Thursday, April 19, 2012

Forensic Psychiatry News Review - 8:55 AM 4/19/2012

 

Forensic Psychiatry News Review - 8:55 AM 4/19/2012


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via Forensic Psychiatry News by Mike Nova on 4/19/12
Norway Killer Wants To Be Freed or Killed - WSJ.com

By KJETIL MALKENES HOVLAND

OSLO, Norway—Anders Behring Breivik called for freedom or death during the third day of his trial for killing 77 people in shooting and bombing attacks in Norway last year, saying the nation should reintroduce capital punishment.
Norway abolished capital punishment in peacetime in 1905 but retained it for war crimes until 1979 and last used it soon after World War II.
"There are only two outcomes I would respect. The unrealistic one, which is acquittal, and the more realistic one, which is a death penalty," Mr. Breivik said on Wednesday, according to a transcript by the Norwegian daily VG.
The confessed killer called the prison sentence he faces of 21 years with the possibility of indefinite extension for as long as he is seen as a danger to society as "a pathetic punishment."
Mr. Breivik refused to answer many questions from the prosecution, which took a more aggressive stance Wednesday after letting him read a 13-page statement a day earlier in which he espoused his anti-Muslim views.
Prosecutors pushed Mr. Breivik to explain the details about a so-called Knights Templar network he claims to belong to. The prosecution says the network doesn't exist.
Mr. Breivik said the network was established in London in 2002, and that he was chosen to write a manifesto to unite different cells on a common, nationalistic platform. He said he traveled to Liberia and Baltic countries to meet Templar associates. But, saying he wanted to protect them, he refused to name members or reveal any further details.
"We have to find out what's true and what's made up," said prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh.
"Nothing's made up," retorted Mr. Breivik, saying his manifesto reflected an idealized version of the truth. "In principle, you're selling dreams. That's what it is to sell an ideology."
During the proceedings Wednesday, Mr. Breivik also distanced himself from some of the grandiose titles he used for himself in the 1,500-page manifesto.
"I never called myself a perfect knight," he said. "I've said I tried to live up to those ideals. A perfect knight is a perfect foot soldier."
The issue of whether Mr. Breivik concocted the Knights Templar is of importance in determining his sanity, and whether he is ultimately sent to prison or compulsory psychiatric care.
On July 22, 2011, Mr. Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and 69 in a shooting spree at Utoya island, about 25 miles northwest of Oslo. Hundreds more were injured.
He claims the attacks were justified to fight a Muslim invasion of Europe that is being permitted by political organizations that support a multicultural society.
In the days after the attacks, the nation decorated the squares of Oslo with roses and marched the streets in support of the victims. The Norwegian prime minister said the country would meet the attacks with more openness and more democracy.
That sentiment has persisted during the trial, making Mr. Breivik's entreaty unlikely to be granted. Few Norwegians favor the death penalty even in the aftermath of the country's worst peacetime massacre.
John Hestnes, a government employee who represents survivors of the Oslo bombing in a support group, said that in the immediate aftermath of the attacks when passions were inflamed some called for Mr. Breivik to be killed. "It's a spontaneous, angry shock reaction," he said, but added, "If we introduce the death penalty, we become like him. I'm proud to be Norwegian, that we don't have a death penalty such as other countries."
Christian Lundin, legal counsel for 70 wounded and next of kin from the attacks, said many of his clients have at times wanted to see Mr. Breivik killed for his crimes.
"Those who have lost their children in a gruesome way have expressed that they wished he was not alive, and that his life had ended on July 22," he said. But he added that none of his clients had expressed a wish to change the judicial system to introduce the death penalty.
Thomas Mathiesen, professor in sociology of law at the University of Oslo, said that Norway's emphasis on peace has an impact on the Breivik trial.
"Anyone standing in front of a court is treated equally, regardless of whether it's a mass murderer or another person," he said. "Peacefulness, democracy and openness were values that were stressed as early as on the night of July 22."
A version of this article appeared April 19, 2012, on page A14 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Mass Killer Calls for Norway to Institute Death Penalty.


New York Daily News

Anders Behring Breivik wanted to bomb royal palace
New York Daily News
AP Self confessed mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik places a clenched fist on his heart in a salute as he arrive on day three of his trial. Breivik says he wanted to attack more targets, including the royal palace and ...
Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik wanted to bomb royal palace, Labor ...CBS News
Anders Behring Breivik trial, day four - live updatesThe Guardian (blog)
Breivik originally planned 3 bombsAtlanta Journal Constitution
Seattle Post Intelligencer -BBC News
all 1,534 news articles »


Anders Behring Breivik says death or freedom only possible outcomes of trial ...
Calgary Herald
OSLO — Anders Behring Breivik said Wednesday he should be executed if found guilty of last year's mass killings in Norway, telling his trial that other lone extremists were plotting to emulate his attacks. On day three of his trial, ...

and more »


Anders Breivik Trial: Norway Massacre Suspect Originally Planned To Bomb 3 Targets
Huffington Post
OSLO, Norway — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik planned to capture and decapitate former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland during his shooting massacre on Utoya island, he said Thursday. Breivik told a court in Oslo that he ...


