[This report can also be found elsewhere on the Internet, and is provided here in a reader-friendly layout to facilitate study; original typing errors and omissions have been retained. One may also read the "Comment on the Unabomber's Manifesto".]
In the early 1970s Mr. Kaczynski wrote an essay summarizing some of his ideas and made an effort to circulate it to others who might share them. He received no responses. In essence, the essay outlined his response to a book written by Jacques Ellul called "The Technological Society." In correspondence to Professor Ellul, he describes reading the book at least six times. He discussed both that and ideas put forth in another book "Autopsy for Revolution. if [something missing, PC]
In his own essay, Mr. Kaczynski presented his ideas that the continued scientific and technical progress within society would inevitably result in the extinction of individual liberty. He describes that the power of society to control the individual was rapidly expanding and references issues such as propaganda, educational guiding of children's emotional development, operant conditioning, direct physical control of emotions via electrodes and "chemitrodes," biofeedback training, memory pills and other drugs, genetic engineering, development of super human computers with intellectual capacities beyond anything humans are capable of, and electronic devices for surveillance. His proposal was to found an organization dedicated to stopping federal aid to scientific research, to prevent the inevitable outcome of the "ceaseless extension of society's powers."
He wrote in his journal about him not fitting into organized society and not wanting to fit into it, and seeking avenues of escape from it. In his words in the early 1970s, he wrote "True I would not fit into the present society in any case but that is not an intolerable situation. What makes a situation intolerable is the fact that in all probability, the values that I detest, will soon be achieved through science, an utterly complete and permanent victory throughout the whole world, with a total extrication of everything I value. Through super human computers and mind control there simply will be no place for a rebellious person to hide and my kind of people will vanish forever from the earth. It's not merely the fact that I cannot fit into society that has induced me to rebel, as violently as I have, it is the fact that I can see society made possible by science inexorably imposing on-me."
Near the end of his autobiography in 1979, Mr. Kaczynski describes his motives for writing, to include that he intended to start killing people and that when caught, he was concerned people would perceive him to be a "sickie." His writings were an effort to prevent the facts of his psychology from being misrepresented. He also describes some type of relief, sexual or otherwise, he obtains by writing. He describes his sources of hatred as his perceived social rejection and the "fact that organized society frustrates my very powerful urge for physical freedom and personal autonomy." He also describes experiencing anger from other sources and then turning his hatred towards organized society.
Mother continued description of Mr. Kaczynski's history and development is provided by a reading of the extensive correspondence with his family. After determining that a major cause of his frustration and discomfort in life was the psychological abuse by his parents, he carried on an very ambivalent relationship with them as evident through his letters. These show a wide range of affect and are often degrading, controlling, and yet at the same time continue over a number of years. He persistently seeks apologies from his parents for what they have done to him, but no type of apology they offer satisfies him or is viewed as sincere or acceptable. The relationship with his brother David, is also clearly outlined. Interspersed in the correspondence are letters to various local and national government agencies regarding requests for information about radiation, parasitic infections, sonic booms, etc.
Mr. Kaczynski's mother, Wanda, and his brother, David, were interviewed together during the evaluation. They were allowed ample time to provide any information that they believed might be pertinent about Mr. Kaczynski's life prior to arrest. Evident was a sense of guilt on David's part, for feeling compelled to assist in having his brother arrested. Wanda Kaczynski clearly was experiencing significant distress as she tried to develop an understanding of what had happened with her son over the years. Both of them provided a significant amount of detail about various instances and events in Mr. Kaczynski's life. His mother identified her amazement that "out of the blue" Mr. Kaczynski would express extreme anger and go into excessive detail about relatively minor events. She used an example where she had yelled at both sons about their need to put dirty socks in a hamper. Twenty years later she received a letter from Mr. Kaczynski in which he scolded and demeaned her for not understanding that it was normal for adolescents to have sloppy rooms. Both Wanda and David Kaczynski recounted several periods of acute withdrawal by Mr. Kaczynski. The initial incident occurred on the plane, when Mr. Kaczynski and his father were returning from a visit to Harvard. Apparently he was angry and withdrawn and refused to talk. A second episode occurred while David and Mr. Kaczynski were on a trip, hiking in the woods. Mr. Kaczynski apparently sat down on a log, and by David's account, was essentially nonresponsive for several hours. After that period of time he seemed to resume normal activity. The third episode occurred when his parents were visiting in Montana, at David's apartment. Apparently Mr. Kaczynski experienced that episode in the living room and remained unresponsive throughout the late afternoon and evening hours. It is notable that the family may not have perceived this as particularly unusual at the time, in that they all went to bed without resolution of the situation. It was evident during my interview with them, that they have a tremendous need to to understand the events that have happened, and in that light present material in a somewhat conclusary fashion. Nonetheless, they were able to provide additional detail about a variety of events Mr. Kaczynski had written about in his journals or had discussed on interview.
