The other day I found myself in an interesting discussion on Twitter (IKR) about violent behavior and brain damage. The paradigmatic case is Charles Whitman, who, on August 1, 1966, killed his wife and mother before climbing to the top of a tower at the University of Texas and killing fourteen more people over the course of 96 minutes. Police ultimately shot and killed Whitman.
An autopsy of Whitman’s body was performed the next day, which found a small brain tumor. However, the neuropathologist who performed the autopsy dismissed the idea that the tumor could have affected Whitman’s behavior.
A task force commissioned by the governor of Texas, John Connally, disagreed with that finding. While acknowledging that the state of medical knowledge at the time was not advanced enough to say for certain that the tumor affected Whitman’s actions, they nonetheless found that “[the] tumor conceivably could have contributed to his inability to control his emotions and actions.”
It is interesting to see how Whitman himself described his condition before his murderous rampage. On March 29, 1966, Whitman visited a staff psychiatrist at the University of Texas seeking help for what was apparently a newfound difficulty controlling his emotions (emphasis added),
This is a new student referred by one of the general practitioners downstairs. This massive, muscular youth seemed to be oozing with hostility as he initiated the hour with the statement that something was happening to him and he didn’t seem to be himself.
. . .
The real precipitation factor for this initial visit after being on the campus for several years seemed to stem from the separation of his parents some 30 days ago. Although there has been gross disharmony through the years, his mother summoned him to Florida to bring her to Texas, and she is now living in Austin, but not with her son and the daughter-in-law.
The youth says that his father has averaged calling every 48 hours for several weeks petitioning him to persuade his mother to return to him. He alleges to have no intentions of trying to do that and retains his hostility towards his father. Although he identifies with his mother in the matter above, his real concern is with himself at the present time. He readily admits having overwhelming periods of hostility with a very minimum of provocation. Repeated inquiries attempting to analyze his exact experiences were not too successful with the exception of his vivid reference to “thinking about going up on the tower with a deer rifle and start shooting people.”
The suicide note he wrote the day before the killings also speaks of Whitman not feeling like he was in control of himself anymore.
I do not quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks.
. . .
. . . I have been fighting my mental turmoil alone, and seemingly to no avail. After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed on me to see if there is any visible physical disorder. I have had some tremendous headaches in the past and have consumed two large bottles of Excedrin in the past three months.