Anders Behring Breivik aimed to 'kill everybody' on Utoeya
Victoria Times Colonist
Self-confessed mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik talks on his fourth day of proceedings in courtroom 250 at Oslo's courthouse on April 19, 2012. OSLO - Anders Behring Breivik told an Oslo court Thursday he meant "to kill ...


Norwegian killer used computer wargames to plan attack
KY3
OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik told a court on Thursday that he used computer games to prepare for his attacks, once spending an entire year isolated from society playing a game for hours on end.


Breivik wanted to bomb parliament, palace
Perth Now
From: AP Accused Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, second right, talks to public prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh at the courtroom, in Oslo, Norway. Picture: AP Source: AP CONFESSED mass killer Anders Behring Breivik's original plans for a terror attack was ...


AFP

Anders Behring Breivik, Norway Killer, Not Criminally Insane, Says New ...
Huffington Post
By KARL RITTER and BJOERN H. AMLAND 04/10/12 02:12 PM ET OSLO, Norway -- When Anders Behring Breivik goes on trial next week, both the prosecution and the defense will say he killed 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre that jolted the world's ...
Norway Shooter Anders Breivik 'Regrets Not Going Further'ABC News
Norway mass killer Breivik deemed sane by new evaluationLos Angeles Times
Breivik deemed sane, prison now possible for Norwegian gunmanChristian Science Monitor
msnbc.com (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk -AFP
all 787 news articles »

via Forensic Psychiatry News by Mike Nova on 4/19/12
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Anders Behring Breivik trial, day four - live updates - 8:23 AM 4/19/2012 - Mike Nova's starred items



The Guardian (blog)


Anders Behring Breivik trial, day four - live updates
The Guardian (blog)
Welcome to live coverage of day four of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik. The chief judge said yesterday that today's proceedings would focus on the events leading up to 22 July last year and on the bomb that Breivik has admitted planting in the ...
Breivik thought had slim chance to survive bombingFox News
Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik wants death penalty or acquittalCBS News
Why does Norway's Breivik invoke the Knights Templar? (+video)Christian Science Monitor
Telegraph.co.uk -TIME
all 997 news articles »


Toronto Star


Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer's Trial
New York Times (blog)
If found to be mentally fit for trial, he could face up to 21 years in prison. A finding that he was insane would likely result in three-year terms of psychiatric care, which could be extended, The Associated Press reported. One of his victims, ...
New psychiatric examination finds Norway killer Anders Breivik not insaneToronto Star

all 787 news articles »

via Google News on 4/18/12

msnbc.com (blog)


Sociologist: Norway killer Breivik's court rant will deter extremism
msnbc.com (blog)
First for breaking news and analysis: Compelling world news stories from msnbc.com and NBC News journalists. Follow us on Twitter. Lawyers for Anders Behring Breivik warned Norwegians would find his statement to the Court upsetting.

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

Times LIVE


Norway's mass killer demands acquittal or death
Times LIVE
Defendant Anders Behring Breivik listens to his lawyer Geir Lippestad (L), during the first day of his trial in Oslo, April 16, 2012. The terrorism and murder trial against Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to the bomb and ...

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12


'Execute me or set me free'
Herald Sun
ANDERS Behring Breivik has said he should be executed if found guilty of last year's mass killings in Norway. Mr Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in Norway last July, told an Oslo court yesterday there were only two possible outcomes of ...

and more »



Breivik thought had slim chance to survive bombing
U.S. News & World Report
By KARL RITTER, AP OSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik thought he had only a slim chance of escaping Norway's capital alive after setting off a bomb in the government district on July 22, he told a court Thursday.

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12


Why a spot of torture and a long rope would be too good for Anders Breivik
The Independent
I know what you're thinking, because sometimes I think it too. You look at the bovine, witless features of Anders Breivik in that Oslo courtroom and you think: maybe capital punishment isn't so bad after all. You remember the 77 people he murdered, ...

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

Christian Science Monitor


Why does Norway's Breivik invoke the Knights Templar?
Christian Science Monitor
Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a twin terror attack in Norway last July, claims to be a member of a reborn 'Knights Templar.' What's the symbolism? By Arthur Bright, Correspondent / April 18, 2012 Accused Norwegian Anders Behring ...

and more »



Breivik grilled over violent video games
Financial Times
By Martin Sandbu in Oslo Anders Behring Breivik appeared animated when discussing the technical details of gaming and gun training. The extremist, who did not give his salute on entering the court, as he had done on previous days, said he had used the ...


Mike Nova's starred items

via The Guardian World News by Helen Pidd on 4/19/12
Breivik tells court he practised his shot using a 'holographic aiming device' while playing video game
Anders Behring Breivik has described how he "trained" for the attacks he carried out in Norway last summer using the computer game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

The 33-year-old said he practised his shot using a "holographic aiming device" he had bought to use with the war simulation game, which he said is used by armies around the world for training.

