10/4/16
Why’d he do that?

There’s a new movie coming out shortly called “Tower”, about the day in 1966 that Charles Whitman climbed the watch tower at the University of Texas and started shooting. Here’s the trailer:

With its 100% critics' rating from Rotten Tomatoes, the film just moved to the top of my Must See list.

School shootings have tragically become almost commonplace, but back on that hot August day 50 years ago, no one knew what was happening. I am obsessed by the Texas event for two reasons.  First, because it illustrates so clearly what Freud called overdetermination, the notion that human behavior (including political behavior) almost always has more than one cause. And second because it provides some lovely examples of heroism. More on that second part in a later blog. Probably after the election. When we’ll need it.

The movie is about the victims and deals very little with Whitman. That’s excellent, as we have in the past put too much emphasis on the evil doer.  However, for the purposes of this blog, Mr. Whitman is front and center. 

In the weeks leading up to the shootings, Whitman had become concerned about the growing intensity of his violent impulses.  So much so that he wrote this note before climbing the tower

“I don't quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I don't really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I can't recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks.

<SNIP>

"After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed on me to see if there is any visible physical disorder. I have had some tremendous headaches in the past and have consumed two large bottles of Excedrin in the past three months.

<SNIP>

"If my life insurance policy is valid, please see that all the worthless checks I wrote this weekend are made good. Please pay off my debts. I am 25 years old and have been financially independent.

"Donate the rest anonymously to a mental health foundation. Maybe research can prevent further tragedies of this type.”

During Whitman's autopsy, the medical examiner found a brain tumor about the size of a pecan in an area that could have pressed against the amygdala. As you may know from one of my previous blogs, the amygdala is a part of the brain that’s involved in social dominance and aggressive behavior, among other things.  Back in 1966, the investigators weren’t sure whether this tumor was relevant to his behavior or not. Fifty years later, I think it probably is.

Fear and rage reactions have been triggered in human subjects following electrical stimulation of the amygdala.  One study describes a female patient who became irritable and angry, and then enraged. Her lips retracted, there was extreme facial grimacing, threatening behavior, and then rage and attack--all of which persisted well beyond stimulus termination. Follow-up studies over the years have found the same thing.

But would a tumor in this area be enough to account for his behavior? Probably not. I think it was a necessary condition but not sufficient by itself. So what else?

This was Texas in the 60s. Then and now, firearms and ammunition were easy to obtain. Whitman was a vet with time in the Marines, where he earned a sharpshooter rating with emphasis on shooting rapidly over long distances and aiming at moving targets. So he knew how to shoot and was easily able to get the rifles and ammunition he used.

His father had been physically and psychologically abusive. His mother had left his dad and moved in with Whitman. Before he climbed the tower he shot and killed her and his wife.

He was an Eagle Scout and an altar boy and a smart kid, but he also had uncontrollable rages mediated by a brain tumor, combined with a history of abuse, sharpshooter skills and easy access to weapons. 

In other words, overdetermined.