This Is Your Brain on Depression
Celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Amen uses SPECT scans to diagnose thousands of mental health patients. Is he brilliant or another quack?
The following contains details of suicide and gun violence that may be triggering for some readers.
On July 3, 1966, Charles Whitman wrote a chilling suicide note. “I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts,” the 25-year-old ex-Marine confessed. Whitman had one last request. “After my death, I wish that an autopsy be performed to see if there is any visible physical disorder.”
He then went to his mother’s apartment and stabbed and shot her to death. Then he went home and stabbed his wife to death while she slept. The note he left there was equally horrifying. “I love her dearly. I cannot rationally pinpoint any specific reason for doing this.”
The following day, Whitman climbed the steps to the Texas University clock tower and opened fire on the students below. His murderous rampage continued for 96 minutes before being shot by an Austin sniper. Whitman killed 14 people and injured 30 — the deadliest college shooting until Virginia Tech in 2007.
After his death, doctors honored his request and performed an autopsy. They found a pecan-sized tumor…