"You develop target acquisition," he said. He used a similar device during the shooting attacks that left 69 dead at a political youth camp on the island of Utøya on 22 July.

Describing the game, he said: "It consists of many hundreds of different tasks and some of these tasks can be compared with an attack, for real. That's why it's used by many armies throughout the world. It's very good for acquiring experience related to sights systems."

He added: "If you are familiar with a holographic sight, it's built up in such a way that you could have given it to your grandmother and she would have been a super marksman. It's designed to be used by anyone. In reality it requires very little training to use it in an optimal way. But of course it does help if you've practised using a simulator."

The prosecution asked Breivik if he was aware that "there are some bereaved people sitting here in the courtroom who lost children at Utøya". How do you think they are feeling, Breivik was asked. "They are probably reacting in a natural way, with disgust and horror," he said.

The court also heard that Breivik took what he called a "sabbatical" for a year between the summers of 2006 and 2007, which he devoted to playing another game, World of Warcraft (WoW), "hardcore" full time. He admitted he spent up to 16 hours every day that year playing from his bedroom in his mother's Oslo flat.

But he insisted WoW had nothing to do with the attacks he carried out last year, leaving 77 dead.

He said: "Some people like to play golf, some like to sail, I played WoW. It had nothing to do with 22 July. It's not a world you are engulfed by. It's simply a hobby."

He added: "WoW is only a fantasy game, which is not violent at all. It's just fantasy. It's a strategy game. You co-operate with a lot of others to overcome challenges. That's why you do it. It's a very social game. Half of the time you are connected in communication with others. It would be wrong to consider it an antisocial game."

Breivik said he "deserved" his sabbatical because he had worked an average of 12-14 hours every day between 2002 and 2006 on various entrepreneurial projects.

He said: "I felt I had sacrificed a lot. Because of that I felt I deserved to take one year off to do what I wanted. Especially bearing in mind the upcoming so-called suicide action … I wanted to have no remorse as to what I had missed out on."

He denied playing the game and moving back in with his mother because his business ventures, including a firm selling fake diplomas, had failed.

"If you assess what you read in media, you would think I moved back home and rented a room in my mother's house because my company had gone bankrupt," he said, claiming to have had 600-700,000 rone (£65,000-76,000) in bank accounts and 300,000KR (£32,5000) in cash, which he stashed in two safes in his bedroom at the start of his sabbatical. He only filed for bankruptcy to save on the accounting costs associated with winding down a company in a conventional way, he said.

Breivik insisted he only moved back in with his mother to save 15,000KR in monthly rent and spend more time writing his "compendium". He did not claim benefits, saying: "I have never received a single krone from any government subsidy or support because I am in principle against living off such subsidies or welfare."

He said his friends and family, particularly his mother, reacted with "shock and disbelief" when he announced he was going to play on his computer full time.

"I told her that I was going to allocate time to do what I had wanted to do. She reacted in that way, which is [a] fairly normal, healthy reaction," he said, adding: "It would have been quite abnormal if she had just said: 'Oh that's great, go ahead.' I couldn't tell her I was taking a sabbatical because I was going to blow myself up in five years' time. I played on the idea that: 'Ooh, I've become addicted to games.' That was my primary cover."

It was a convenient "cover" and allowed him to isolate himself and concentrate on his forthcoming "operation". But he insisted repeatedly he was not a loner and had been out and about in the months leading up to the attacks in July last year.

Breivik was also asked about his membership of the masons. He said he joined because it was a "Christian organisation which has protected many European traditions" but said he was not an active member.

It was a "hobby", he said, claiming to have only attended "about five" meetings. It was another "militant nationalist" who suggested he join, he claimed.

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has dropped his familiar far-right salute at the start of a day in court after relatives of his victims asked him to respect their wishes.

Defendant Anders Behring Breivik with his lawyers Geir Lippestad right and Odd Ivar Groen during the third day of proceedings in courtroom 250 in the courthouse in Oslo Wednesday April 18, 2012. Confessed mass killer Breivik on Wednesday called Norway's prison terms Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik says his original plans for a terror attack was to bomb Oslo's government district, the Labor Party's office and a third target, possibly the royal palace.

General Psychiatry News Review - 8:43 AM 4/19/2012

 

General Psychiatry News Review - 8:43 AM 4/19/2012


Google Reader - Mike Nova's starred items
Mike Nova's starred items

Experts have suggested a controversial psychiatric disorder may have been misdiagnosed in a large percentage of cases, according to a new study. The disorder is the highly lucrative ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity ...

by CCHR International. A study about a new “blood test” that can supposedly be used to determine teens who have “Major Depressive Disorder” is being heralded by the press as a breakthrough in legitimizing psychiatric ...


