Do cases like that of Anders Breivik show that fanaticism is a form of madness? Yes

From trainee to consultant, BMJ Group offers doctors around the world tailored information, special events, learning resources and recruitment services at every step along their career path.

... by doctors, for doctors, for patients

Online learning

BMJ Learning

High-quality CME / CPD for doctors and other healthcare professionals. BMJ Learning features hundreds of accredited, peer-reviewed learning modules in text, video, and audio formats.Find out more

Courses and Qualifications

BMJ Masterclasses

BMJ Masterclasses, led by experts, help clinicians to use the latest evidence and recent guidelines in practice and meet their CPD/CME requirements. Find out more

Exam Preparation

The leading provider of online exam preparation, helping over 167,000 healthcare professionals to pass their exams. Find out more

onExamination

Search all BMJ comment articles:

From

Limit by

Our online table of contents is updated at least twice each day. Read all articles published in the last 7 days.
Keep up to date with cardiology: Access the latest cardiovascular medicine resources from across BMJ Group.
The BMJ iPad app brings you the best of print and online, including live links to the latest news, blogs, video, and podcasts. Get the BMJ iPad app.
OPEN ACCESS: All research articles are freely available online, with no word limit. Find out more about the BMJ's open access policy. Submit your paper.

Get access to this article and all of bmj.com for the next 14 days

Sign up for a 14 day free trial today

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

Max Taylor, professor of international relations1

¹University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AX, UK

Correspondence to: mt40{at}st-andrews.ac.uk

The trial of Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in two attacks in Norway, has attracted considerable controversy because of the questions concerning his mental state. Max Taylor argues that such extreme fanatics should be considered insane, but Tom Fahy (doi:10.1136/bmj.e4647) believes that a psychiatric diagnosis is an abrogation of personal and societal responsibility

In psychiatric terms, cases like Anders Breivik’s present diagnostic difficulties. Psychiatry is not like the rest of medicine in that physical investigations such as a blood test or brain scan are rarely diagnostic. Instead, the psychiatrist has to rely on the cooperation of clients. This is especially difficult in court cases of “lone wolf” killers such as Breivik because the psychiatrist’s assessment can have a massive consequence on the outcomes of the trial.

Psychiatric definition

The fanaticism shown by Breivik is of such a degree that no extremist groups endorse his position; and this is exactly what happens in psychosis. Delusional people tend not to be able to gather supporters for their ideas because their …

Get access to this article and all of bmj.com for the next 14 days

Sign up for a 14 day free trial today

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.