discussion of Aaron Kosminski's psychological profile

[Chris]

And on his intake the family friend said that he had been ill for at least five years.

No, he said that Aaron had "not attempted any kind of work for years."

The "duration of the existing attack" was stated in Aaron's records to be either "6 months" or "6 years." Unfortunately it's not clear which of those is correct.

[Versa]

My feeling that five or six years would be a long time was based on the idea that after becoming symptomatic, Aaron would be unable to work. Even if he was technically able, I don't think the family could afford an incident in public. They were a lower income family (though middle income by Whitechapel standards), and would not be able to afford the series of fines a delusional schizophrenic would eventually rack up from the police and hospitals. They would have to try and contain him. And that means they would be supporting a non-productive family member who clearly engaged in unusual behavior in public, and went missing from time to time.

I'm guessing here obviously... But, I suspect that given that the incidence of Schizophrenia is roughly 1/100 there would be a lot of families that did take care, to some degree, of a family member with Schizophrenia (as I said degrees of the illness differ and as such the amount of care involved would differ too).

I can imagine that the local Jewish families might help in that care too, not financially maybe but possibly by telling a brother or sister 'so and so is doing something strange in the street' and that family member could then go off and deal with it or by bringing the family member back to the family home for them (community care).

Its probable that the 'care' was minimal and that he was fed on scraps etc and treated poorly but its probable IMO that the family cared for him for longer than we would expect.

As I personally suspect that Aaron's psychiatric condition wasn't actually too severe in the years 18-24 (I've nursed people who ON medication present with more challenging behaviour than Ive so far seen of Aaron) I see no reason to suspect that his behaviour as a young man was too outlandish for the family to cope with albeit extremely hard work and probably distressing at times for the family.

Now that DOESN'T rule out a personality disorder running along side the Schizophrenia which could of been more prevalent before the Schizophrenia became full blown, but IMO Aaron doesn't present to me atm (without the full facts) as a dangerous patient and I haven't seen any evidence of a personality disorder yet.

To me the level of Schizophrenia he was suffering would of hindered his actions not assisted them and I see no evidence of a personality disorder or of an overtly aggressive personality. In fact I see more of a fearful person and the 'aggressive' acts that have been recorded appear to me to be 'self defensive'. He THREATENED his sister with a knife, he picked up a chair and THREATENED a member of staff, I suspect that the words that accompanied his actions were something akin to 'stay away OR' and to my mind Aaron was attempting to protect himself from a real or perceived threat.

so it seems he must have been comparatively problem free for a long time. And on his intake the family friend said that he had been ill for at least five years.

It certainly argues for a slow onset like you say, despite the environmental factors that could have seriously ramped up the deterioration. And I don't know what it means, except that it doesn't seem to go with the idea that he was a psycho killer three years before institutionalization.

I don't think that he would of been symptom free but I do agree that he would probably of been manageable (although bloody hard work) I suspect that Aaron was very, very difficult in the years running up to his admittance to the point that come the end he really was too much for the family to cope with. I don't think he could work because he couldn't concentrate on a job and was erratic in his behaviour, had poor hygiene and there were much more able bodied men available. And don't forget love.... His family might of loved him dearly for all his issues and problems....

I do need to read his case notes though! Are they available on-line somewhere?

[Versa]

I have a book from the 20s that refers to it as being "self injurious", but it is in reference to a guy beating his head against a wall, not cutting.

brilliant thanks I wasn't aware of the earlier terms for it, no doubt we'll be using the term 'self injurious' again when we run out of other politically correct terms (in fact I think I have heard the term banded about recently)

[Wickerman]

In fact I see more of a fearful person and the 'aggressive' acts that have been recorded appear to me to be 'self defensive'. He THREATENED his sister with a knife, he picked up a chair and THREATENED a member of staff, I suspect that the words that accompanied his actions were something akin to 'stay away OR' and to my mind Aaron was attempting to protect himself from a real or perceived threat.

Assuming I have not missunderstood you. When I read of these scenario's, coupled with the suggestion Kosminski felt threatened, being watched, or followed, I could see these might be actions of self defence rather than outward aggression. So it appears we agree on this possible interpretation.

Regards, Jon S.

[Errata]

I do need to read his case notes though! Are they available on-line somewhere?

I absolutely stole this from a post by Rob House because my computer is being a jerk and won't let me link.

"This is from the certificate written by Dr. Edmund King Houchin, on Kozminski's admission to Colney Hatch asylum Feb 7 1891:

In the matter of Aaron Kozminski of 16 Greenfield St Mile End E in the county of London Hair Dresser an alleged lunatic.