Further Evidence Found of Disturbed Immune System in Autism
Science Daily (press release)
The study was published in the April 2012 International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. In particular, of the 29 cytokine levels analyzed, the researchers found disturbed levels in five related to the T-helper cell immune system and three ...

and more »


Should grief be considered a mental illness?
SBS
Professor Bryant sits on committees for both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases. Both the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for ...

and more »


DAWN.com

Gene Links to Memory, Brain Size Found in Global Effort
BusinessWeek
The reports, published online by the journal Nature Genetics, featured two key results. In one, the scientists were able to link certain DNA to brain size. In another, they found a gene that may be tied to the rate at which the hippocampus shrinks as ...
International team uncovers new genes that shape brain size, intelligenceUC Los Angeles
New Gene Map for Mental IllnessPsychCentral.com
Best evidence yet that a single gene can affect IQNew Scientist
Medgadget.com
all 100 news articles »


Psychiatry award recipient to present lecture on dialectical behavior therapy
BCM News
The award consists of an annual prize and lecture of international scope. Previous winners have included psychiatrists Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

and more »

1-382. 4. Chen WC Sun YH Lan TH and Chiu HJ (2009). Incidence and Risk Factors of Workplace Violence on Nursing Staffs Caring for Chronic Psychiatric Patients in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research ...


USA TODAY

WHO Report Encourages Global Planning on Dementia
Medscape
In preparing the report, entitled Dementia: A Public Health Priority , the WHO commissioned reports from 4 groups of experts from the Institute of Psychiatry and King's College London, in England, and the Institute of Neurological Sciences, in India.
World Health Organization and Alzheimer's Disease International Say Dementia ...Sacramento Bee
Dementia Cases to Triple by 2050 as World AgesVoice of America

all 367 news articles »


UCSF Today

Half of Young Cigarette Smokers Also Smoke Pot: Survey
MSN Health & Fitness
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), say that's a big increase from the 35 percent of young adults that, in prior research, had admitted to using both marijuana and tobacco within the past month.
Marijuana Use Higher in Young Adult Smokers Than Previously ReportedScience Daily (press release)

all 14 news articles »


Sci-Tech Today

International team uncovers new genes that shape brain size, intelligence
Imperial Valley News
Published April 15 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, the study also uncovers new genes that may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence. "We searched for two things in this study," said senior author ...
Gene Links to Memory, Brain Size Found in Global EffortBusinessWeek
New Gene Map for Mental IllnessPsychCentral.com
Best evidence yet that a single gene can affect IQNew Scientist
Medgadget.com
all 102 news articles »


Mass Killer Calls for Norway to Institute Death Penalty
Wall Street Journal
A version of this article appeared April 19, 2012, on page A14 in some US editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Mass Killer Calls for Norway to Institute Death Penalty. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.

and more »

International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) Blog · ISEPP is a non-profit ... http://isepp.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/how-psychiatry-stigmatizes-depression-sufferers-personal-health-alternet/. Previous Post ..... Weight loss surgery controls type 2 diabetes for obese adults significantly better than widely used medical therapy, find two pioneering studies and an accompanying editorial recently published in the New England Journal […] April is Brain ...

International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) Blog · ISEPP is a ... Robert Whitaker, Anatomy of an Epidemic:Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America. Seth Farber ..... Exposure to air pollution increases the short-term risk of a heart attack and the long-term risk of a stroke, suggest two studies recently published in Journal of the American Medical Association and the Archives of Internal Medicine. […] ...

Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry). By Brand: List Price: $55.00. Special Price: check special prices now! *Note: Prices of the product may not be the latest update. You can check latest ...


UCSF Today

Marijuana Use Higher in Young Adult Smokers Than Previously Reported
Science Daily (press release)
“We were curious whether rates would be different in our study where we reached out through social media and the Web,” said lead author Danielle Ramo, PhD, a post-doctoral scholar in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry. “And rates were much higher, ...
Half of Young Cigarette Smokers Also Smoke Pot: SurveyMSN Health & Fitness

all 16 news articles »


RedOrbit

Daily Exercise Lowers Risk Of Alzheimer's
RedOrbit
The report, published in the online issue of the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, describes how activities done on a day-to-day basis can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. “These results provide support for efforts to encourage all ...

and more »


The Guardian (blog)

Anders Behring Breivik trial, day four - live updates
The Guardian (blog)
Welcome to live coverage of day four of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik. The chief judge said yesterday that today's proceedings would focus on the events leading up to 22 July last year and on the bomb that Breivik has admitted planting in the ...
Breivik thought had slim chance to survive bombingFox News
Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik wants death penalty or acquittalCBS News
Why does Norway's Breivik invoke the Knights Templar? (+video)Christian Science Monitor
Telegraph.co.uk -TIME
all 997 news articles »


Toronto Star

Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer's Trial
New York Times (blog)
If found to be mentally fit for trial, he could face up to 21 years in prison. A finding that he was insane would likely result in three-year terms of psychiatric care, which could be extended, The Associated Press reported. One of his victims, ...
New psychiatric examination finds Norway killer Anders Breivik not insaneToronto Star

all 787 news articles »

via Google News on 4/18/12

msnbc.com (blog)

Sociologist: Norway killer Breivik's court rant will deter extremism
msnbc.com (blog)
First for breaking news and analysis: Compelling world news stories from msnbc.com and NBC News journalists. Follow us on Twitter. Lawyers for Anders Behring Breivik warned Norwegians would find his statement to the Court upsetting.

