The Ft. Hood Killer - Guilty But Not Evil

Psychology Today ^ | November 7, 2009 | Mark Goulston

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

The measure of a civilization is how it treats those who have hurt it.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was not a bad person. He was even possibly a good person. But he was a very sick person who did a terrible thing.

If you are someone who disagrees with that, then I would suggest you stop reading now.

If however you do agree with me, in addition to being as upset as I was by the Ft. Hood killings -- which were evil acts -- you’d be as curious as I was and am to understand how and why and when Major Hasan did what he did and what if anything we can learn to prevent this from ever happening again.

My first presupposition is that nobody is born bad, but everybody is born vulnerable. By that I mean that I don’t believe that anyone is born evil unless of course you believe in such a thing as the Devil incarnate. However, I think that you will agree that everyone is born vulnerable in that we are all unable to take care of ourselves at birth and must accept whatever parenting or care giving is provided us.

Next I must add a disclaimer that what follows is empirically based on thirty years as a practicing psychiatrist and psychotherapist. It has been verified by formerly enlisted and senior officers from the Armed Forces, but has not been validated by any research or double blinded studies.

How did it happen?

Central to nearly all the people I have treated or spoken with who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (in preparation of my book, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies”) is the “fear of re-traumatization” and their efforts at any and all costs to avoid it often results in the symptoms they develop.

Soldiers enter basic training as “loosey goosey” enlistees who are then broken down and built back up into fighting machines devoted to fulfilling a mission and the well-being of their fellow soldiers. Imagine those recruits as a “green” rattling Ford pickup truck that can’t take a corner safely, being torn down and rebuilt into a turbo-charged Porsche that can handle any curve thrown at it and you get an idea of what the process is like.

After they finish basic training, it’s pretty heady, adrenaline driven stuff that can make soldiers feel nearly superhuman. Add to that the notion that they are going to fight evil and they can feel like a band of superheroes out to rid the world of villains.

Even Hollywood has jumped on this metaphor with the popular Transformer movies where rattling cars and trucks are broken down and reconfigured and rebuilt into monsters of good and evil. Get the idea?

But then they hit the reality of war face on or rather it hits them in the face. In the process they see horrors and create collateral damage no training can fully prepare you for. Imagine being ordered to run over a young child who will not get out of the way and you can’t swerve to avoid them because of the mine-laden side of the road and hearing the thump of their body as they hit the bottom of your Humvee. Or imagine following orders to take out a sniper nest in a house in a village and then entering it, only to discover a dog, a grandpa, a mother, and two children “shredded” or incinerated by you.

What happens to you when all your training for war runs head on into the debasement of humanity that you perpetrate in waging it?

The trauma cuts you to your core. The horrors that you see and the horrors that you caused won’t leave you alone. You don’t tell anyone else, because you think they’re handling it better than you . You are just weak and missing the “right stuff” that your fellow soldiers have.

Although you never fully get over that trauma that rips you to the center of your being, as in human being, your training is good enough to enable you to get past it through the days and weeks and possibly even the tour of duty you are on. However the damage is done and the crack in the porcelain of what was once your soul remains.

You don’t let the world know about it and you do everything you can to not feel that fragility. But even though you don’t think about it, you believe that if you were re-traumatized that crack would cause you to shatter from the inside out and like Humpty Dumpty, all the king’s horses and all the king’s medics would never be able to put you back together again.

So you live your life avoiding anything that might re-traumatize you. You numb yourself with alcohol or drugs; you withdraw from family matters especially the yelling of your spouse and young children. Every now and then a car backfires or something catches you by surprise and you jump out of your skin, because you had temporarily relaxed your guard and that temporarily removed the paper thin veneer protective graft above your crack. It’s like someone pouring acid in an open cut, except this cut is in your mind.

If you are put in a situation in which you feel you will be re-traumatized, you can go into a state of near panic, in which you resort to your most basic “fight or flight” instincts.

We can’t know for sure, but I believe that the threat of deployment of Major Hasan to first hand have to go into combat and witness and even support Americans killing Muslims was just too much. Previously traumatized by hearing the stories of too many soldiers with PTSD and too many soldiers telling tales of killing Muslims (who he increasingly felt a kinship too) and their families, the fear of now going and perpetrating it firsthand may have proved too much, caused him to panic, and react to that panic by perpetrating the killings he did.

Why did it happen?

Have you ever passed a cut tree and seen all the exposed rings? Each of those rings represents a year in the life of that tree. Some of those rings may look thick and healthy indicating and good year; some may look very thin indicating a drought; some may look darkened indicating a forest fire that the tree survived; some may look nearly rotted indicating some fungal or insect infestation. In your minds eye you can also imagine that those years will have a lot to do with the eventual health of that tree and its overall resilience.

Trees are not the only living creatures that develop from the inside out. Imagine your brain as actually having three brains. Like the rings of a tree layered one upon the other, imagine your human (neomammalian) upper brain is layered upon your paleomammalian middle brain is layered upon your most primitive reptilian lower brain.

