[Haunted]

You have a point, Urge. Unfortunately, what happens is the first kill attracts the police, which in turn attracts the media. Thus, the vicious cycle begins, case in point, the Washington Sniper incident a few years ago. I also recognize that you're indicating the gross (amount) quanties of books on the subject inspiring those folks with the pre-existing conditions for such behavior to embark on a rampage.

Psychiatry links their behavior to antisocial personality disorder (sociopaths/psychopaths [commonly and grievously confused with psychosis/psychotic which, in most cases, the patient is rarely if ever violent or even terribly aggressive]). So, as was stated, the more society glorifies the "serial killer" the more people with this type of behavioral problem will feel compelled to act out their desires in order seek out attention. Another problem is that antisocial pd is hard to treat because A. Diagnosis, because the patient doesn't see that they have a problem and B. There isn't really a controlled way to treat them other than just locking them up straight away.

Then the question is: Is antisocial personality disorder an actual disorder? It's in the DSM. However, the real psychiatrists of today, i.e. those that actually research medicine, the brain, and neuro-science (like my own psychiatrist- I'm fortunate, let me tell you) have isolated mental disorders into five actual measureable disorders: Clinical or Chronic Depression, BiPolar and BiPolar II Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic/Anxiety Disorder and those disorders that fall under the Schizo family (Psychosis... although psychosis itself can be a complication of any real mental disorder. These disorders can be seen on brain scans, so we now know that do, indeed, exist. (Multiple Personality Disorder is not an actual mental disorder).

I did a lot of research about my health problems...:o