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

Times LIVE

Norway's mass killer demands acquittal or death
Times LIVE
Defendant Anders Behring Breivik listens to his lawyer Geir Lippestad (L), during the first day of his trial in Oslo, April 16, 2012. The terrorism and murder trial against Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to the bomb and ...

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

'Execute me or set me free'
Herald Sun
ANDERS Behring Breivik has said he should be executed if found guilty of last year's mass killings in Norway. Mr Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in Norway last July, told an Oslo court yesterday there were only two possible outcomes of ...

and more »


Breivik thought had slim chance to survive bombing
U.S. News & World Report
By KARL RITTER, AP OSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik thought he had only a slim chance of escaping Norway's capital alive after setting off a bomb in the government district on July 22, he told a court Thursday.

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

Why a spot of torture and a long rope would be too good for Anders Breivik
The Independent
I know what you're thinking, because sometimes I think it too. You look at the bovine, witless features of Anders Breivik in that Oslo courtroom and you think: maybe capital punishment isn't so bad after all. You remember the 77 people he murdered, ...

and more »

via Google News on 4/18/12

Christian Science Monitor

Why does Norway's Breivik invoke the Knights Templar?
Christian Science Monitor
Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a twin terror attack in Norway last July, claims to be a member of a reborn 'Knights Templar.' What's the symbolism? By Arthur Bright, Correspondent / April 18, 2012 Accused Norwegian Anders Behring ...

and more »


Breivik grilled over violent video games
Financial Times
By Martin Sandbu in Oslo Anders Behring Breivik appeared animated when discussing the technical details of gaming and gun training. The extremist, who did not give his salute on entering the court, as he had done on previous days, said he had used the ...

via The Guardian World News by Helen Pidd on 4/19/12
Breivik tells court he practised his shot using a 'holographic aiming device' while playing video game
Anders Behring Breivik has described how he "trained" for the attacks he carried out in Norway last summer using the computer game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

The 33-year-old said he practised his shot using a "holographic aiming device" he had bought to use with the war simulation game, which he said is used by armies around the world for training.

"You develop target acquisition," he said. He used a similar device during the shooting attacks that left 69 dead at a political youth camp on the island of Utøya on 22 July.

Describing the game, he said: "It consists of many hundreds of different tasks and some of these tasks can be compared with an attack, for real. That's why it's used by many armies throughout the world. It's very good for acquiring experience related to sights systems."

He added: "If you are familiar with a holographic sight, it's built up in such a way that you could have given it to your grandmother and she would have been a super marksman. It's designed to be used by anyone. In reality it requires very little training to use it in an optimal way. But of course it does help if you've practised using a simulator."

The prosecution asked Breivik if he was aware that "there are some bereaved people sitting here in the courtroom who lost children at Utøya". How do you think they are feeling, Breivik was asked. "They are probably reacting in a natural way, with disgust and horror," he said.

The court also heard that Breivik took what he called a "sabbatical" for a year between the summers of 2006 and 2007, which he devoted to playing another game, World of Warcraft (WoW), "hardcore" full time. He admitted he spent up to 16 hours every day that year playing from his bedroom in his mother's Oslo flat.

But he insisted WoW had nothing to do with the attacks he carried out last year, leaving 77 dead.

He said: "Some people like to play golf, some like to sail, I played WoW. It had nothing to do with 22 July. It's not a world you are engulfed by. It's simply a hobby."

He added: "WoW is only a fantasy game, which is not violent at all. It's just fantasy. It's a strategy game. You co-operate with a lot of others to overcome challenges. That's why you do it. It's a very social game. Half of the time you are connected in communication with others. It would be wrong to consider it an antisocial game."

Breivik said he "deserved" his sabbatical because he had worked an average of 12-14 hours every day between 2002 and 2006 on various entrepreneurial projects.

He said: "I felt I had sacrificed a lot. Because of that I felt I deserved to take one year off to do what I wanted. Especially bearing in mind the upcoming so-called suicide action … I wanted to have no remorse as to what I had missed out on."

He denied playing the game and moving back in with his mother because his business ventures, including a firm selling fake diplomas, had failed.

"If you assess what you read in media, you would think I moved back home and rented a room in my mother's house because my company had gone bankrupt," he said, claiming to have had 600-700,000 rone (£65,000-76,000) in bank accounts and 300,000KR (£32,5000) in cash, which he stashed in two safes in his bedroom at the start of his sabbatical. He only filed for bankruptcy to save on the accounting costs associated with winding down a company in a conventional way, he said.

