If you live in North America, you've probably heard of the recently
concluded "Unabomber Case" - the sad story of how a Harvard-trained
Mathematician developed schizophrenia, and went on to become the most
wanted criminal in America as he developed letter bombs that killed
a
number of people. The hunt for the "Unabomber" - so named because
a number
of his targets were University professors - developed into the longest,
most expensive man hunt in the history of the US - at a cost of over
$50
million and over 8 years long.
Who knows what could have happened if that $50 million had been dedicated
towards a cure for schizophrenia, and if the laws in this country were
more
biased towards treatment before violence takes place rather than jail
sentences afterward.
There remains much misunderstanding in the public's mind about
schizophrenia - in this special issue of the Schizophrenia Update I've
included some well-written stories that reflect my own view quite well.
I
encourage you to share them with friends and family to help others
understand the illness.
Use this opportunity to educate people about the far too frequent tragedies
of untreated schizophrenia, and the many barriers to effective treatment
that we face. Lets pressure governments to invest more in the primary
research efforts aimed at better understanding of schizophrenia - in
my
next newsletter you'll see that this is probably the best investment
that
our governments can make with their healthcare dollars - and its long
overdue!
Brian.
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Makes No Sense - Editorial on the Unabomber Case
(excerpted from a National Public Radio transcript)
By: Drew Weston, Cambridge; Linda Wertheimer,
Washington, DC
HIGHLIGHT:
Psychologist and commentator Drew Weston -- although he is
relieved that we know the identity of the Unabomber -- is
concerned about the idea of a paranoid schizophrenic spending
his life in jail. He notes that paranoid schizophrenia is one of
the most treatable mental disorders, and that it is a brain
disease that in effect makes Kaczynski less culpable for his
actions.
=================================================
LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: Many people are comforted
knowing that the Unabomber is going to jail for a very long
time.
Commentator and psychologist Drew Weston shares those
feelings, but is also troubled that a paranoid schizophrenic has
been given a life sentence.
DREW WESTON, COMMENTATOR: As an academic and
a colleague of one of the Unabomber's targets, I can remember
a few paranoid moments of my own when I received a strange
package in the mail without a return address, only to find that
my mother had run out of return address labels. But as a
psychologist, I wonder if this case shouldn't lead us to rethink
some of the ways we address mental illness in the courts.
Kaczynski apparently chose to plead guilty because he couldn't
endure the thought of hearing evidence of his mental illness in
court. It's worth noting that ardent denial of having any illness is
one of the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.
But if Kaczynski truly suffers from a severe mental illness,
should his choices really have been life in prison or death?
There are two reasons that might give us pause to wonder.
The first is that paranoid schizophrenia, like manic depression,
can sometimes lead to criminal or violent behavior during a
psychotic episode. But both disorders can sometimes be
treated effectively with medication and psychotherapy. If
successfully treated, Kaczynski might spend the rest of his life
behind bars completely sane.
The second is that schizophrenia is a brain disease. Is
Kaczynski any more morally responsible for his acts than a
person who becomes impulsive or damaging after a damaging
blow to the head?
A famous early report of such a case was a responsible, likable
railroad foreman named Phineas Gage. In 1848, an explosion
sent a metal bar of more than an inch in diameter through his
skull. Miraculously he lived, and he showed few of the
characteristics people typically associate with brain damage.
Yet, the personality that came to inhabit his body was no
longer Gage.
Gage, or his new incarnation, was now a socially inappropriate,
impulsive, self-centered man, who could not keep a job or
sustain a relationship. And neurologists have seen many Gages
in the intervening century and a half.
We impose criminal penalties on people who break the law to
punish them, deter others, protect society, and if possible, to
rehabilitate them.
When a criminal is clearly psychotic, the major criterion in
assigning his penalty should be his danger to society. We find it
much harder to forgive a killer with a diseased brain than to
forgive a patient with heart disease whose collapse at the wheel
kills a pedestrian.
Emotionally, it's difficult to ignore the intent that intervenes
between the disease and the act, when the diseased organ is
the brain rather than the heart.
But if Kaczynski is in fact psychotic, his brain is no more intact
than that of Phineas Gage. The only difference is that the
damage to Gage's soul came from a blow to the head.
Whereas, for Kaczynski, the culprit was likely a blow to the
chromosomes.
If he's psychotic then, the major question should be whether
he's treatable and whether society could be assured of his
lifelong compliance with treatment if he were ever released.
In Kaczynski's case, we'll never know.
---------------------------
Drew Weston is chief psychologist at the
Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.