For the past week, lawyers and witnesses debated the mental state of Eddie Ray Routh, the man convicted Tuesday night of shooting and killing the famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. Kyle is the real-life subject of the recent Oscar-nominated film “American Sniper.”
Routh was a former Marine, who, according to his attorneys and family members, had a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia. The defense pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury returned a guilty verdict. The 27-year-old veteran received an automatic life sentence without parole.
As more veterans return home with debilitating mental wounds, the trial has once again placed focus on the damaging effects of PTSD.
Research has shown that veterans with the disorder have a tendency to misinterpret an individual’s actions as violent, hostile, or threatening to them. Psychologists have also theorized that some symptoms of PTSD, such as aggression, irritability, and being easily startled, may predispose a risk of criminal activity in some instances.
According to the Washington Post, a 2014 study conducted by the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs found that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who reported having problems with PTSD and alcohol abuse were seven times more likely to engage in acts of “severe violence” than veterans without.
Another study by the same research team found that 23 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD were arrested after returning home from combat, compared with a 9 percent arrest rate among all the 1,400 veterans surveyed.
Despite some psychological research correlating PTSD with engaging in acts of severe violence, it doesn’t mean the illness causes people to kill.