Breivik insisted he only moved back in with his mother to save 15,000KR in monthly rent and spend more time writing his "compendium". He did not claim benefits, saying: "I have never received a single krone from any government subsidy or support because I am in principle against living off such subsidies or welfare."

He said his friends and family, particularly his mother, reacted with "shock and disbelief" when he announced he was going to play on his computer full time.

"I told her that I was going to allocate time to do what I had wanted to do. She reacted in that way, which is [a] fairly normal, healthy reaction," he said, adding: "It would have been quite abnormal if she had just said: 'Oh that's great, go ahead.' I couldn't tell her I was taking a sabbatical because I was going to blow myself up in five years' time. I played on the idea that: 'Ooh, I've become addicted to games.' That was my primary cover."

It was a convenient "cover" and allowed him to isolate himself and concentrate on his forthcoming "operation". But he insisted repeatedly he was not a loner and had been out and about in the months leading up to the attacks in July last year.

Breivik was also asked about his membership of the masons. He said he joined because it was a "Christian organisation which has protected many European traditions" but said he was not an active member.

It was a "hobby", he said, claiming to have only attended "about five" meetings. It was another "militant nationalist" who suggested he join, he claimed.

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has dropped his familiar far-right salute at the start of a day in court after relatives of his victims asked him to respect their wishes.

Norway Killer Wants To Be Freed or Killed - WSJ.com

Norway Killer Wants To Be Freed or Killed - WSJ.com

OSLO, Norway—Anders Behring Breivik called for freedom or death during the third day of his trial for killing 77 people in shooting and bombing attacks in Norway last year, saying the nation should reintroduce capital punishment.
Norway abolished capital punishment in peacetime in 1905 but retained it for war crimes until 1979 and last used it soon after World War II.
"There are only two outcomes I would respect. The unrealistic one, which is acquittal, and the more realistic one, which is a death penalty," Mr. Breivik said on Wednesday, according to a transcript by the Norwegian daily VG.
The confessed killer called the prison sentence he faces of 21 years with the possibility of indefinite extension for as long as he is seen as a danger to society as "a pathetic punishment."
Mr. Breivik refused to answer many questions from the prosecution, which took a more aggressive stance Wednesday after letting him read a 13-page statement a day earlier in which he espoused his anti-Muslim views.
Prosecutors pushed Mr. Breivik to explain the details about a so-called Knights Templar network he claims to belong to. The prosecution says the network doesn't exist.
Mr. Breivik said the network was established in London in 2002, and that he was chosen to write a manifesto to unite different cells on a common, nationalistic platform. He said he traveled to Liberia and Baltic countries to meet Templar associates. But, saying he wanted to protect them, he refused to name members or reveal any further details.
"We have to find out what's true and what's made up," said prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh.
"Nothing's made up," retorted Mr. Breivik, saying his manifesto reflected an idealized version of the truth. "In principle, you're selling dreams. That's what it is to sell an ideology."
During the proceedings Wednesday, Mr. Breivik also distanced himself from some of the grandiose titles he used for himself in the 1,500-page manifesto.
"I never called myself a perfect knight," he said. "I've said I tried to live up to those ideals. A perfect knight is a perfect foot soldier."
The issue of whether Mr. Breivik concocted the Knights Templar is of importance in determining his sanity, and whether he is ultimately sent to prison or compulsory psychiatric care.
On July 22, 2011, Mr. Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and 69 in a shooting spree at Utoya island, about 25 miles northwest of Oslo. Hundreds more were injured.
He claims the attacks were justified to fight a Muslim invasion of Europe that is being permitted by political organizations that support a multicultural society.
In the days after the attacks, the nation decorated the squares of Oslo with roses and marched the streets in support of the victims. The Norwegian prime minister said the country would meet the attacks with more openness and more democracy.
That sentiment has persisted during the trial, making Mr. Breivik's entreaty unlikely to be granted. Few Norwegians favor the death penalty even in the aftermath of the country's worst peacetime massacre.
John Hestnes, a government employee who represents survivors of the Oslo bombing in a support group, said that in the immediate aftermath of the attacks when passions were inflamed some called for Mr. Breivik to be killed. "It's a spontaneous, angry shock reaction," he said, but added, "If we introduce the death penalty, we become like him. I'm proud to be Norwegian, that we don't have a death penalty such as other countries."
Christian Lundin, legal counsel for 70 wounded and next of kin from the attacks, said many of his clients have at times wanted to see Mr. Breivik killed for his crimes.
"Those who have lost their children in a gruesome way have expressed that they wished he was not alive, and that his life had ended on July 22," he said. But he added that none of his clients had expressed a wish to change the judicial system to introduce the death penalty.
Thomas Mathiesen, professor in sociology of law at the University of Oslo, said that Norway's emphasis on peace has an impact on the Breivik trial.
"Anyone standing in front of a court is treated equally, regardless of whether it's a mass murderer or another person," he said. "Peacefulness, democracy and openness were values that were stressed as early as on the night of July 22."
A version of this article appeared April 19, 2012, on page A14 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Mass Killer Calls for Norway to Institute Death Penalty.

