Can Jeffery Dahmer's actions be explained by malnutrition?

Question

Maybe there was a chemical imbalance or a deficiency of some sort. Maybe he had a bad childhood and didn’t get enough love or eat his greens. Was he insane? How could he eat a human heart if he were not? I mean, isn't the human heart rich in vitamins, much like a liver?

Answer 1

Its called mental illness - psychopathics know very well their course of actions and whether or not they are right or wrong.

Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state in which thought and perception are severely impaired. Persons experiencing a psychotic episode may experience hallucinations, hold delusional beliefs (e.g., grandiose or paranoid delusions), demonstrate personality changes and exhibit disorganized thinking. This is often accompanied by lack of insight into the unusual or bizarre nature of such behavior, difficulties with social interaction and impairments in carrying out the activities of daily living. A psychotic episode is often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality".



Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At age eight, his family moved to Bath, Ohio, near Akron. From his earliest youth he was extremely shy. He didn't commit acts of animal cruelty, like some serial killers do, but he did show a vivid interest in dissecting already dead animals. He struggled with substance abuse and suffered from extremely low self-esteem. His parents divorced when he was a teenager. Dahmer committed his first murder at the age of 18, killing Steven Hicks. Dahmer had invited Hicks over to his house, and killed him because he "didn't want him to leave".

During his college studies it is alleged he removed a door from its hinges and used it as a bar during a rowdy party in his dormitory. Witnesses were reported to be amazed at his ingenuity. His father convinced him to join the military, and he appeared to recover some vitality as he became an army medic. Dahmer was stationed in Germany but later was discharged because of alcoholism. In 1988 he was arrested for sexually fondling a 13-year-old boy, for which he served one year in a work release camp and was required to register as a sex offender. Shortly afterward, he began the string of murders that ended with his arrest in 1991.

When this case went to trial, Jeffery Dahmer was found not guilty by reason of insanity even though he murdered 16 people in course of his killing spree, he was seen as America's most pitied criminal.

In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill at the time of their allegedly "criminal" actions. It is important to note that the legal definition of "insane" is quite different from the psychiatric definitions of "mentally ill." Also, the definition of insanity varies among jurisdictions.

The insanity defense is still in use in the United States, while most Commonwealth countries have moved to a mental disorder defence.

The insanity defense is available in most jurisdictions that respect human rights and have a rule of law, though the extent to which it can or should be applied may differ widely between jurisdictions, e.g. as in cases involving the battered woman syndrome where self-defense is not available, a defendant may be forced to choose between an insanity defense and provocation.

This defense is based on a principle that punishment is only reasonable if the defendant is capable of distinguishing right and wrong. A defendant making this argument might be said to be pleading "not guilty by reason of insanity" (NGRI).

Answer 2

He was definately sick and there was some kind of chemical imbalance there, but he had pretty normal childhood from what I remember hearing. Some people's brains just operate that way no matter what.

Answer 3

He was just demented. He had a sick brain.