A 29-year-old girl who was seven-months pregnant has disappeared into thin air carrying only her passport and 500 euros. The night of her disappearance she sent a text to a friend saying she was feeling upset after an argument with her cheating boyfriend. He will later be the one to report her missing.
A couple of things that have, alas, given me a pretty good idea of who the killer was. It may also have something to do with the kind of insight I have developed with my profession.
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But all I’ve been hearing this morning is my patients asking the same question:
“Dottoré, how can a man kill a woman who is pregnant with his own child?!”
To think that evil-doers necessarily are mentally ill is a way of seeking a reassuringly rational response to something that is not rational. It is also misleading, because it creates a disturbing analogy and correspondence between the "insane" and criminals.
A criminal is not necessarily "crazy," just as a "crazy person" is not necessarily a criminal.
But a criminal is not necessarily "crazy," just as a "crazy person" is not necessarily a criminal.
Most of the time, absolute evil — the kind that makes us recoil in horror — springs from seemingly "normal" circumstances. And it is not a psychiatric subject, if anything, it is a theological one.
But back to my patients’ question. I gave the same answer to all:
"Rather than asking me, turn to a priest instead, if you are a believer — or try to find an answer yourself. I’m just a psychiatrist. I can’t give you an explanation for evil."
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