Now imagine figuratively that a recruit’s brain and “loosey gooseyness” is due to their three brains being loosely wired together. Then imagine that during basic training, those loose wires are stretched and even broken. But then those three brain are built up in to a tightly wired machine specialized for waging war.

When a highly trained, tightly wired and molded for war brain suddenly runs face into horrors perpetrated upon you and that you perpetrate on others, soldiers show that they are not Transformers, but rather, that they are too human an animal.

When did it happen?

In the face of that, your three brains lose the way they are wired and coupled to each other. But being used to being tightly coupled they will spontaneously recouple, but this time with a new mission. This new mission is to avoid re-traumatization at all costs.

And perhaps that was the mission that Major Hasan was on and that he fulfilled with his bloody massacre. Because lets face it, he may have killed and traumatized many others, but he avoided the re-traumatization that being deployed might have caused.

****

[bold mine]

[Cvengr]

The author must have been traumatized in his formative years to write something of value under a publisher’s deadline.

[Gay State Conservative]

If you are someone who disagrees with that, then I would suggest you stop reading now.

Thanks for the advice,you clown.I did just that...stopped reading.I need know nothing more about you,or your ideas,now.And BTW,we'll make sure that from now on there are at least a dozen 9th Century pig fornicating,knuckledragging "jihadists" living in your neighborhood.

[littleharbour]

There are, sadly, too many cases of American soldiers committing suicide before or after deployment. They did not choose to deal with their personal torment by engaging in a suicide mission against unarmed muslims in a mosque, in spite of the atrocities they have seen committed in the name of islam and the loss of their comrades at the hands of islamic militants. Nidal planned and carried out a deliberate attack on his comrades and fellow citizens because of his islamic fate, not because he was traumatized or feared for his own safety in an overseas deployment.

How many IRA sympathizers do you think were given commissions in the British military? I suspect that the British military was particularly diligent about any recruit with a direct link to Northern Ireland and that they would have jumped on even the slightest hint of a soldier’s sympathy for the Irish terrorists.

Nidal set off enough warning lights to cover the entire Christmas tree on the White House lawn. If Lieberman is successful in investigating this incident, we’ll find out that those warning lights were ignored at every level of command.

[Liberty1970]

I am ok and I resent the insinuation that I am a bad person.

Who gets to judge who is a bad person or not? I can tell myself that I'm fine, but why should my own personal moral order count for anything with myself, much less with anyone else? That makes as much sense as me declaring the law of gravity to be different than what it is, or declaring the sky to be purple instead of blue.

Please understand that I'm trying to help you, not judge you. You may be a 'better' person than I. But by what standard? If it's just yours or my standard, that's meaningless. We can make up moral standards all day long that (conveniently) make ourselves look good, and that is no more meaningful than making up fantasy statements about the laws of nature.

Romans 3:12 says "There is none who does good, there is not even one." "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) It is God's standard that matters, and we all fall short of it. The good news is that God has forgiven us freely and taken upon Himself the punishment for our sins, maintaining His perfect justice while at the same time displaying perfect love for those who accept it.

[Liberty1970]

I am ok and I resent the insinuation that I am a bad person.

Who gets to judge who is a bad person or not? I can tell myself that I'm fine, but why should my own personal moral order count for anything with myself, much less with anyone else? That makes as much sense as me declaring the law of gravity to be different than what it is, or declaring the sky to be purple instead of blue.

Please understand that I'm trying to help you, not judge you. You may be a 'better' person than I. But by what standard? If it's just yours or my standard, that's meaningless. We can make up moral standards all day long that (conveniently) make ourselves look good, and that is no more meaningful than making up fantasy statements about the laws of nature.

Romans 3:12 says "There is none who does good, there is not even one." "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) It is God's standard that matters, and we all fall short of it. The good news is that God has forgiven us freely and taken upon Himself the punishment for our sins, maintaining His perfect justice while at the same time displaying perfect love for those who accept it.

[maine-iac7]

Please understand that I'm trying to help you, not judge you.

Laughter is indeed, the best medicine. Thanks for providing a shot of it,

I reply to your post, and alert ClodWater to, only to also give ColdWater a chuckle.

You, who believe - KNOW - we are all born BAD and remain BAD - presume to 'help' me in understanding that I cannot be a good person - I am BAD BAD BAD...born BAD

and you quote Romans: 3:12 says "There is none who does good, there is not even one."

YOu poor soul. I'm glad I don't live in your pitiful little world nor have the heavy burden of enlightening everyone on their 'badness.' That must be a full time job.

YOu bring to mind this poem:

THE SPECTRUM

Poor dear,

In your black and white world

so drear.

Come, take my hand

for a look at my sphere.

No black and white existence here...

no absence of color allowed.

My boundless world is edged

With prisms catching celestial sparks

Flung like singing larks

Shattering rays

In spectral hues,

emblazoned double-dyed days

Prancing ahead of

silver-footed nights

Washed a la indigo blues

and Sapphire sparked seas

that melt at dawn

to jasper and jade

- afloat with crushed emeralds.

Come, step out of your decolored world

And see how mine is made."

