HOW do you detect a crazy man or woman ready to kill some one?

Question

How do you know when they are ready to snap?

Answer 1

There is no way to know that a given person has almost reached the "snapping" point of killing people more or less at random. There are a number of features in common among those who have already done so - nearly all "psycho" mass killers are young men, socially isolated, having either just one friend about as weird as themselves or none at all, having no romantic success whatsoever, who display fantastical and disordered thinking and a fascination with gory violence. None of the cases known so far has been "out of the blue" suddenly, but most of the people who display the same thoughts and behaviors do not become "psycho" killers. All known cases involve some kind of triggering event, the bloodbath being the "logical"response in the disordered mind of the killer.

There is another, more dangerous type, the sociopathic personality, for whom there is only one real person in the world, themselves, all others being no more important to them than furniture. Sociopaths are motivated by pleasure, and they may take pleasure in either normal or abnormal ways, but they have no conscience and will do anything to anybody if they find it useful or convenient to do so. Some sociopaths enjoy the feeling of power over others that killing provides, others simply kill for profit, but these are the people who have run up the biggest tallies of murders. Sociopaths who became political dictators have killed millions of people. The "psycho" mass killer, the person who "snaps", usually ends their spree by killing themselves; the sociopath contrives to get away and do it again. Fortunately, sociopathic behavior is recognizable without murders, whereas the snap psycho killer is not so different from the guys who create horror stories. The bottom line is, if you encounter some weird guy who has no friends and talks about gory death a lot, make friends with him and encourage him to write books and screenplays. Maybe your friendship, and success as a fantasy writer, will keep him from snapping...

Answer 2

Alot of the times there are some things when a person looks back and realizes it was coming but most of the time there is no way to tell one person ready to snap then any other person all it takes are the few things to go wrong in one persons life to cause something like what just happened.

Answer 3

Usually you don't. One of the troubles with crazy people is that their responses can sometimes be "inappropriate" like giggling when talking about something sad or being angry when talking about something happy. If they are this crazy the time you notice is when they are coming at you with an axe, more often than not.

For less crazy people, there are of course signs to detect that they are experiencing escalating anger:

Increasing loudness of the voice - yelling/shouting
Increasing agitation of the body - pacing, fidgeting
Defensive posturing in some cases - crossed arms, intense glare
Aggressive posturing - open arms and legs, raised hands, punching at walls/doors/windows/objects and eventually people
Staring

Psychomotor agitation

With this sort of indication of escalating anger, it is wise to try and defuse the situation by attempting to address the person's issues. Often if they can feel listened to (esp females) and if you can demonstrate to them that you are trying to help them in a practical sense (esp males) they can relax somewhat.

Bear in mind that females not being listened to (eg by people who are trying to interrupt with ideas for solutions) or males who feel that you are not helping them with anything practical (eg by offering them a cup of tea) can sometimes PROVOKE the anger to flare up.

Answer 4

Orinoco gave an excellent answer. The following is just my 2 cents worth.

If we could predict that with anything near a 100% accuracy, we would never have Columbines or Virgina techs.

There are numerous signs that could point to a potential for violence/homicide/mass murder, but potential only. We can't be positive until he/she actually acts.

Answer 5

Lots of good answers here ... but remember what every interview with people that knew a nut case killer before they went off the deep end. "He was a quiet man .. kept to himself ... always seemed polite..."

I would say in a nut shell, despite all other thoughts on the matter ... they usually are socially isolated.

Answer 6

you can't always tell, that's why it happens. There are lots of people who have serious problems who never act out against anyone, that's the norm. Why some people choose to act out against others, and most don't, is hard to say. Psychiatrists can't tell, either, any better than anyone else. If someone figures out the answer, they will be famous.

Answer 7

like the crazy chick on here who keeps emailing me telling me someone should take my life ?

Answer 8

They turn a certain shade of polka-dot.

No, there's no way you can know until it happens.

Answer 9

not sure, but i imgine you can see it in there eyes