Apologies that this is broken up this way, but I wanted to address various points and didn't want to get lost in a rambling wall of text.
I do think the killer might have had a mental health condition (or will claim to anyway), but I do not believe that he genuinely suffers from major mental illness.
I am sorry, but I think you are wrong here. Disordered thinking was my way of stating in laymen's terms that the person is not normal. ALL DSM diagnoses involved disordered thinking. Period.
This is what I do for a living...
Delusions, lapses in reality functioning, compulsions, inability to have second order processing into one's own behavior - all of these are "disordered thinking." I can't possibly list all the versions of it (my list of synonyms for use in SM is now at about 200 terms).
Sure, but there is no disordered thinking diagnosis and that's the point. Disordered thinking is the symptom - not diagnosis - of a larger mental health condition. That's a very important distinction because disordered thinking does not occur in a vacuum.
Mental illnesses have no relationship to legitimacy/the law. However, as a mental health researcher who has 40 years of experience (my area is field diagnostics), I will say that NO ONE who does what this killer did is a normal person. Therefore, there are symptoms in DSM that apply. I could list many. However, for the purposes of this discussion (so far), I am only going to mention the ones for which LE/MSM have provided evidence.
Not being "normal" does not equate to mental illness. This is very important because this is a misconception that exists in the world and has led to stigmatization of people with mental illness for decades. This killer was not normal, I agree. But antisocial personality, which is what the evidence that's been released suggests most, is a far cry from something like delusional disorder or schizophrenia, both of which exist with pathologic disordered thinking.
I really haven't seen any evidence from LE or what's been reported in MSM that the killer had a diagnosable mental health condition outside possibly a personality disorder.
Where are you getting the idea that mentally ill people do not have organizational skill and executive function?
Again, it's what I do for a living. And I didn't say that mentally ill people do not have organization skills and executive function. Not at all. What I said was "I also don't believe a person with legitimate mental illness, the symptom of which is disordered thinking, could carry out this crime. A crime like this requires organizational skills and executive function that individuals with severe mental illness often lack when they decompensate."
The part where I said the symptom of which is disordered thinking is crucial to the statement because there are a lot of different kinds of mental illness. Disordered thinking, as defined in a pathological sense in the DSM would only apply to a few. People with those particular illnesses - schizophrenia, schizoaffective, etc. - tend to lack the executive function skills (which includes organizational skills) needed to plan when they decompensate. This is what causes the impairment that often leads to self-neglect.
There are mentally ill surgeons and generals; there are mentally ill presidents and CEO's, there are mentally ill actors and creatives.
I know, I treat them. I'm not basing my post on my opinion. I'm legitimately basing it on medical fact.
As to what I'm trying to say about DSM criteria and this particular perp, here are some possible symptoms. all of them are in DSM and all are disordered thinking. Keep in mind that I am speculating merely on the facts as known in this case, and the work of FBI profilers who have spoken about this case (possible symptoms of this perp):
- Suspiciousness and a general fear of others’ intentions.
- Persistent, unusual thoughts or beliefs.
- Difficulty thinking clearly.
- Withdrawing from family or friends.
- A significant decline in self-care.
- They do not desire or enjoy close relationships, even with family members.
- They choose solitary jobs and activities.
- They take pleasure in few activities, including sex.
- They have no close friends, except first-degree relatives.
- They have difficulty relating to others.
- They are indifferent to praise or criticism.
- They are aloof and show little emotion.
- They might daydream and/or create vivid fantasies of complex inner lives.
- Act rashly
- Be irritable and aggressive
- Fight or assault other people
- Break the law and accepted social norms
- Not care about the safety of others or themselves
- Not show signs of remorse after hurting someone else
- Fail to meet money, work, or social duties
But again, those are all symptoms of specific illnesses and the above do not describe just one illness nor are they all present in every illness. I think that's an unfair comparison. The people who kill (like this individual) or otherwise break the law are generally not the same people who walk around suspicious with fears of others intentions. Those who walk around paranoid are generally not the ones who break the law or kill. I think it gives a significantly skewed picture of mental health conditions to lump them together like this because they don't all share those symptoms. As an example, if someone had a seizure disorder, it would be a similarly unfair comparison to compare their symptoms to that of someone with MS. They both involve the brain, but not the same illness. Disordered thinking doesn't apply to all symptoms you've described above.
Having said that, you can certainly few such things as failing to meet one's work or social duties as indicative of a normal way of thinking - but I simply can't get there, for myself. Some of the symptoms are benign (usually) such as extensive daydreaming - but it's still a mental symptom. Excessive daydreaming, especially when not caring about safety and not feeling remorse - those are mental symptoms that lead to criminality.
Do you have a link about excessive daydreaming being implicated in criminality? Not caring about safety and unremorseful describes a personality disorder that has been implicated in criminality, but I don't know of excessive daydreaming to be a symptom of such. I am open to it and would genuinely find it interesting if you can point to me evidence for it?