The Spiritual Gift of Madness: The Failure of Psychiatry and the Rise of the Mad Pride Movement by Seth Farber « International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) Blog

The Spiritual Gift of Madness: The Failure of Psychiatry and the Rise of the Mad Pride Movement by Seth Farber « International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) Blog

Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)



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"Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)" Overview

Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry is a concise introduction to the growing field of philosophy of psychiatry. Divided into three main aspects of psychiatric clinical judgement, values, meanings and facts, it examines the key debates about mental health care, and the philosophical ideas and tools needed to assess those debates, in six chapters.

In addition to outlining the state of play, Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry presents a coherent and unified approach across the different debates, characterized by a rejection of reductionism and an emphasis on the ineliminability of uncodified skilled judgement.

The first part, Values, outlines the debate about whether diagnosis of mental illness is essentially value-laden and argues that the prospects for reducing illness or disease to plainly factual matters are poor. It also explains the important role of skilled contextual judgement, rather than a principles-based deduction, in ethical judgement.

The second part, Meanings, examines the central role of understanding and a shared first person perspective, both against attempts to reduce meaning to basic information-processing mechanisms and to explain away the difficulties of understanding psychopathology in recent models of delusion.

The third part, Facts, shows the importance of uncodified clinical judgements, both in assessing the validity of psychiatric taxonomy and in the application of Evidence Based Medicine. Despite advances in the codifaction of practice and operationalism of diagnosis, an element of judgement remains in the assessment both of what, at one level, is good evidence for diagnosis and treatment and what, at a higher level, is good evidence for the validity of classification overall.

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Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry) - Philosophy Textbooks

Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry) - Philosophy Textbooks

Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)

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Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)
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List Price: $55.00
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"Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry) Reviews"

*Note: Prices of the product may not be the latest update. You can check latest prices at this button.

By Brand:


"Esssential Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)" Overview

Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry is a concise introduction to the growing field of philosophy of psychiatry. Divided into three main aspects of psychiatric clinical judgement, values, meanings and facts, it examines the key debates about mental health care, and the philosophical ideas and tools needed to assess those debates, in six chapters.

In addition to outlining the state of play, Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry presents a coherent and unified approach across the different debates, characterized by a rejection of reductionism and an emphasis on the ineliminability of uncodified skilled judgement.

The first part, Values, outlines the debate about whether diagnosis of mental illness is essentially value-laden and argues that the prospects for reducing illness or disease to plainly factual matters are poor. It also explains the important role of skilled contextual judgement, rather than a principles-based deduction, in ethical judgement.

The second part, Meanings, examines the central role of understanding and a shared first person perspective, both against attempts to reduce meaning to basic information-processing mechanisms and to explain away the difficulties of understanding psychopathology in recent models of delusion.

The third part, Facts, shows the importance of uncodified clinical judgements, both in assessing the validity of psychiatric taxonomy and in the application of Evidence Based Medicine. Despite advances in the codifaction of practice and operationalism of diagnosis, an element of judgement remains in the assessment both of what, at one level, is good evidence for diagnosis and treatment and what, at a higher level, is good evidence for the validity of classification overall.

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Norwegian Says Attack Was in the Works for Years - NYTimes.com

