Learning team E

PSY/480

March 11, 2018

Dr. Rina Wallace

Theodore Kaczynski was an incredibly intelligent man with a wide array of mental health problems that helped propel him to become one of the most wanted men in the country for over twenty years. Many people know of Kaczynski as the Unabomber, so named because the first few bombs were sent to universities, but not many people know of the many different mental health issues he was suffering from for almost his entire life. Mr. Kaczynski’s high I.Q. (rumored to be around 170) and his rapid academic rise from preparatory school to Harvard and beyond masked the fact that he was an incredibly troubled individual. Kaczynski began his run of bombings in 1978 and continued off and on until 1995 when the final bomb was sent to the California Forestry Association killing one man. Kaczynski was a highly intelligent person who was accepted to Harvard at age sixteen and went on to get a doctorate degree in mathematics before becoming an associate professor of mathematics at University of California, Berkley. The man spent the majority of his youth as a loner which continued after he graduated and never really caught on to relating to other people or wanting to associate with anyone else. This and the fact that he had little patience made him a very poor teacher who didn’t connect with the students or even seem like he wanted to teach them. Mr. Kaczynski eventually moved away from California and took odd jobs moving further and further away from people and large centers. The case study showed a clear pattern of Mr. Kaczynski’s inability to relate or interact with other people and showed how the problem grew more and more as the years passed. The change from unsocial introvert to mad bomber wasn’t something that happened overnight and possibly could’ve been stopped if he had gotten help at a much earlier age but the time passed and so did most of Mr. Kaczynski’s sanity with it.

Psychological factors

Mr. Kaczynski had a host of psychological issues that grew and festered as the years went on and were left untreated. His multiple psychological issues ranged from gender dysphoria to schizoid personality disorder and they ended up consuming his life turning what should have been a great academic career into a lonely existence as a mad bomber. Mr. Kaczynski had early issues with his gender and was very confused about the internal issues within himself. His attempts to seek psychotherapy ended in anger when he didn’t get the desired response from his therapist and led to his ending treatment. His gender dysphoria and his issues assigning blame or trying to understand the problem was compounded by his schizoid personality disorder and led him to withdraw further away from society. His biggest problem was his schizoid personality disorder that began at a very early age and was never diagnosed or treated. His reclusive, antisocial behavior became completely normal to him and was seen in his eyes as a lifestyle choice instead of something that was wrong with him. His lack of interest in making friends or doing normal things that people his age did only exacerbated the problem and made him feel as if others were beneath his standing. His high I.Q. and rapid rise through school also left him at a disadvantage since he was essentially robbed of a childhood with the high expectations that were put on him as a child prodigy. By not being able to express himself or relate to others his age Mr. Kaczynski further propelled the notion in his mind that others weren’t worth his time or effort. Mr. Kaczynski’s biggest issue was his not being able to cope with the fact that he may have a psychological issue. That was clearly evident when he decided to plea to the charges instead of being labeled as a crazy or mentally unstable person in court and in the papers. This clear decision to not want to be painted as psychologically deficient was a huge reason for Mr. Kaczynski’s inability to seek help for himself and change his life.

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Meyer, R. G., & Weaver, C. M. (2013). Case studies in abnormal behavior (9th ed.).