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"I Feel Like Killing Someone;" How Normal are Homicidal Thoughts?

As a forensic psychologist, I've been asked more than once how common it is to feel like killing someone. Most of can relate to the white-hot rage that so often accompanies these thoughts, especially during a painful relationship breakup or after a public humiliation. There is such a sense of powerlessness in those situations; fantasizing about doing away with the person who caused it is certainly one way to psychologically feel back in control. In fact, research suggests that the vast majority of adult men admit to having had at least one homicidal thought and women, although to a slightly lower degree, aren't far behind. Sixty percent of teen boys also acknowledge at least one murderous fantasy, joined by about a third of teen girls. These homicidal thoughts tended to be short-lived and directly related to a dispute; once the person cooled down, the murderous thoughts disappeared.


Here's where it gets more complicated. A 2017 study in the American Journal of Criminal Justice also found that certain kinds of homicidal fantasies are not only out of the ordinary, but they seem to be directly linked to a variety of serious crimes. These researchers looked at the backgrounds of a variety of criminal offenders to see what percentage had a history of serious homicidal ideation; 88 percent did not. The 12 percent who did, however, were the "worst of the worst;" they were arrested earlier, committed more crimes, and were responsible for the majority of the violent offenses. We've long known that 5 to 10% of offenders commit 50% of all crimes and 60 to 100 percent of the most severe ones. Now we know they also begin thinking about murder sooner.


So how do we make sense of the fact that most of us have brief homicidal urges and never act on them while the most serious offenders have homicidal thoughts and do? The difference between these two groups seems to be in the details. These homicidal thoughts tended to start in childhood and progressed from fleeting ideas to how they might be carried out and what the consequences might be. They also tended to be an extension of a generally angry view of the world in which people are seen as aggressive and untrustworthy; with this worldview, violence - even homicide - can be rationalized.


So where is the line that separates "normal" homicidal fantasies from prophecies of harm? While most homicidal thoughts don't usually mean a person will kill, they do mean something - unresolved anger, unhealed pain, a way to feel more in control, a cry for help. For anyone who experiences frequent or persistent thoughts of hurting someone else, getting help can be the first step toward emotional freedom. And for those who worry that someone they care about is a walking time bomb, speaking up may save two lives - the intended target and the person you care about.


 
 
 

83 opmerkingen


When someone treats you very bad, and also you're apologising but they keep bullying you and then you take scissors and knife🔪 and tell them to back up🔪. But when they don't listen you keep the knife up🔪, and then smile while moving closer to them with your face 😈. 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

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You know that feeling when someone keeps you uncomfortable, and you're like, ooh he is lucky I don't have a knife. Or I will have stabbed him to death with my face smiling.

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run.
run.
09 apr

It seems so easy to just convince myself that I want to kill someone, even my mother;or just any living thing around me. I’ve tried countless medications, but I don’t take therapies seriously. I’m trying too. I don’t have a drivers license because I fear of crashing or dying in a brutal car accident. For some reason, if I’m getting hurt, I don’t like it. But if it’s someone else, I get this exiting feeling then guilt or just a mix of both or just a lust to stab. My childhood wasn’t good but it wasn’t terrible. My dad would beat me if I did chores incorrectly and he would hit my sisters too. He only fed us two kinds…

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I'm ten years old, and i have comstant thoughts about killing people. Mostly my brother, or the people who bully me in school. Sometimes even strangers. I've never acted on any of these thoughts, but i always feel so angry at everyone and myself that i'll want to hurt myself and others. Such as when i'm drawing and someone tries to talk to me i get angry and i want to stab the pencil i'm using into their eye. Maybe i'll want to bash their head into concrete. Maybe i'll want to stab myself or cut my skin. But i haven't done any of that. I have diagnosed autism and every trait of adhd in girls, along with some symptoms…

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Reageren op

your brother is lying, you absolutely fucking can get trauma from bullying.

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ccatalano2003
20 dec 2024

I’m 21. I’ve been diagnosed with ASD when I was 4 and anger issues come with it. Ever since I was in middle school I’ve been getting the urge to kill others or even myself when shit goes sideways. I thought by the time I got to high school it would go away but those emotions stayed. Now I’m in college and it’s actually gotten worse. Anyone who says something I don’t like or looks at me sideways I fantasize killing then in the worst possible way. I also have one friend that doesn’t want to talk to me anymore because I try talk to girls and he’s probably a closeted gay or just a huge incel. Does anyone hav…


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