Yang Congcai: The butcher of American theaters may be suffering from schizophrenia

The theater shooting in Colorado, USA, attracted worldwide attention. The perpetrator, James Holmes, was still mentally unstable after his arrest and was uncooperative in the face of the investigation. Domestic psychiatrists said that Holmes, the "theater butcher", should be schizophrenic based on his behavior. Most of them are caused by "endocrine disorders" in the brain, leading to delusions, hallucinations, and even impulses and fantasies to attack others. Physician Yang Congcai said that Holmes's case was an obvious symptom of schizophrenia (Psychosis), which was caused by brain endocrine disorders leading to delusions. (Photography/Huang Manying)

Psychiatrist Yang Congcai said that Holmes’ case is an obvious symptom of schizophrenia (Psychosis). The reason is that brain endocrine disorders lead to delusions, hallucinations, schizophrenia and other thinking disorders and Perceptual disturbance. In addition to impairments in thinking and perception, patients with mental illness are also prone to social impairments such as being withdrawn, not interacting with others, and having a low sense of presence. Even searching for relevant information on the Internet is very meager.

Further analyzing Holmes’ behavior before committing the crime, Yang Congcai said that neighbors said that he turned up the music very loudly, mainly because of the phenomenon of auditory hallucinations. People with auditory hallucinations will hear several different sounds. The voice was having a conversation with him, and the content of the conversation was mostly criticism, accusations, insults, etc., which made people feel uncomfortable. Turning up the music very loudly was Holmes's attempt to drown out the auditory hallucinations.

Drawing the curtains is a sign of persecutory delusion. Holmes believes that people outside are malicious towards him, and closing the curtains can block the outside world from understanding him. The situation at home is Holmes's way of protecting herself.

Holmes, who has long believed that the outside world is trying to kill him, is actually afraid of the people and things around him. Yang Congcai pointed out that when people face fear, they will directly react in two ways. One is to constantly stay away. , avoid fear, and the other will choose to actively attack the source of his fear.

People who have delusions of persecution will have their own explanations when faced with difficult situations, explaining that they actually have a special identity that makes the outside world want to harm them. Holmes is most likely to put his own predicament into perspective. Incorporate the "Joker" character in Batman.

This type of people usually have a low awareness of illness and do not think they are sick. Most of them need to use forced injections of drugs to stabilize their condition. If the patient resists fiercely, they will be treated with coercion and restraint. , acute symptoms will improve in about 6 to 8 weeks, while chronic symptoms may require lifelong treatment. In order to avoid recurrence after treatment, doctors usually advise patients to confirm whether what they see and hear is hallucinations, such as asking others if there are real sounds and images.

Yang Congcai emphasized that modern medicine is very developed, but it is a pity that this kind of thing happens in Taiwan. About 80% of people first seek help from doctors, fortune tellers, etc. instead of seeking professional doctors first. This type of disease is most likely to be affected by congenital genetics. The prevention methods include contact with people, good emotional control, adequate sleep, good exercise habits, and keeping a happy mood at all times.