Mass murderers are almost always addicts. Cho was only the latest.
An Addict’s Rage–Mass Murderer Cho
Until recently I often said, “Not every mass murderer in U.S. history has been an alcohol or other-drug addict. For example, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh may not have been one. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be shocked. By far the vast majority, no doubt, have been addicts.”
I was wrong. An astute reader passed along a link with brief biographies of the three main perpetrators of the bombing, which disavowed me of the notion that McVeigh was the exception to the rule. Most interesting is that the biography of McVeigh includes no mention of drug use–more evidence that biographers lack an understanding of the importance of addiction in explaining the behavior of their subjects. Instead, the fifth paragraph in the biography of Michael Fortier, who was aware of the plot and turned state’s witness, mentions that “Fortier, a heavy drug user, introduced McVeigh to marijuana and crystal meth.” The prosecutor in McVeigh’s trial didn’t ask about drug use until 3/4ths of the way into the trial testimony, which runs over 71 pages when pasted into a Word document (page 56 for anyone inclined to cut and paste).
Bizarre behaviors, “barely concealed” anger, incoherent statements, rambling writings, blaming others for problems, false accusations, anti-social classroom behavior, violence and the singular statement, “You made me do this!” are each in themselves superb behavioral indications of alcohol or other-drug addiction. A compelling case for addiction can be made when all of these are found in one individual who happens to be on numerous prescription medicines. Yet, not one pundit, talk show host or caller-in to such shows I heard suggested the possibility that the root cause of mass murderer Cho Seung-Hui’s anger might be drug addiction. Instead one talking head after another said he was “mentally ill.”
Mental illness in itself usually is not an adequate explanation as the primary cause of tragedy. In arguably most cases something goes haywire in the brain that sets off what appears to be a mental illness, or triggers one. When practicing addicts are given the psychological test known as the MMPI, they usually score high on the sociopathic deviancy scale or can be diagnosed as having another Personality Disorder such as Narcissism. After only a few months of sobriety few of those formerly identified as having a Disorder can be so pegged, proving that most such Disorders are manifestations of an underlying psychotropic drug addiction. (You’ll find a lot more on this and related topics in my books, especially Chapter 5 of Drunks, Drugs & Debits under the heading “Addiction and therapists,” and Myth # 64: “Personality Disorders are more common than alcoholism” in Alcoholism Myths and Realities.)
Some of the behavioral indications of problems-to-come in the case of Cho are now legend, including those cited above. But a few would have been more troubling to the addiction-aware than to others. His writings were so twisted and filled with profanities and macabre violence that they horrified other students. It’s no coincidence that many of the greatest horror writers, including Edgar Alan Poe and Stephen King, were alcoholics (with King reportedly in recovery). Who other than an addict could drum up a Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) in The Shining? And Cho reportedly never removed his sunglasses, even indoors. What drug or drugs might we have identified based on pupil size? Unfortunately, Virginia Tech has so far remained silent on what medicines Cho may have been prescribed due to “privacy” concerns, which is incredible considering he is a mass murderer and dead.
The New York Times reported that prescription medicines were found among Cho’s effects, in particular anti-depressants, which contrary to some are unlikely to impel violent behavior by themselves. The odds are there were other drugs on board, even if alcohol was not among them. (Unfortunately because the Virginia Office of the State Medical Examiner will not release the toxicology report or autopsy results we may never have proof one way or the other.) Bob Unruh’s article entitled, “Are meds to blame for Cho’s rampage?” [click here], is typical in suggesting that anti-depressants cause some people to commit mass murder, listing a plethora of school shootings in which the perpetrator was on one or more of these drugs, including Luvox and Prozac (SSRI’s, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, a class that also includes Paxil and Zoloft). However, while it’s possible that anti-depressants in some act as psychotropics (and far more likely that they may trigger violent rage when used in conjunction with other drugs), he misses the boat in omitting the fact that of 20 school shooters listed, at least eight were heavy alcohol users (i.e., alcoholics–and not mentioned by him) or on Xanax or Valium (alcohol in pill form for the alcoholic). He mentions that another three were on Ritalin, a form of speed used by many addicts including actress Judy Garland, as if it were just another anti-depressant. A 12th was described as being on “a variety of prescriptions” and at least seven more were easily old enough to be using alcohol.
Unruh completely ignores alcohol as a precipitator of violence in several very obvious cases. He writes, “Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old of Springfield, Ore., in 1998 murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.” However, among Kinkel’s ramblings, we find a tell-all passage unmentioned by Unruh: “Today of all days, I ask her to help me. I was shot down. I feel like my heart has been ripped open and ripped apart. Right now, I’m drunk, so I don’t know what the hell is happening to me.” Bear in mind that due to potentiation, a small dose of any of two or more psychotropic drugs, including Ritalin and alcohol, is all that’s needed for one heck of a high.
In citing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, responsible for the Columbine school massacre in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, Unruh writes, “Harris had been taking Luvox,” as if that might be the sole cause of the tragedy that followed. He failed to mention that Harris had also been consuming plenty of liquor and that his favorite drugs were vodka and whiskey. Unruh follows up his list of 20 school-related killings with nine more gruesome examples of murderers, including Dr. Deborah Green who in 1995 set her home on fire, killing her two young children while on “four medications including Prozac.” Unruh ignores Dr. Green’s own court testimony of heavy alcohol use that helped “set the stage for this tragedy.” He also implies that Prozac impelled Kurt Danysh,18, to murder his father in commenting that the murder occurred just “17 days after his first dose.” He overlooked a psychiatrist’s testimony that Danysh “had a history of drug abuse” and had admitted to using marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogens.
I don’t mean to pick on Bob Unruh. He is, however, a typical example of a reporter who seemingly hasn’t a glimmer of understanding of the importance of the drug alcohol or its real look-alikes (not the anti-depressants) in explaining mass murder. Since 80-90% of convicts are alcohol or other-drug addicts and it’s so darned difficult to obtain actual evidence of use even on the Internet, the idea that only 11 of 20 mass murderers were such addicts stretches credulity. If journalists understood the role of alcoholism in such stories, they would look for it–and report it in the 1st paragraph rather than the 27th, if at all. If we don’t suspect alcohol or other-drug addiction, we never find it. Suspicion in the case of mass murderers is essential if we are to understand the root cause of such tragic acts. And understanding the cause is half the solution.
Postcript: I have previously (September-October 2006 and August 2005) argued the likelihood that suicide bombers–mass murderers of a different stripe–are high on a cocktail of drugs. This includes an amphetamine-tranquilizer combo given to children as young as seven in Sierra Leone’s civil war to turn them into little killing machines. Hitler used amphetamines and barbiturates. Uppers and downers, especially in combination, can really mess up a brain.