Norwegian Says Attack Was in the Works for Years - NYTimes.com

Norwegian Says Attack Was in the Works for Years


OSLO — Prosecutors on Thursday depicted the man on trial here for killing 77 people in twin attacks as a friendless loser who spent an entire year playing computer war games in his mother’s home.
The defendant, Anders Behring Breivik, 33, acknowledged an investment setback in December 2006, after which he moved into his mother’s Oslo house and spent the next year playing the game “World of Warcraft” 16 hours a day.
Mr. Breivik told the court that he knew, even in 2006, that he wanted to carry out a “suicide” attack. He said a psychiatrist’s report made soon after the attacks last year in which he was depicted as saying he decided on his plans only in 2009, “was a lie.”
After the morning recess, prosecutors allowed Mr. Breivik to return to the more familiar ground of his hatred for the “liberal media,” “cultural Marxism” and multiculturalism, and during this testimony his voice grew stronger and his diction firmer.
The prosecution spent the morning suggesting that Mr. Breivik was a fantasist and — rather than operating, as he has claimed, as a member of a shadowy and possibly nonexistent terrorism group called Knights Templar — a loner.
Mr. Breivik insisted that he had not had money problems, saying that the prosecutor Svein Holden was “giving the impression that I moved back home and rented a room in my mother’s house because I had gone bankrupt.”
“But I wanted to preserve my funds,” Mr. Breivik said, “so I could spend more time doing what I wanted to do, which was write my manifesto” — a rambling 1,500-page justification for his rampage and his thoughts about the danger posed to Europe by multiculturalism and Islam.
On Thursday, the fourth day of a trial that is expected to last for 10 weeks, Mr. Breivik entered the courtroom without making the closed-fist salute he had on the previous three mornings. A self-styled anti-Islamic militant, he has admitted the central facts of the case: that he killed 77 people on July 22, 2011, first with a car bomb in central Oslo in which eight died, and then on the nearby wooded island of Utoya, where he shot and killed 69 people, most of them teenagers attending a Labor Party summer camp.
As Mr. Holden and the other prosecutor, Inga Bejer Engh, demonstrated a sharply more aggressive line than in the previous sessions, Mr. Breivik appeared ill-tempered and sullen, and several times accused them of trying to “humiliate” him.
Mr. Breivik said he had taken the year beginning December 2006 as a “sabbatical” during which he spent 16 hours a day playing “World of Warcraft.”
“I know it is important to you and the media that I played this for a year,” he told the court, in response to Mr. Holden’s questions. “But it has nothing to do with July 22. It is not a world you are engulfed by. It is quite simply a hobby.”
“I had been dreaming about it all my life, to take a sabbatical to do what I always dreamed about,” he said. “Some people want to sail around the world. Some people want to play golf.”
He said he later spent the four months through February 2010 playing six hours a day at another game, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” and that it was through this that he honed the shooting skills he would later use to kill the 69 people on Utoya Island, practicing with the aid of the holographic sight — a high-tech instrument for aiming a rifle — used in the game.
“You could give the sight to your grandmother and she would become a super marksman,” he said.
Interrupting his questioning about the holographic sight, Mr. Holden questioned why Mr. Breivik had broken into one of his now-familiar, wide-mouthed smiles.
“I know where you are trying to lead me,” Mr. Breivik said. “It is very obvious. You are trying to humiliate me.”
“There are some bereaved people here,” Mr. Holden replied. “How do you think they react when you talk about your aiming system?”
“They probably react in the natural way,” Mr. Breivik said, “with disgust and horror.”
“Do you think in that context it is natural to smile?” Mr. Holden asked.
Mr. Breivik did not reply.
Mark Lewis reported from Oslo, and David Jolly from Paris.

Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer's Trial - NYTimes.com

Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer's Trial - NYTimes.com

Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer's Trial - NYTimes.com


April 10, 2012, 1:33 pm

Psychiatry May Also Face Scrutiny at Norway Killer’s Trial


Alexandra-Maeva Norya Peltre described her escape from Anders Behring Breivik, during which she was shot in the leg. She is set to testify against him at his trial, which begins next week.
After an earlier psychiatric report declared him to be a paranoid schizophrenic living in a “delusional universe,” a second evaluation by Norwegian psychiatrists released on Tuesday found Anders Behring Breivik, the anti-Muslim extremist who methodically killed 77 people in Oslo last year, to be legally sane, according to Norwegian officials.
As recently as last month, prosecutors in Norway said that Mr. Breivik would likely be placed in involuntary psychiatric care because he was considered psychotic.
But that approach appeared to be based on the first report, conducted by two psychiatrists in a court-ordered assessment. The new evaluation, also ordered by the court, followed widespread criticism of the earlier finding. The discrepancy between the two findings was not immediately explained.
The clinical disagreement prompted some Norwegian news media to speculate that the methods of psychiatric evaluation would also be put on trial along with Mr. Breivik when hearings begin next week.
The Norwegian daily, Aftenposten, said that the divergent evaluations presented the court with a unique challenge. Sven Torgersen of the University of Oslo told the paper that he anticipated that the trial would likely become, at least in part, a discussion of psychiatry.
Mr. Torgersen also told the news site, Global Post, that Mr. Breivik’s insistence on his own sanity could be an effort to influence the court. “It’s very dangerous to say, ‘I’m very satisfied to be declared insane.’ Because then I’m sane. That’s the paradox,” he said.
Indeed, Mr. Breivik’s lawyer said his client was “pleased” with the new result and that he would testify at trial that he has “regret that he didn’t go further,” the BBC reported.
Mr. Breivik has also been vigorously declaring his sanity, claiming in a letter last week that to be confined to a mental hospital would be “the ultimate humiliation,” according to excerpts published by Reuters and other news outlets. “To send a political activist to a mental hospital is more sadistic and evil than to kill him! It is a fate worse than death,” he wrote.
If found to be mentally fit for trial, he could face up to 21 years in prison. A finding that he was insane would likely result in three-year terms of psychiatric care, which could be extended, The Associated Press reported.
One of his victims, Alexandra-Maeva Norya Peltre, escaped after being shot in the leg. Now 18 years old, she returned to Utoya Island with a video crew from Reuters and described the scene of mayhem during which she said her eyes met with those of Mr. Breivik as he methodically tracked and killed young people at a political camp, even as some attempted to flee into the water.
“He was looking right at me and I just remember — poof! I had a hole in my leg,” she said, “and I started running.”