Collateral information indicates that over an extended period of time, ranging from the early 1970s, Mr. Kaczynski is alleged to have been involved in a variety of acts of vandalism and violence. A description of those events provides a complimenting view of the history described in his autobiography and journals. His writings obtained in the cabin also include detailed accounts of the activities alleged to have occurred. The materials are voluminous, organized, and some of them are in Spanish or coded with a complicated code allegedly developed by Mr. Kaczynski. After solidification of his ideas in the fall of 1966, it appears that he organized his life and behavior around his belief system. He reacted against individuals in the area by ruining equipment, stealing things, or attempting to harm individuals through use of wires and traps. His writings describe him thinking seriously about and planning to murder a scientist in 1971. During the later 1970s, he began experimenting to create explosive devices that could succeed in killing individuals. He also describes thoughts of harming people whom he felt had humiliated him. Specific examples of this described in collateral information and during interviews, include his plans to mutilate the face of [text didacted], after he felt she degraded him by her lack of interest in a continuing romantic relationship.
His writings show him to be associated with placing a bomb at the University of Illinois in May 1978 which partially exploded. It is alleged that in May 1979 he placed a bomb contained in a cigar box which exploded when John Harris, a student at Northwestern University, opened it. It is alleged that in November 1979 he succeeded in getting a bomb aboard American Airlines Flight 444 from Chicago; the bomb exploded en route, causing an emergency landing. It is alleged that in June 1980 he mailed a bomb to Percy Wood, which exploded causing injury. It is alleged that in October 1981 he placed a bomb at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, which detonated without injury. It is alleged that in May 1982 he sent a bomb to Professor Patrick C. Fischer at Vanderbilt, which was opened by his secretary, Janet Smith, causing serious injuries. It is alleged that in July 1982 he placed a bomb that exploded when it was moved by Professor Diogenes Angelakos, Director of Research at the University of California at Berkeley. It is alleged that in June 1985 he mailed a bomb to Boeing, which was detonated without in injury. It is alleged that in May 1985 he placed a bomb at the University of California at Berkeley which resulted in John Hauser being seriously injured. It is alleged that in November 1985 he mailed a bomb from Salt Lake City to Dr. James McConnell, who along with his assistant were injured. It is alleged that in February 1987 he placed a bomb disguised as a road hazard at CAAMS, Inc., in Salt Lake City which exploded and injured an employee. It is alleged that in December 1994 he mailed a bomb from San Francisco that exploded and killed Thomas Mosser in North Caldwell, New Jersey. It is also alleged that he mailed a variety of correspondence to individuals and newspapers describing the activities as perpetrated by an anarchist group called FC (Freedom Club). It is alleged that he mailed correspondence to several individuals and newspapers to outline demands to have the documented entitled Industrial Society and Its Future" published.
In regard to his current offenses, he is charged With mailing a bomb to Rentech Computer Company which exploded on 12/11/85, killing Hugh Scrutton. He is also charged with seriously injuring Charles Epstein a geneticist at the University of California and Professor David Gelernter, a professor of Computer Sciences at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut by bombs which exploded respectively on 06/22/93 and 06/24/93. He is charged with the death of Gilbert B. Murray, as the result of a bomb mailed to him which exploded in Sacramento, California. Extensive information regarding the nature of the bombs and intended use of the bombs was available from the writings of Mr. Kaczynski.
Mr. Kaczynski was arrested on 04/03/96 at his cabin in Montana. He was detained while the cabin was searched and was subsequently transported to a jail facility in Montana. Thereafter he was transferred to Sacramento County Jail in Sacramento, California.
In regard to his legal representation post arrest, it is noted that at the time of his arrest Mr. Kaczynski inquired about the process of obtaining a Federal Defender as his attorney. He was subsequently represented by Michael Donohoe until he was moved to Sacramento. At that time a defense team consisting of Quin Denvir, Judy Clarke, and Gary Soward was established to represent him on the charges discussed above. For a several month period in the fall of 1997, he was moved from the Sacramento County Jail to FCI in Dublin, California due to his difficulty adapting to the noise of the jail in Sacramento. He was returned to Sacramento prior to trial so as to have closer access to his attorneys.
