Several years ago, I posted a medical tale of a Hispanic patient who presented to the hospital ER with active audio-visual hallucinations with religious and tech content. She had an established diagnosis of schizophrenia, and had been off her medicines for a while. She was floridly psychotic.
Schizophrenia has a prevalence of about 1% of the population regardless of the country. My friend and then senior clinical colleague, Dr. Lyman Phillips, explained to me that people who have schizophrenia tend to latch onto whatever is in the news, online or topical, and incorporate that content into their hallucinations and systematized delusions.
You may remember that I blogged about Satyagraha several years ago. Martyrdom, as a form of non-violent protest, has a long history. Today’s self-immolation of a man standing in a park across from DJT’s trial venue, was not an instance of Satyagraha.
A person who engages in fatal self-sacrifice as a form of non-violent protest (Satyagraha) does so understanding that the protest, even if futile, is a statement imbued with spiritual meaning.
We are all fucked; let’s face it. Every one of us is going to die. Some of us may want our deaths to make a statement. So, to decide to perform a sacrificial death to make a social or political statement is rational provided that we understand its futility. People who are delusional do not understand that.
So, the poor fellow who ignited himself in the park today, was most likely suffering from schizophrenia and got caught up in the intensity and pageantry of DJT’s election interference cum sexual scandal coverup case, just as my friend suggested a few decades ago. This was a case of self-immolation most likely due to mental illness rather than one of martyrdom due to an act of conscience.
Like so much in our time. It was such a waste. 🙁