Healthy individuals can have difficulty imagining that terrorists who commit unspeakable atrocities don’t have a mental illness. Surely, they must have experienced terrible trauma, even complex trauma. Yet, research seeking to establish a connection between terrorism and mental illness has largely come up empty-handed.
To effectively address terrorism, we first need to understand what exactly terrorism is, what causes it, and how (or if) mental illness plays a role in terrorism.
KEY POINTS
- Terrorist groups use violence or threats of violence to engender feelings of terror in a target audience.
- Hierarchy, meticulous planning, and methodical execution of attacks characterize terrorist organizations.
- Research shows that terrorists are no more likely to have a mental illness than the general population.
Read the rest of the story at Psychology Today, here.
