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Window on A Killer's Mind
I came across this article by Peter Michaelson that is so clear and so important I want to blast it across the Internet. Please read it and my article "Irritating Habits" and send them on on. Evy Peter Michaelson: A Window on a Killer's Mind A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION We can and we must understand the mind of Cho Seung-Hui. This is our best protection against further atrocities such as the one Cho committed at Virginia Tech on April 16. Most likely Cho reached his state of derangement through a prolonged deterioration we all can understand. Looking deeply into Cho's psyche may feel gruesome, like staring too long at the horrid images he mailed of himself to NBC News. Cho, who murdered 32 people at his campus and then killed himself, was obviously consumed with extreme hatred. His emotional state comes into better focus when we examine not only his hatred but also his self-hatred. Some experts are saying Cho's mental illness was a medical problem, and he may have been taking anti-depressants. But his emotional state can be understood, at least in part, from the perspective of in-depth psychology. This approach to understanding Cho teaches us something vital about human nature and about how we can reduce human negativity in ourselves and in the world. In these troubled times, we need to expand our discussion of the darkness we harbor inside us. All of us have some level of negativity in our psyche concerning our sense of who we are. Fortunately for many of us, the problem does not escalate beyond the manageable pain of our own intermittent self-doubt. A lot of us, however, have a greater problem with inner negativity. We can be emotionally challenged by frequent feelings of self-criticism, self-rejection, self-condemnation, and - most serious and painful of all - self-hatred. Almost always, a hateful person is plagued by self-hatred. Usually, such a person will convince himself through his psychological defenses (in particular, blame and projection) that the hatred he feels is caused by the behaviors and attitudes of others. He also feels justified in his hateful feelings. In refusing to see the hatred in himself, he is convinced others are the ones who are full of hate. His self-hatred can become somewhat manageable for him, at least temporarily, when he projects it onto others. This is a terrible solution because, as his hatred extends outward, he becomes convinced others deserve the hatred he feels for them. We can make the connection between hatred and self-hatred by understanding one of Sigmund Freud's greatest discoveries. Freud said inner aggression is a serious problem for the psyche. In early childhood, natural human aggression is turned inward against the self, forming the superego or inner critic, a negative inner drive that can become the hidden master of the personality. This drive, a kind of intelligence onto itself, is often irrational, demeaning, cruel, and hateful. Individuals in whom the superego is especially hateful become severely depressed, erratic, unpredictable, violent, and entangled in self-hatred. Self-hatred propels many individuals to suicide or other forms of self-destructive behaviors such as drug addiction or criminal activity. A self-hating person with the potential for random murder usually has no clear perception or even awareness of his self-hatred, nor does he understand how it blocks him from assimilating respect and love from others. His limited social interactions tend to be closed, uninviting, and hostile, discouraging potential friends. Now this disturbed individual hates these others even more intensely for their alleged rejection. In a sense, he uses others to feel his self-hatred through their apparent or real rejection of him. As well, much of the hatred he feels is simply churned up in his imagination in a way that is construed as reality. In an ultimately masochistic negative feedback loop, he provokes indifferent or hostile reactions from others that then further fuel self-hatred. Over time, he must target others with increasing hatred to keep his hatred from turning back in full force on himself, although unconsciously he is always absorbing the hatred to some degree. At the deepest level, he is completely unaware of his perverse gratification in absorbing hatred. From this point on, his intense hatred can push him over the brink into madness. Now the desire to seek physical or emotional revenge on others slips from fantasy to the planning stage to the point of no return. Our children need to be taught that hatred toward others, as well as bullying, are reflections of one's own unhealthy relationship with oneself. When we hate others, we reveal negativity and conflict in ourselves. If we acknowledge the self-hatred, we can observe it more objectively and begin to counteract its irrationality and cruelty. We understand that the self-hatred doesn't represent the truth about us. We are simply trapped in a negative matrix from which, with good intentions and knowledge, we can escape. Once in emotional recovery, we can begin to take responsibility for our hatefulness. We begin to understand the fallacy of blaming others for our unhappiness and failures. Now, we are less likely to act out antagonistically or violently toward others. We can accept that our negativity and hatred belong to us, through no fault of ours or others. Life is about dealing with negative and positive emotions, and life is always presenting us with choices between acting appropriately or suffering miserably. Confusion over the best educational approaches arises because many mental-health professionals discount the influence of subconscious forces and try to explain violence and hatred as learned behavior or in terms of cultural influences or victimization. A violent society or abusive parents can certainly have a negative influence on young people - but nevertheless the seeds of self-hatred are biologically endowed in the human psyche. This may be a flaw in our biology. Yet the inner effort we each can make to moderate and eliminate our negativity makes us wiser and more evolved. ~~~~ Peter Michaelson is a psychotherapist and author in Pasadena, CA. He is author of Democracy’s Little Self-Help Book, and he can be reached at www.PeterMichaelson.com.
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