Anders Breivik: Is There Really Such Thing As A Sane Mass Murderer?

The ongoing trial of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik has raised questions over how psychiatrists and courts, and the public, diagnose insanity. Is it possible to "sanely" kill in cold blood?

According to Dr Jane Anderson, a forensic psychiatrist who specialises in the relationship between the law and medicine, it depends on your point of view and even on the country you're in.

In a blog for the Huffington Post UK, Dr Anderson writes that massacres such as the one committed by Breivik last July, which saw 77 people brutally killed, highlight the complex relationship between mental illness and criminal responsibility:

"Some might argue that Breivik must have been sane to have organized and carried out a crime of that scale with such chilling accuracy and without getting found out. Others might question how any sane person could to do such a thing in the first place, especially hearing his reasons for doing so...

An understanding of the law on insanity is key to understanding what will take place in court. This is because the court is asked to decide not whether Breivik is mentally ill, but rather whether he is legally insane, which is a different question."

Dr Anderson discusses the complicated criteria for deciding someone's mental state and the strict legal process for ensuring that appropriate justice is done.

"We must remember that in the eyes of the law an insane person is someone who, on account of their mental illness, did not know the meaning of their actions, and should not be liable to punishment," she writes.

You can read more from Dr Anderson's post here.