Boston Bombing aftermath, any similarity to the Lincoln assassination aftermath?

[Jenny]

Interesting, Craig. I'm not a psychologist either but I do know a lot about mental illness due to my own family history.

This is a just theory of mine and should be treated as such, but personally I suspect Booth had bipolar disorder along with possible narcissistic personality disorder or similar mental illness; look at his father and family and consider how heavily disorders like those run in families. There are recorded incidents of both extreme mania and melancholy behavior from Wilkes himself; I think I read about most of them in Lust for Fame. Sadly mental illness was not spoken about due to stigma (not much different from today, unfortunately) and some forms of it were not even named back then. Plus most mentally ill people function at perfectly normal levels so symptoms wouldn't have been thought of as abnormal or given a second thought.

Don't get me wrong; I think Booth's ego was the size of Texas but I don't think that had much to do with the assassination. I honestly think he went way off the deep end after Richmond fell... and when a person goes off the deep end as badly as Booth probably did and happens to have a mental illness like bipolar disorder to fuel the anger and hatred, horrible things *can* happen as a result. I say that as someone who has a bipolar father and sister and who has seen some of the things mental illness can drive certain people to do. John Wilkes Booth was clearly a highly passionate individual in a time of a horrible war and I can only imagine how the surrender of Lee affected him. Add in an illness like bipolar disorder and its symptoms during a time of high distress/despair in an individual like Booth and you honest-to-God *do* have a chance of that person doing something catastrophic for a lost cause because that person *isn't* thinking rationally.

Would having a mental illness factoring in the equation excuse Booth's horrible action? NO. Not a chance! It might, however, help explain Booth's irrational mind frame and the ill-planning when he did the awful thing he did.

Before I get jumped on, remember that this is just a theory. Unfortunately my theory can never be proven or disproven due to lack of a modern psychologist who could time travel back to the 1860's, interview John Wilkes Booth in person regularly, and observe his actions and mood patterns over time for an extended period of time.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Interesting theory, Jenny! But wouldn't someone suffering from a bout of depression be paralyzed or harm himself rather than others? Or is this different with bipolar illnesses?

[RJNorton]

Jenny, this is pure speculation on my part. Do you think Booth could have been in the midst of a "manic episode?" Wasn't his mind racing, and he was having trouble sleeping? Wasn't he still up at 2 A.M. on April 14th writing a letter to his mother?

[Jenny]

Eva - Bipolar disorders are different than depression in that way. They have "manias" or what Roger called "manic episodes" in which their thoughts run together, they cannot sleep, and they can have *extreme* delusions of grandeur and sometimes act on those impulses. The manias are referred to as "highs." When a bipolar person does go into a depression, that's called a "low." Even though mood stabilizers and anti-depressants do help, most bipolar people spend their entire lives battling their changing moods. How quickly moods change and how long "highs" and "lows" last vary from person to person.

Real life case example: One bipolar man having a manic episode decided it would be a grand idea to go out, buy a shrimping boat, and actually moved out of the USA to shrimp. This man had NO experience with boating and had never expressed any desire to boat or to go "shrimping" or to move in his entire life before his episode. Needless to say the experience went horribly; the man's boat sunk somehow (I forget what happened - I think a storm hit it). The man went home to the US, his manic episode turned into a depressive one, and his doctor changed his meds and warned him once again about acting on impulse like that. I do not know if the man did anything else that extreme when he came out of his depression and had his next manic episode... but people do crazy things like that, often even worse, when they are manic. People have committed murders during manias when they are delusional and angry depending on the circumstance.

When bipolar individuals have their "lows" or depressive episodes, then *that's* the point in which they will stay in bed for days or self-harm etc. How severe the "highs" and "lows" are and how long they last varies from individual to individual, but they can be extreme to the max either way.

Oh, and another point that might pertain to John Wilkes Booth: one symptom of bipolar disorder is a over-inflated ego and sense of invincibility. Not all bipolar people have this symptom but many certainly do (like my uncle - ugh).

