mental health and terrorism

Well, doing an ATS seaarch into mental health and terrorism I didn't find anything, but I didn't really feel this warranted a post lol not even sure if this should be in a different forum, like a medical forum. The mods are nice enough to move my stuff to the correct spot and not just delete it lol thank you, anyway! Found this doc below so I wanted to share it. The link is below and the abstract. The whole doc is not free and I haven't read it but I feel that if there was a grounds that religion and science can agree on at this time in history, it should be mental health. Kinda cuts through a lot of the labeling and gets right to a point of reference. Felt like this doc supports this notion as well. Enjoy!

PS This doc below is clearly calling out us social scientists on ATS lol

ijo.sagepub.com...

Terrorism and Mental Illness: Is there a Relationship?
David Weatherston
Cleveland Police Service Ladgate Lane Middlesborough TS8 9EH United Kingdom
Jonathan Moran
Humanities, Law and Social Sciences University of Glamorgan Wales CF37 1DL United Kingdom
Abstract

This article examines the connections between mental illness and terrorism. Most social scientists have discounted a causal relationship between mental illness and terrorism. This is not necessarily always the case within terrorism studies, the media, or political circles where the psychology of terrorism is often expressed in the language of mentalisms, and theories of pathologisation continue to exist. This article reaffirms the view that apart from certain pathological cases, there is no causal connection between an individual’s mental disorder and engagement in terrorist activity. The individual terrorist’s motivations can be explained by other factors, including behavioural psychology. However, there may be a connection between an individual engaging in terrorist activity and developing a mental disorder[s]. Certain stressors that occur because of terrorist activity may result in psychological disturbance in terrorist individuals. These factors may partially explain terrorist group instability and should be taken into account when detaining and interrogating terrorist suspects.

a reply to: tonycodes

I am bi polar and never once wanted to kill someone . Go figure .

a reply to: hutch622

and, thats a good thing lol

a reply to: tonycodes
I would think that if you were willing to wear bombs and walk into a crowded place and detonate them for your religion that you have a mental illness. That is pretty obvious. What mental illness and to what extent is up to the doctors to decide. But it is, clearly, a mental illness.

And OBVIOUSLY, it is not simple bi polar disorder, hutch622. We know you are not out to kill people.



Unless spiders..aaaahhh...

lol.

Well, clearly those who commit terrorism i.e. the purposeful targeting and killing of innocent and defenceless people, have a serious lack of humanity and empathy.

I am no mental health expert, but such a cold, conscience-free lifestyle has go to indicate a lack something.

Also, those who encourage and promote terrorism have lost their humanity, but that does not mena they are mentally ill - just sick perhaps.

OF COURSE it is a mental disorder. This should have 50+ flags , but it is 5 am est. Later, hopefully.

While mental health may be a contributing factor in some cases, I'd say terrorism has more to do with social and/or political injustice, both real and perceived.

I personally think just being religious is a mental disorder.

In any other context believing something that was irrational, contradictory and against any reasonable form of common sense would most likely earn you a trip to the Looney bin yet when u combine those things with religion its all good.
Go figure

It depends on what we define as "mental illness", particularly when we are discussing "Western-born" extremists. Is social disenfranchisement mental illness? Or trying to be "man"? Rebelling against your parent's expectations for you? I think we're all a little mentally ill, living the way we do is far from natural and some of us adapt better than others. The question of whether such disenfranchisement is sufficient to turn someone into a suicide bomber depends most upon who is doing the persuading. To someone who feels that they are a disappointment to their family's expectations of them, who feels outside of the society they were born into, perhaps radicalism offers an adventure, a chance to prove themselves, the hope of a better chance in the next life, or the after life. Young men, and women, are renowned for their moral malleability at the best of times and under no stressors whatsoever will commit violence against others if that is legitimised for them. I don't think mental illness in the legal sense certainly, has to be a factor. Being young, dumb and impressionable, and a bit of an outsider, is all that is required when you have a reservoir bursting with just those kinds of people, desperately looking to belong and be a part of something...even that.

I am also, wondering about drugs, Scopolamine has become increasingly popular and available in recent years and I am starting to think whether this is a coincidence, or whether it a filter down from organised crime/terrorism. Not that that provides all the answers, but I would consider it an investigatory route.

originally posted by: tonycodes
interrogating terrorist suspects.

Yet no one interrogated Bush (Snr + Jnr), Rumsfeld, Blair for their terrorist activities in Iraq.

War is money, war is fun for the hawk politicians that want to create hell on earth.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

, I'd say terrorism has more to do with social and/or political injustice,

Nope , these people are socio-paths . Growing up they were kitten killers .

a reply to: tonycodes

There's been a suggestive study that women who survived wars had an increased risk of having kids (girls, I think) predisposed to schizophrenia and suchlike. It's recent and too early to give it much weight.

It made me wonder about PTSD in populations and how exposure to poverty and extreme violence might cause personality issues. We've got kids in areas of the Middle East who have grown up in war zones and under dictatorships with blood and guts a regular sight. There's a video on Vice.com of an IS-held town with torsos on the pavements and heads on railings. Families have lost relatives to our bombs and to their own authorities arresting and torturing them.

That's a f***** up way to experience life and must create individuals with very extreme views of the world.

People will be thinking I'm making excuses or blaming the West here. Not at all! It's the way it is. We have thousands of servicemen and women who've returned from war zones and been traumatised by what they've seen and done. It's war! PTSD is that blight that spoils their lives and how they interact with others.

