Unpacking factors behind heinous acts
THE media is awash with stories on violent acts, which often leave the public wondering what has become of this world.
Some believe these occurrences are the ones described in the book of Revelation as the signs of the last days. More often, we hear of these acts being described as ritualistic or spiritual in nature, especially where body parts are tampered with or found missing. Elsewhere, similar incidents are reported as serial killings, psychopathic murders and so on.
Do our problems emanate from the occult or negligence? We have, for a long time, avoided addressing them, hoping for God’s intervention. In the process, we resignedly dismiss the challenges, saying they are spiritual. Because of this, they end up festering. Problems occur so that we can find ways of solving them, not to ignore or sweep them under the carpet. Whatever problem we ignore or run away from does not go away but often gets worse.
The fact that we have left them to other powers outside ourselves, we become more dependent on those external forces.
Our forefathers had much limited information and knowledge, thus, a lot of things did not make sense to them as they do nowadays. They had very little choice but to surrender all that seemed mystic to“the gods”.
We should bear in mind that there are physical health issues that affect vital organs like the brain. The brain can be infected by viruses, bacteria, fungus or parasites. Such infections often involve other parts of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord.
If we are not aware of these conditions, we are likely to blame avenging or evil spirits, yet these conditions can be treated.
The conditions include encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain; meningitis, which is the inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (the meninges); and traverse myelitis, which is inflammation of the spinal cord and cerebral abscess (a pocket of pus in the brain).
In addition, there are other injuries to the brain. These include concussions, head injuries and mild traumatic brain injuries.
Such injuries can affect how the brain functions, causing people not to understand why someone behaves in an odd manner or even violently while unprovoked.
The more these things happen without us investigating and rectifying them, the worse the problems get, and so would their impact on our societies.
We have seen a lot of abuse in society. An example is child abuse. Abuse causes frustration, especially among those without the power or voice to fight back.
Such frustrations, over time, cause despondency, which contributes to a decline in acceptable societal norms, essentially eroding the moral fabric.
When those children grow, they may be overwhelmed by the need to fight back or find ways of protecting themselves when the threat has long gone. The reaction due to brain injuries may be difficult to understand. When there is no immediate explanation for the evil occurrences, it becomes easy to attribute them to evil or avenging spirits. We hardly take time to trace the footsteps of the offender to better understand why they may have acted in the way they did. More often than not, emotions take over and the focus is on retribution.
Forensic psychology is assisting in digging up offenders’past to help explain why they may have behaved in those heinous ways. We can turn the tide regarding these issues when we take time to understand them. ◆ Mertha Mo Nyamande is a psychotherapist. He can be contacted on: Insightwellbeing.mo@gmail.com or @ www.i-wellbeing.weebly.com