Roger - You hit the nail on the head in regards to my theory! I think he was in the midst of a huge manic episode; couple that with the end of the war and surrender of the South along with his highly impassioned Southern views, and I can see how he would have been able to do the awful deed that he did. I do not think he was in his right mind. That doesn't excuse what he did... but it might help explain it and his particular actions around that time and on the day of the assassination.

And back then no one, including Wilkes, would have even considered the possibility of him having a mental illness because Booth was by all accounts able to carry on a fairly normal life as most bipolar people do despite the mood swings, so his highs and lows wouldn't have been thought of as abnormal or noted because most mental illnesses were still completely unknown/unnamed by science. I'm actually impressed that a few of John's possible mood swings *were* apparently noted according to Lust of Fame (although they were not attributed to a mental illness then).

[Gene C]

I'm sure Booth's heavy drinking didn't help much.

This was in the news today regarding mental illness
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/madness-no-...slideshow/

[Jenny]

Nice find, Gene. Before the 20th century, a lot of normal behaviors were considered "mental illnesses" such as (forgive me) masturbation for example. Doctors are still just on the tip of the iceberg regarding *real* mental illnesses and treatments even now in the 21st century, and the stigma against those who have mental illnesses is still horrible since the public is largely uneducated about them.

---

Also I wanted to thank everyone for hearing me out on my theory whether you agree or not! And Gene, I suspect his drinking didn't help at all. :/

[Eva Elisabeth]

Jenny, thank you for the illustrative example. I wasn't aware how little the prefix (high or low) of an episode and the change between these opposite extremes depend on external factors. Also I haven't yet known about Booth's excitement the night before. (But wouldn't it have been even more astonishingly if he had slept easy that night?)
Couldn't it be another hint to second your theory that quite a remarkable number of character actors (and paradoxically comedians as well) admit(ted) suffering from depressive and manic episodes?

[Hess1865]

I've read that all comedians constantly obsess about whether they're still funny or not, causing themselves a lot of mental anguish.

[KateH.]

Many performers, actors in particular, often suffer from various issues. One cause is usually constant suppressing of emotions for long periods of time, and no positive outlet for expression later. Come opening, you have to shove aside personal drama and get into character. When the curtain goes up, you're expected to "be on" because you need to act and then be pleasant when you greet fans afterwards. I can recall one opening night where, right before the show began, a performer found out she didn't get into her dream college. She was really upset but had to forget about it because the show was starting. It ended up affecting her really badly. She had to let the emotion wallow because she couldn't deal with it then. If you get into the habit of bottling up every emotion for a long period of time, it takes a toll on your health. Furthermore, if you don't have a positive way to get those emotions out later, you can run into even more trouble. Excess drinking, something Mr. Wilkes Booth liked to do, was no way to go about dealing with issues. That probably just caused more mental deterioration.

[My Name Is Kate]

Having had my life wrecked from day one by someone who was supposedly "criminally insane", I have a hard time finding within myself much sympathy for such people. Surely they have all had at least a moment or two of lucidity and rationality at some point in their lives, where they realized that they were a threat to other people, or had already hurt other people, yet they did nothing to stop their future criminal behavior, which they knew in those lucid moments (however few and far between they may have been) that they would commit again and again.

Even "people" like Ted Bundy had such moments, and although his apologists have tried to convince people that there was something genetically wrong with his brain, which prevented him from feeling empathy for other people, I would rather argue that the empathy center of his brain never developed because he had no interest, right from the beginning, in developing it. Yes, he was abused, but so were alot of other people, and in much worse ways, yet they did not turn into monsters.

[Eva Elisabeth]

My Name is Kate, I don't exactly know how those criminals declared insane are treated and prosecuted in the US, but what bothers me in this country is, that they seem to have more rights than their victims, and it's quite easy to get to get declaired insane and thus out of adequate punishment, which, e.g. in case of rape or child abuse, is a serious threat for the victims and in many cases leads to action replay.