My wider, neutral point is that generations living under war and totalitarianism won't be as well-rounded as perhaps they'd like to be.

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: ~Lucidity

, I'd say terrorism has more to do with social and/or political injustice,

Nope , these people are socio-paths . Growing up they were kitten killers .

A bit of suggest reading, whether or not this was sarcasm.

This is a pretty good recent thread about extremism and radicalization: Here

There are a few others around here too, and numerous studies done (one of the big ones in France, ironically) on why it happens. This site has a lot of information on it.

I think it's more of a group psychosis, the herd mentality.

Everyone else is doing it, it's the cool thing to do.
You see it on a smaller scale all the time with little social cliques, bullying, stupid kids on college campuses.

Now expand it out in a region that has been plagued by war since the beginning of recorded history with no local authority around to rein it in and to me it's easy to see how it can get to the point that we're seeing today.

Just my two cents.

originally posted by: watchitburn
I think it's more of a group psychosis, the herd mentality.

Everyone else is doing it, it's the cool thing to do.
You see it on a smaller scale all the time with little social cliques, bullying, stupid kids on college campuses.

Now expand it out in a region that has been plagued by war since the beginning of recorded history with no local authority around to rein it in and to me it's easy to see how it can get to the point that we're seeing today.

Just my two cents.

I agree, it can be that simple. The solution, therefore, is to go for hearts and minds, part of the solution at least. We know the causes of this kind of behaviour on a smaller scale, and we know that where this is the case, offering an alternative, relieving the boredom and hopelessness, works miracles.

Brainwashing appears to be a factor with suicide missions, similar how soldiers are trained to shut up and just follow orders. The love of nationality, pride or some cultural identity has usually been enough to get the war games started. It generally seams to be the younger and more malleable minds that take on such missions.

a reply to: hutch622

Yeah I know

People are grasping at straws

Thanks for the insight guys, i know this reasoning isn't that provocative, but i think mental health is probably the single common thread between all of these terror groups. I found the above article by googling "terrorism and mental health" This research paper was the only thing on the first page that seriously took a look at this issue, but its from UK and its from 2003. You would think a lot more professionals would be making a broad link to this, and getting away from the religious aspects.

Mental health issues are really obvious, i feel, for homegrown terrorists who simply become terrorists by being online. The terrorists from war stricken areas are more than likely in the PTSD category. And lets be frank, or bob, as soon as you start feeling that you should harm other living creatures, bc an invisible entity in your head tells you too, then your very close to textbook schizo. I grew up in churches, went to private catholic schools and am rather knowledgeable of religious concepts. I feel religion and God just boils down to how you treat others, and that's it. SO if you have a person, who is religious, and they want to harm others, then someone along the line has preyed on them and used religion to get that person essentially crazy. This is why i DO hold the Muslim world accountable because they have allowed this to thrive and now its out of control.

You got crazies recruiting crazies and it all started with a single teacher of religion. More than likely it was the Muslim leaders who turned their heads when they saw radicalism on their streets. Now, with 8 billion people on this planet, its easy to say a percentage are mentally ill and susceptible to violence. And we more than likely have a vacuum effect of the worlds crazies moving to one source, through the internet. This all reminds me of The Joker recruiting his followers of crazies. I feel the Muslim powers didn't exactly create this, but they let the crazies in their countries run wild, bc the Muslim powers felt "As long as they are on our side, then it will be the worlds problem" Well guess what, now Muslim powers have a neurotic army to deal with that will turn on them. I don't know exactly how this can help the war on terrorism, but I feel if we took some approach to this with mental health, then we would be focusing first on getting the children away from this area. BC kids are the most susceptible to becoming "crazy" in these areas. And that's it, I think that may be the only true way to stop radicalism, get the kids out of these areas and indoctrinate them with a new mentality before they become "sick" as well.

I think it is not a mental health issue but I do believe it is mental conditioning, brain washing whatever name you want to put on it. But mental illness is to vague a statement. As an example in some societies it is concidered normal to we 8 and 9 year old girls yet is some societies it is classed as a mental illness, paedophilia.
I would like to put this next section in foot high letters but donnot know how. Slightly off topic then on topic.
Violent video games and actual scenes of violence DOES NOT lead to psychotic or murderous behavior. For that to happen the individual concerned (whether it's an aldult or a child) must either have leaning in that direction already or the get indoctrinated into that frame of mind. Now an awful lot of people will not want to recognise that fact but there is a who9le mountain range of evidence if you want to look for it. I'll just give you 2 examples and rest my case as no-one could ever dispute the facts.
We have had 2 WORLD WARS where billions of people, man ,woman and child were exposed to the whole gamut of violent, degrading and blood and gore images. Yet, yet the aftermath of these 2 conflicts DID NOT lead to mass murders or mass breakdown insocial behaviour. Yes you had individual instancies, but as I said before there will always be those few that will be influenced. But that would be in any circumstances.
I can't say terrorists are uneducated (as some are clearly well educated) so you can't come to the conclusion that they are mentally deficient. It lies in one area only, mental conditioning. Whether from childhood or impressionable adults but mental conditioning non the less. If you want to call it brain washing, well.

a reply to: crayzeed

Well i guess my question to you would be, Do you feel that mental illness cannot be passed onto children who werent mentally ill to begin with? Also, Your right, mental conditioning is the name of the action involved, and is being conducted at a large scale. And as far as your examples with the world wars, after the wars ended there wasn't a continued large scale effort to prep our youth to continue fighting and killing. That is why i feel the turnout wasn't more mass killings.