MENTAL HEALTH – DEFENSES FOR KOHBERGER?
“The ringing in my ears and the fuzz in my vision is simply all of the demons in my head mocking me ” – statement attributed to the Idaho multicide suspect, Bryan Kohberger.
Kohberger, Sheath providing DNA, Victims
Allegedly visual snow plus tinnitus (ringing in the ears from an unknown source) bothered Kohberger enough that he once said he didn’t want to live anymore. Allegedly, he also had drug use issues, especially with heroin, and was bullied for being overweight. There are even more mental health issues, including possibly psychopathy, here and here. Plus, dialogue including him, his father, and a highway patrol officer here.
These are a few of the many things revealed recently about the suspect in the brutal stabbings of 4 students in November, 2022.
Is it possible that one or a combination of these issues may be used in his defense in court?
VISUAL-SNOW DISORDER
Visual snow was first described in 1995 and is estimated to affect up to 2% of the population. People have described it as akin to seeing static on old black-and-white TVs of yesteryear.
Experts aren’t sure about the cause of the disorder, but a 2022 review suggested visual-processing centers in the brain play a role. Other studies suggested people with a brain injury were more likely to develop visual-snow syndrome.
Also, studies suggest depression, anxiety, and poor sleep are common side effects of visual snow syndrome.
A 2020 survey of 1,100 people found that the average age of people experiencing visual-snow syndrome was 29, and nearly 40% of those surveyed said they’d had symptoms “for as long as they could remember.”
The condition doesn’t seem to get worse over time. Still, there is no cure for visual-snow syndrome.
One study indicated a medication used to treat seizures and bipolar disorder worked for some patients with visual snow.
Wearing orange-tinted glasses may also provide some relief.
Apparently, Kohberger used dieting to lose a good deal of weight at one point in his life. He may’ve turned to a certain diet also to control visual snow.
Victims beside Kohberger, center.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
What do you think Kohberger and his lawyer are up to?
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hello. you are not answering or addressing whether someone suffering from visual snow and such could commit this kind of crime. would he be able to fight with victims, and also be able to not have a visual attack? would he then be able to do everything he did? yes or no. and not address that a dog was killed like mimicking a satanic ritual in the same area. are the two events connected in some way? why after years of no violence does someone torture a dog/ and someone tortures victims too. just wondering.
Thanks for the probing questiions, Norine. Guess the lawyers will duke it out over whether visual snow was or wasn’t a factor. I lean toward a “no” in your “yes or no” question.
Please give me more info about the tortured dog. Couldn’t find any thing ‘cept a case in Texas. I did read this: “A ‘possible animal hair’ was among the evidence seized from the home of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger – sparking speculation that it could belong to victim Kaylee Goncalves’ dog… While Mr Kohberger is not believed to have a pet, one of the victims he is accused of killing, Goncalves, had a dog who was at home at the time of the murders.
The dog called Murphy became the target of substantial attention in the case after investigators revealed that the pet was found unscathed in the room where Goncalves and Mogen were stabbed to death in the former student’s bed.
An affidavit in support of Mr Kohberger’s arrest revealed that one of the victims’ two surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, had heard the dog making noise in Goncalves’ room around the time of the killings.”
The affidavit also stated that a security camera near the home heard the dog barking at 4.17am – just three minutes before Mr Kohberger is alleged to have fled the scene.