[KateH.]

I don't know what to say about Ted Bundy other than there are sick people in this world. Scary people like that exist. I wish I could say differently. Sadly, I cannot.

However, there is a difference between John Wilkes Booth and serial killers, both modern and past. Booth only had one act. When his episode ended and he was given the opportunity to examine his actions, he somewhat regretted what he had done. None of the conspirators just killed again and again with no feeling or reason. Even Lewis Powell felt guilt afterwards. If Booth had bipolar disorder, he didn't have the option to take medicine that would control it because that medicine didn't exist yet. If it had, maybe history would have been different. In addition, the military commission that tried the eight conspirators certainly held the majority of power and, no pun intended, executed that power swiftly and thoroughly. Powell's lawyer tried playing the "insanity" card and failed.

[Jenny]

MyNameisKate, I am truly sorry to hear that you had experienced horrible times with someone declared "criminally insane." I don't know the circumstances but I do know that many times the "criminally insane" are not actually insane but mentally ill. 99% of mentally ill people distinguish right from wrong even in depressions, mania, or what other symptoms they have. So if you've had to deal with someone officially labeled "criminally insane" by the law who is questionable regarding that defense, I really am sorry for you. That had to be a nightmare, and I respect your opinion in regards to it.

However I do think we are getting off base here.

Quote:Surely they have all had at least a moment or two of lucidity and rationality at some point in their lives, where they realized that they were a threat to other people, or had already hurt other people, yet they did nothing to stop their future criminal behavior, which they knew in those lucid moments (however few and far between they may have been) that they would commit again and again.

I am not quite sure how Ted Bundy, "criminally insane," or "future criminal behavior" fit in with John Wilkes Booth. John Wilkes Booth wasn't a serial killer who went on for years of his life to murder innocent women to satisfy his own sick desires. There is no comparison, period.

Definition of criminally insane: A mental defect or disease that makes it impossible for a person to understand the wrongfulness of his acts or, even if he understands them, to distinguish right from wrong.

Even if he was bipolar and having an episode, I highly doubt John Wilkes Booth was criminally insane by any means. Even though people have delusions of grandeur and quick to act during manic episodes (as in Booth deciding within three days that killing Lincoln would apparently stir something so big within the battered South that it would rise again, or else that killing Lincoln would avenge the South because in Booth's mind the South just had to be avenged as if it would change anything), people having manic episodes are able to distinguish right from wrong.

Booth would have known it was wrong to kill, having a horrible manic episode or not. He even mentioned that "we hated to kill" in his diary; he knew killing was wrong. Unfortunately he did it anyway, and that was his conscious choice even if he was in a mania which fueled - note I say fueled, not created - his thoughts that killing the president would actually *do* something helpful or avenge the South. His conscious choice, bipolar disorder or not.

**I am not trying to make excuses for John Wilkes Booth or defend his horrible choice to kill by suggesting he had a mental illness. I am simply analyzing his actions from a perspective most people do not consider but that is entirely possible.**

Ted Bundy isn't even comparable so I won't get into that. Completely different in all respects save that both of them had last names that started with "B."

Anyway I've explained my theory and don't have much more to say.

[My Name Is Kate]

The very least JWB could have done, if he were truly mentally ill, is not consume alcohol. Instead, on the night of the assassination, he consumed large quantities of it to give him false courage. So, whether he was mentally ill or not, is irrelevant, IMO. He did what he did because he wanted to do it. His "disease" didn't cause him to do it.

My point in bringing up Ted Bundy, is that there are people who actually think he wasn't responsible for his actions because of some supposed brain disorder or defect or mental illness. I personally do not care whether there was something wrong with his brain or not. There is no excuse for what he did. There is also no way to excuse JWB of responsibility for what he did, by blaming it on some mental illness that he may or may not have had (not that I'm saying anyone is doing that).

[Jenny]

*shrug* If that's how you want to look at it, that's okay with me. It's your opinion, just as I have mine.