Thanks for your concern about my not recognizing I'm a bad person, always have been - born bad. But I wouldn't want you burdened with the need to "help" me - seems you may need all your energies to concentrate on the person in the mirror.

As for me, I'll continue to walk and sing in the sunshine and enjoy MY world which has a loving God, who didn't create and send to the world BAD babies - My God is a loving God, not a vengeful one - except on those who eventually turn wicked.

Sad for you.

(I say these things not as a presumption to 'help' you = just as an observation.)

[DallasMike]

I may anger some here, but:

1) There really are diseases of the brain whose sufferers are not responsible for their actions. I’m talking about things like schizophrenia, tumors, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. All one has to do is take a walk through a home for seniors to come to the sobering realization that the old lady yelling at the light bulb was once a normal, happy, functioning person. Just because this article gets some key elements very, very wrong does not mean that it is completely inaccurate.

2) I’ve participated in enough deliverance sessions to know that there is real evil in this world. People can be evil on their own and they can also be urged on or controlled partially or even wholly by demons. I’ve seen it. It’s bad. Unlike the author, I do believe that humans are born with original sin, fully capable of knowingly committing evil acts, and that there is an incarnate Satan with demonic followers.

Hasan may have a mental illness but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he did not have the ability to determine right from wrong. I believe that he knowingly committed an evil act and is fully accountable for his actions.

[DocRock]

bookmark

[ArrogantBustard]

My first presupposition is that nobody is born bad,

There's his problem, right there. Our esteemed author rejects the truth of Original Sin ... His analysis is worthless, as it is based on a false premise.

[ArrogantBustard]

BS! Psychiatry has about as much credibility as your typical witch doctor

With apologies to witch doctors?

[F.J. Mitchell]

That is the way sheep treat the wolves that kill and maim them, Mr Goulston. Sheep must be a great civilization.

[DouglasKC]

My first presupposition is that nobody is born bad, but everybody is born vulnerable. By that I mean that I don’t believe that anyone is born evil unless of course you believe in such a thing as the Devil incarnate.

Here's why he's messed up and can't come to the correct conclusion. Everybody is born bad. It's our nature. Some are less bad and by comparison look pretty good, but we are all rebellious, evil and carnal. And this is in large part due to the thoughts and actions of Satan and a legion of demons.

[Liberty1970]

As for me, I'll continue to walk and sing in the sunshine and enjoy MY world which has a loving God, who didn't create and send to the world BAD babies - My God is a loving God, not a vengeful one - except on those who eventually turn wicked.

If yours is a good God, why is there evil in the world? Is He not very powerful? What authority do you claim for knowing anything about God? Has He spoken to you, or do you have some other communication from Him?

How do you know He is good, when there is so much pain and suffering in the world? It's fine to talk of singing in the sunshine, but it rains too.

[Scythian]

Psychology- nuff said, Psychology doesn’t believe in “true” evil, as in God vs evil ...

[Altura Ct.]

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was not a bad person. He was even possibly a good person. But he was a very sick person who did a terrible thing.

It can't be said enough. Liberalism is a GD fricken disease that we need to eradicate before it eradicates us. It can and will destroy everything we value.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I agree. One only needs to witness an acute manic episode to know there are mental illnesses that take over that part of the brain which keeps our actions within the ‘norms’ of society. (Not scientific, but the best I can do)

Hasan does not fit in that category. He is evil and the apologists offering compassionate reasons for his actions are only enabling jihadists.

[maine-iac7]

With apologies to witch doctors?

[maine-iac7]

If yours is a good God, why is there evil in the world?

Ever hear of the greates gift God gave to mankind - FREE WILL?

What authority do you claim for knowing anything about God? Has He spoken to you, or do you have some other communication from Him?

Hmmm - What authority have I to know anything about God? hmmmm. Are we NOT supposed to know anything about God? I thought that was the whole idea - to learn all we can about God?

I thought Jesus taught us this: John 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him..."

As for 'communication." Ever hear about the 'still small voice'?

or how about Jesus' promise: "16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; ...but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you... 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. "

For just a couple examples.

My motto: "If Jesus said it

I believe it."

And thus ends my communication with you... the doctrine of pearls and all...

wishing you a happy life.

[Liberty1970]

Hey, wait, please don't leave me in a state of total confusion.

I thought you were objecting to my observation that we are all sinners, and that you were supporting Coldwaters' assertion that he is 'not bad'. Am I mistaken somehow?

You appeal to the authority of the Bible in response to my query about what authority you base your claims upon. Yet does not the Bible plainly teach, from beginning to end and all through it, the fallen nature of man - that we are all 'bad' and in need of a savior? (Rom. 3:24) (I've read the Bible four times fully and think this perfectly self-evident.) Do you see my confusion? Why would you object to the observation that we are all evil if you accept the authority of the very Scripture that teaches that this is unambiguously true?

[TexasRepublic]

An article in Psycology Today, presumably written by a psychologist. I think they are all kooks. It seems to be a prerequisite for that profession. That islamic homicidal maniac is EVIL. Islam is EVIL. Get over it.