Year: 2017
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Background Some have suggested that terrorists are mentally ill and have used labels such as psychopathic or sociopathic, narcissistic, paranoid, are schizophrenic types, or passive–aggressive. Others have argued that although terrorist actions may seem irrational or delusional to society in general, terrorists in fact, act rationally, and there is no evidence to indicate that they are mentally ill/disordered, psychopathic or otherwise psychologically abnormal. Objective and method Here we present the case of Mr. A, a 32 year old man diagnosed with schizophrenia, who travelled to Egypt and Syria in attempt to join the ISIS terrorist organization, and discuss the clinical features, treatment processes and two years follow-up of this particular case. Conclusion As described in some studies, most terrorists do not demonstrate serious psychopathology and there is no single personality type. Thus, the relationship between terrorism and mental illness mostly refers to the question about pathological travel as part of a religious and messianic delirium. Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.
Source: European Psychiatry
Author: N. Staali
Institution: Hôpital Razi de La Manouba
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2730554358