Symptoms, Risk Factors, and the Notorious Charles Manson

Symptoms

Symptoms usually start around adolescence or early twenties and consist of:

· Hallucinations

· Trouble with decision making

· Problems with short term memory

· Delusions

· Issues with logical thinking

· Agitated/repetitive movements

· Lack of emotion when speaking/speaking very little

· Lack of pleasure in everyday activities.

· Attention issues

Example of Extreme Symptoms - Charles Manson

One of the best examples of a criminal with schizophrenia would be Charles Manson. Manson and his followers, the "Manson Family," were responsible for the murder of seven people in a crime spree in August of 1969. He had this idea of a race war that he called 'Helter Skelter' that he took from the song by the Beatles. It's sort of ironic that he used 'helter skelter' because the definition of that is "in disorderly haste or confusion." That definition basically described himself and his followers.


He believed that he was some sort of messenger of God or 'Life' as he stated.
Here is a video of him explaining his thoughts:

Risk Factors

No one really knows exactly what causes schizophrenia but there are a few things that have been shown to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia such as:

Family history of the disorder.

Doing psychoactive drugs (like shrooms, etc.)

Having an autoimmune disease or issues with the immune system.

Pregnancy or birth complications (brain development issues).

 

Examples:

• Manson and his followers were believed to have been using drugs such as LSD during the time of the murders.
• Manson also had grown up in a single mother home.
• His mother had him at 15 and she went to prison for attempted robbery with his uncle when he was about 4.