I, the undersigned Edmund King Houchin do hereby certify as follows ... 2. On the 6th day of February 1891 at the Mile End Old Town Workhouse in the county of London I personally examined the said Aaron Kozminski and came to the conclusion that he is a person of unsound mind and a proper person to be taken charge of and detained under care and treatment. 3. I formed this conclusion on the following grounds, viz.:- (a) Facts indicating insanity observed by myself at the time of examination, viz.:- He declares that he is guided & his movements altogether controlled by an instinct that informs his mind; he says that he knows the movements of all mankind; he refuses food from others because he is told to do so and eats out of the gutter for the same reason. (b) Facts communicated by others, viz.:- Jacob Cohen 51 Carter Lane St Pauls, City of London says that he goes about the streets and picks up bits of bread out of the gutter & eats them, he drinks water from the tap & he refuses food at the hands of others. He took up a knife & threatened the life of his sister. He says that he is ill and his cure consists in refusing food. He is melancholic, practises self-abuse. He is very dirty and will not be washed. He has not attempted any kind of work for years. 4. The said Aaron Kozminski appeared to me to be in a fit condition of bodily health to be removed to an asylum, hospital or licensed house

E. K. Houchin of 23 High St Stepney
Feb 6th 1891"

The other information comes in the form of little notes made by Leavesden, many of which are in the first post in this thread.

[Versa]

Assuming I have not missunderstood you. When I read of these scenario's, coupled with the suggestion Kosminski felt threatened, being watched, or followed, I could see these might be actions of self defence rather than outward aggression. So it appears we agree on this possible interpretation.

Yes, and the symptoms of paranoia, delusional beliefs, thought disorder, hallucinations etc that he may of been experiencing would be very real to him.

An example is a lady I nursed who was very aggressive towards staff, she would pick up objects close at hand (vases, cutlery etc) and threaten us with them and she would present as very excitable with pressure of speech (much like the descriptions we have of Aaron)

The symptoms that she was experiencing at the time were visual hallucinations, when she looked at our faces she would see distorted green masks making us appear to her like daemons and she was terrified of us. These visual hallucinations coupled with auditory hallucinations (she could hear what she thought was the devil saying 'I'm going to get you') combined to make a terrifying ordeal for her. This very real fear led to her acting in a self defensive manner and taking up weapons to defend herself.

On the outside it looked like an aggressive woman threatening staff for no discernible reason but from her point of view she was a frightened person trying to keep safe.

In Aarons case, this combined with probable taunting from children and adults regarding his behaviour and Jewishness probably made for a very frightened young man IMO.

[Versa]

He declares that he is guided & his movements altogether controlled by an instinct that informs his mind; he says that he knows the movements of all mankind; he refuses food from others because he is told to do so and eats out of the gutter for the same reason.

These are very well documented symptoms of Schizophrenia, the idea that an outside force is controlling your thoughts and actions. In modern times we see a lot of people with the belief that the government is the controlling force and this is often done by putting a substance in the believers food that will assist in the control. In the past it was often the devil doing the controlling (something we do still see today in people from very religious backgrounds).

His belief that he knows the movements of all mankind is a delusional one (may be a bit grandiose) and is probably combined with thought disorder so he would, in all likelihood, be unable to explain exactly why he believed that in a manner that made much sense to us. Its possible as well that some of his auditory hallucinations might of appeared to him to be the thoughts of others around him.

"he refuses food from others because he is told to do so"

Here he is clearly saying that he is experiencing auditory hallucinations and they are of the type that means he believes harm is intended by persons/beings unknown to us at this time. Its clear from this statement that he is fearful of harm coming to him and/or of being controlled if he eats the food people around him are providing so he finds what he believes to be uncontaminated food in the gutters.

He took up a knife & threatened the life of his sister. He says that he is ill and his cure consists in refusing food. He is melancholic, practises self-abuse. He is very dirty and will not be washed.

"He says that he is ill and his cure consists in refusing food"
"He is melancholic"

These statements to me are rather sad he appears to know he's unwell and is trying to make himself well again albeit a cure manufactured from a delusional, thought disordered and paranoid mind.

"He took up a knife & threatened the life of his sister"

We have no idea what the circumstances were around this incident, was she trying to make him eat? IMO its a likely explanation and given his beliefs regarding food contamination he would of seen this as a threat to his safety. The fact that he 'took up a knife' makes me think they were in the kitchen and that the event was centred around food.

