layperson, you might say that anybody who does something as extreme as killing another person - especially if it's somebody they don't know - is mentally ill,' Dr Das explained.
'But that's not the psychiatric definition. The psychiatric definition is somebody that has to have like a recognised mental disorder like depression, like bipolar, like schizophrenia...and of all killers, only a very small proportion have those things.
'And here's something to throw a pie in the ointment - even if they do have symptoms of mental illness, or if they are mentally ill, most of the time, it's quite mild symptoms...not severe enough to control their actions.'
A pie in the ointment?
2. The second myth he discussed was that most murderers kill strangers.
He explained: 'That's true, but it's actually more commonly not true. So there are cases [like that]... which shock the nation because [it can happen to] complete strangers who were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
'But you're much more likely to be killed by somebody you know, especially if you're young, and especially if you're female.'
According to Dr Das: The Office for National Statistics said that in the year ending March 2020, which is when the most recent statistics are available, 62 per cent of of victims of murder knew their killer - and this was higher for females - 70 per cent compared to male victims, 52 per cent, and for victims under 16, the proportion that knew their suspects was even higher - about 88 per cent.'
3. According to the expert, myth number three is that murderers will kill again.
But, he said: 'Actually, it's very unlikely for somebody who's killed before, to go on to kill again.'
4. Moving onto myth number four, he said that it is that 'serial killers are these brilliant criminal masterminds'.
He added that around 40 per cent of serial killers have low I.Qs, they live on the fringes of society, and they attack their victims randomly.
'So [there isn't that sort of pre planned effort, stalking people for a long period...they just have this like, this frenzied urge and rage to kil, so they go out and do it randomly.
'They often don't move the bodies, they literally just leave the scene, they try and hide. Or they try and disguise the trend evidence because they just want to get out.
5. Dr Das's fifth and final myth about killers is that...'they are all inherently evil or they are all monsters.
He added: 'So to me, this paints a simplistic and harmful picture. People who've taken life before come from diverse backgrounds, they have different motivations, experiences, have different mental states.
'So judging them solely on this one act ignores the complexity of their life and circumstances, even taking morality out of the question.'
He added: 'I guess what I'm saying, is somebody can have done something horrendous, and it doesn't necessarily reflect their entire personality or character.' |
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[NY Post] An 