Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 9. Source pages: 10.
[Editor’s Note: Dr. Mendoza, author of We Do Not Die Alone, is investi- gating a new line of research and asking practitioners for help. She is interested in hearing from those who may have had first-hand experience in the therapy room with evil. Those interested in providing feedback or opinions may reach her at mamphd12@yahoo.com.
Once again the news tells us that someone diagnosed with a mental illness has committed a heinous crime and people have died. An act of evil has occurred but no one will call it that. Evil is that which hurts ourselves or others. It is the absence of good. There is evil. We see it and hear about it every day.
But is there a relationship to mental illness? We know that hundreds of years ago people who were mentally ill were viewed as evil and as possessed by the Devil. People were banished, locked up, ostracized, tortured and killed for having a mental illness. Everyone was frightened of them. The mentally ill were the scapegoats for evil acts. Are they still today? In the 21st century, we no longer label people with mental illness as bad or evil. Evil is not a synonym for mental illness. However, severe mental illness can bring with it a lack of control, an altered sense of reality and the inability to use good judgment. Just as extreme narcissism leads to a lack of empathy and concern for others.
Over the years, research as conducted by Milgram and Zimbardo has proven that anyone is capable of committing evil acts given the right environment, time and situation. Of course, none of us want to think about that, much less believe that about ourselves. Hannah Arendt, philosopher and political theorist, coined the phrase that describes this in her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem as the “banality of evil.” The term refers to ordinary people like you and me who committed acts of pure evil. These were people who under normal circumstances would never have thought of killing anyone let alone mass murder.
In our work as therapists, we rarely, if ever, think about the concept of evil. Well, we may think of it but dare not say it out loud. For most of us the word evil immediately invokes religious thoughts of Satan and the devil. When I began to ask colleagues about their experiences with evil, they were always taken aback and looked puzzled at the mere mention of the word. They would respond with statements such as “I believe that man is basically good,” or “I don’t believe in evil.” Indeed, I believe that our profession works very hard not to ever use the word evil. It is certainly a loaded word with many connotations and reflects a judgment call on our part. But do we ever even take time to reflect on the concept of evil? Most of us have worked with victims of evil but have we ever worked with someone that we thought was evil?
Just as in trauma work we talk about “Large T” and “little t” trauma to describe the nature and impact of the trauma. We can think about evil in much the same way. There is a continuum of acts from “little e” evil to “Big E” evil. “Big E” evil refers to acts of cruelty such as war, genocide, torture. While little e evil refers to harmful behaviors we do to ourselves such as cutting, not eating or eating too much, not taking needed medication, as well as to others in the form of self- serving manipulations, belittling and bullying.
I am gathering data from different groups of mental health professionals about their views on evil and mental illness. If you could take a few moments to answer the following questions:
Do you believe there is evil? How do you define evil? Do you believe you have treated victims of evil? If so, was it “Big E” or “little e” evil?
Have you ever treated someone you believed to be evil?
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.