"practises self-abuse"

Well in all fairness most of us do and this was probably learned from standard questioning ie Dr asks 'do you practice self abuse?' Aaron replies in the affirmative. Dr nods sagely and carries on with the questions.

As masturbation was considered a cause of mental illness it would of been a standard question asked by the Dr during the interview.

Is there any evidence to suggest that Aaron was doing so more than the average young man? Or that this was gleaned from any source other than an interview with the patient?


"He is very dirty and will not be washed"

Again my suspicions are that this is linked to his fears of contamination, he was drinking water from sources deemed by him to be contamination free so he might also of been concerned about bathing in the 'contaminated water'. Also a layer of dirt may of served as armour to him (pure conjecture again obviously) possibly keeping him safe from whatever external threat he was perceiving.

All in all he appears to present as a frightened person intent of self preservation and scared of the world around him. There doesn't appear to be any solid evidence of his being intent on harming anyone, his concerns seem based on keeping himself safe.

[Marlowe]

The Shining One...

All of Aaron's symptoms point to elevated copper. All of them. And those with elevated copper usually have elevated dopamine. High dopamine means low prolactin, which is what you would expect to find in someone with a high sex-drive or someone who compulsively masturbates. The lower histamine levels might lead to sores on the skin, etc. (a "blotchy face"?) However, dopamine agonists can also help someone to know the 'movements of all mankind', as well...just ask anyone who uses LSD ;-) There's no telling what too much "Jack in the (mouldy Jewish) Rye" (bread) can do!

Of course, there is NO evidence that Aaron was "Kosminski" either, so all of this might mean nothing! Aaron did not seem overly violent. But according to Anderson and Swanson, Kosminski was clearly very violent...d'uh! Swanson's "with difficulty" indicates that Kosminski was violent even when not engaging in his favorite non-solitary pastime. On the other hand, Aaron's threatening of (his?) sister, reminds me of what eventually brought about the arrest and discovery of the New York Zodiac, although Eddie Seda did attack his own half-sister, not just threaten her.

In any case, both Aaron and Kosminski, probably belong to the multi-orgasmic 'angel' race...(and we don't need no damn dopamine agonists:-)

Marlowe

[Chris]

"practises self-abuse"

Well in all fairness most of us do and this was probably learned from standard questioning ie Dr asks 'do you practice self abuse?' Aaron replies in the affirmative. Dr nods sagely and carries on with the questions.

The certificate says this information came from Jacob Cohen, not from Aaron Kozminski.

[Wickerman]

...Swanson's "with difficulty" indicates that Kosminski was violent ......

Or perhaps a reference to formalities, paperwork, approvals, bureaucracy?

Regards, Jon S.

[Marlowe]

Hi Wickerman,

In my experience in this area, 'with difficulty' means basically, 'put up a fight'.

[Wickerman]

Hi Marlowe.

Wouldn't police experience resistance with any suspect? Naturally they would use cuffs, so why make mention of something that was all part of the natural process of transporting someone against their will?
At this point we are given to believe Kosminski was not under arrest for anything.
Therefore transporting a 'patient' as if he were a 'prisoner' over 50 miles might have had its own unique 'paperwork' problems, aside from the everyday physical restraint which I would take for granted the police were use to.

Regards, Jon S.

[Errata]

All in all he appears to present as a frightened person intent of self preservation and scared of the world around him. There doesn't appear to be any solid evidence of his being intent on harming anyone, his concerns seem based on keeping himself safe.

I have always found him to be more of a tragic figure than a suspicious one. I am also wondering if his delusions could possibly have been focused by an obsessive compulsive disorder. He is clearly engaging in ritual behaviors for the purpose of controlling his environment. Now I know this is not uncommon with Schizophrenics, but I have always wondered if the loss of control due to their disease triggers OCD. People always see OCD as creating clean freaks, but it can just as easily do the opposite. I myself have one of the more peculiar forms, and I can attest to the absolute terror of someone trying to prevent me from doing it, grabbing my hand, or slapping my arm down, or even just snapping at me to quit it. Just a flash of "how dare you!" and then immediately needing to escape to engage in the rituals without interference. I can't even imagine how terrible it would be with an actual delusion backing up the fear.

[Marlowe]

Hi Wickerman,

I disagree. Swanson also tells us that they tied his hands. Why mention that, then? All I can say is, in my line of work, 'with difficulty' meant force was neccessary. It's a definitely ascertained fact, Wickerman ;-)

[Wickerman]

Good one....