Booth's Mental health

[L Verge]

It is my unprofessional but personal belief that terms like "Insane," "Schizophrenia," "Narcissistic" and others that describe human frailties and actions are all relative terms. The norms of society dictate what is accepted behavior in that culture. Everyone is subject to moments of insanity or narcissism. This is due to each individuals unique experiences from childhood, through adolescence and adulthood.
Someone once said "My reality is not your reality." To John Wilkes Booth his reality was determined by the environment and the associations that he had been born into. Booth's motive for killing President Lincoln has been the subject of debate for over 150 years now. The only way to look at it honestly is to place it in context to the time in which it happened. Analyzing it from a 21st century perspective will give a spurious sense of reality as this most certainly will lead to a subjective conclusion.

Craig

Amen.

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See where you are coming from for sure, Craig.

I think we are getting confused on "motive" versus "mental health." They are not the same. I've been going on about mental health because that was the original topic of the thread (I think).

Going to shut up and just watch the thread for a while - I feel like I am making things confusing (I am probably not on the same page).

You are definitely on the right page, Jenny, and have made excellent points. I think many historians see Booth as having no motive - just being driven by a mental unbalance. Whether it was to decapitate the Union, avenge the South, or rid the country of a perceived despot, Booth and many others definitely had a motive. And that motive led to what we Monday-morning-quarterback as a "crazy" act.