Dr. Paul Golden: Most mass killers have ‘mental illness,’ but what kind?

A mass shooting is defined is an individual committing random but often well-thought-out shootings of four or more persons.

The press usually jumps on the phrases “loners with mental issues.” The scientific consensus is that 50 percent of shooters had paranoid schizophrenia.

What about the other half? Approximately 1 percent of the American population has some form of schizophrenia, so about 3 million nationwide. These folks are likely to be victims of violence, not than the perpetrators. I researched 14 noted episodes of mass shootings starting with Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in 1966. He was an ex-Marine and expert sniper. He wrote in a diary just before the shootings that “I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.”

In the other 13 episodes there was a wide range of disorders. One shooter had paranoid personality disorder (one of 10 personality disorders); one had a combination of Aspergers (in the autism spectrum). Another shooter suffered obsessive-compulsive disorder and simple schizophrenia. One had paranoid personality disorder combined with substance abuse. One was in a manic state of bipolar disease. One was psychopathic (a stand-alone diagnosis) and had a helper with antisocial personality disorder. The recent Oregon shooter was said to have Aspergers by his mother.

Of the 14 incidents, seven had paranoid schizophrenia and seven the diseases listed. The two in the horrific San Bernardino shooting may have been radical religious zealots (i.e. terrorists). I write this to state that using the phrase “mental illness” in the relentless press coverage is meaningless.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Dr. Paul Golden: Most mass killers have ‘mental illness,’ but what kind?."