Evil or Mental Illness?

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So many times, when someone gets murdered, for instance, I hear people say: "That's the devil at work", or "What made him so evil?". I've always wondered: "What if it was mental illness that set him off?"

So, my question to YOU, is: Where's the "line"? Is there a point where mental illness crosses-over into evil? Is there a time when it's evil, ALONE----or, mental illness, ALONE?

It's never "evil." Terrorism, violent crime, corruption, abuse, etc. can all be attributed to mental illness.

For a practical purpose, whether a murderer is mentally ill or not is determined by the psychiatric examination of the murderer. But even that doesn't tell you the absolute truth. You could also say being "evil" is a mental illness. I think it is almost impossible to draw that line.

I think nearly all human beings are naturally evil, sadistic and cruel, and the few who aren't but tolerate evil behavior and injustice are no better, but I tend to think of people with mental illness as not evil but sick like people with physical illness are, unless they actually do completely evil things like murdering people and ruining lives. Once you have your blood tainted with that of someone you killed I can no longer see you as anything but a cold-blooded piece of moldy scum. I'm basically the opposite of the media and society which throw out the word "psychopath" like it goes out of style. I hate how legal people defend such behavior by claiming they did it out of mental illness, which only adds more to the stigma. Now will someone kindly stop the planet so I can get off?

That depends on the situation.

Just because one is schizophrenic doesnt necessarily mean he doesn't know right from wrong, and most schizophrenic I met were kind hearted, feral cats-feeding with their last dim kinda people.

However, decades ago, I heard on the radio a fifteen year old girl who gave birth murdered her baby, and the judge let her go because she 'didnt know what she was doing.' She asked to be alone with the baby in the hospital because she knew she couldnt do it in front of the nurses. She knew to hide the knife, knew to hide the body, knew to act normal and not let her intentions know when she asked to be alone with him.

And I read in the news about a woman who threw her baby and the poodle out the fourth floor window when her husband wasnt home, and then ran outside naked. She knew to do this when her husband wasnt home, and then she didnt jump out the window herself. She knew how to make a good show by running around naked in a place where people could see her, not the alley so she won't get hurt, and then she can pretend later to be crazy and avoid punishment.

When people plan a murder like this, they're either not mentally ill and just pretending to avoid punishment, or they're mentally ill and also happen to be as evil as some people who aren't mentally ill, and know they can use their mental illness as a method to avoid punishment. So sorry, your honor, I didn't know what I was doing.

Some people really don't know what they're doing and shouldn't be punished, but then they would do it in front of everyone, including the police. And they'll act like they don't know what they're doing, like my neighbor who started burning the bible on his oven and throwing burning pieces of paper in the wastbasket, and saying he'll survive, and not wearing a coat when almost being thrown out in mid January in Chicago cold. He really acted like he didn't know what he was doing. That's different.

Yeah, I think so, TOO!! I grew-up going to church, believing in God----and too, of course, the Devil. I had always been told that the Devil, like, takes-over people's psyche and directs them to do HORRIBLE things----but, I also know that, for instance, it seems like all of these school shooters had mental illness.

It's worth noting that the American Psychiatrist and Author M. Scott Peck seems clearly to imply, in his book People Of The Lie, that there is a link between Autism (in particular the high-functioning end of the spectrum) and demonic possession. He doesn't mention Aspergers, as the book was written before the term came into common use, but anyone reading the chapter about one of his patients he calls "Charlene" would probably make that connection today.

Needless to say, Peck did not make his reputation, such as it was, by his insights into autism!

I appreciate that this is not quite what the thread is about, but thought it was an interesting side-observation, and could provide a basis for discussion in another part of the forum.

No, I think it fits this thread. VERY interesting----and, a little scary!

Mentally ill or evil? One doesn't necessarily exclude the other.

Oh, so you think, like, someone who's evil, is mentally disturbed? I'm thinking that could explain terrorists' actions.

An evil person can be mentally ill. Yes.
Or a mentally ill person can be evil.

So, then..... Where's the "line"? When does one thing become the other?

I don't think it is possible to predefine a line. Criminal psychologists and other experts have to examine each case individually. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense

I don't think mental illness is required in order for someone to do something very wrong. I hear a lot of people talk about the ability to kill, like only certain people have it, I think everyone has the ability to kill, it's a question of what will it take to push them to it.

Most murderers are not mentally ill, and in fact people with mental illness, are several times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than the perpetrator. It's just easy to blame illness because we don't want to face the truth, humans, like most animals, will kill over resources or power. We are not as civilized as we think.

Umm, no.... most healthy, sane humans would not commit murder for "resources or power."

If we were "like most animals" we wouldn't even be having this conversation on the internet right now.

Are you talking about soldiers engaging other soldiers in war? That is a completely different situation than violent criminals taking innocent lives.