Prior to this evaluation, a number of other defense and prosecution retained clinicians had the opportunity to either interview Mr. Kaczynski, review his writings, or administer testing, and their declarations were made available. Data reviewed included copies of neuropsychological testing conducted by David Watkins, Ph.D, Karen Froming, Ph.D., and Ruben Gur, Ph.D.; a Summary of Neuropsychiatric Evaluation of Theodore Kaczynski dated 11/15/97, prepared by Raquel Gur, M.E)., Ph.D., and Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D.; and a listing of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the defense and prosecution retained experts. As noted, the examiner had the opportunity to speak by phone with several of these clinicians.
Shortly after Mr. Kaczynski's arrest while still housed in Montana, Dale war-son, Ph.D., administered a battery of psychological tests to Mr. Kaczynski. No report of his findings is available, but the rest results were interpreted and expanded upon by two other defense experts, Ruben Gur, Ph.D., and Karen Froming, Ph.D. On 06,1-1-5/96 and 06/16/96, Mr. Kaczynski was interviewed by Raquel Gur, M.D., Ph.D., and neuropsychological testing was conducted by Ruben Gur- It was Dr. Raquel Gur's impression that Mr. Kaczynski met the diagnostic criteria for Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type, and Dr. Ruben Gur's impression that the testing was not inconsistent with this. After sharing their opinions with Mr. Kaczynski, he refused to talk with them further and expressed his wish for his defense attorney to avoid further use of their services or bringing their findings to light.
Dr. Froming also interviewed Mr. Kaczynski in February 1997 and complete additional neuropsychological testing. She also reviewed previous testing done after he entered Harvard. Phone interview revealed that Mr. Kaczynski also had been administered the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) during that period, but it had never been scored. She scored it and indicated that the themes he presented throughout the test consisted of people being dominated by others, that his responses showed no personal interactions through any of the cards, and showed a complete absence of affiliation. She opined that Mr. Kaczynski was suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia. She indicated that Mr. Kaczynski refused to talk with her further after she shared her opinion with him.
David Foster, M.D., evaluated Mr. Kaczynski in late 1997 and opined that Mr. Kaczynski had an aversion to evaluation by psychiatrists and he suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Mr. Kaczynski refused to talk with him further after he shared his opinions and was absent over the Christmas holiday period.
The declaration of Xavier Amador, Ph.D., was also reviewed. Although he did not see Mr. Kaczynski, he opined that he suffered from Schizophrenia and claimed Mr. Kaczynski's reluctance to submit to psychiatric evaluations and treatment were a hallmark of Schizophrenia.
The prosecution retained experts Phillip Resnick, M.D., and Park Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., did not have access to Mr. Kaczynski for interview, but based on review of erials and interview of people in the Lincoln, Montana area, they opined that Mr. Kaczynski would be capable of being evaluated by government psychiatrists and they saw no evidence that he suffered from delusions. They viewed his psychiatric problems as falling in the Schizoid or Schizotypal range of personality disorders. John T. Kenny, Ph.D., critiqued the neuropsychological testing that had been conducted with Mr. Kaczynski. He did not view the results to be specific to a diagnosis of Schizophrenia.
Phone interview of Sherry Woods, a librarian in Lincoln, Montana, was conducted during this evaluation. She was given an opportunity to share her observations about Mr. Kaczynski. Ms. Woods described that she liked Mr. Kaczynski, but she recognized his discomfort around people and that others would perceive him as different. She indicated she told new staff about him in order to help accommodate his differences in support of his continued Library use. She described him as extremely polite, quite and soft spoken, although she initially found his appearance as somewhat frightening. She described his ability to identify with her young child, whom she indicated shared some of the kinds of problems that Mr. Kaczynski may have had himself as a child. She noted that he patted her son on the shoulder twice, which is the only physical contact she ever saw him display over the 13 years of their acquaintance.
She described Mr. Kaczynski as living a life style consistent with his beliefs and admired him for that. She enjoyed talking with him about his beliefs and indicated he had very strong feelings against government - Although she had the idea that their conversations never changed his opinions, he patiently listened to her ideas and made her feel that her thoughts were worthwhile. He would come to the Library on the average of every week or two, and usually stayed from one to two hours in the reference room. She would attempt to read his mood when he entered the Library and so there were times when it was clear he was willing to talk, and other times when he wanted to be left alone. He ordered numerous books through the inter library loan program, including some that she described as deeply intellectual. He read a wide variety of books and magazines on birds, wildlife, biographies, and hypnotism. On one occasion when she had been feeling particularly burdened, he brought to her attention that he had written a letter to the librarian in Helena, Montana, and decided he would request his books through her to save work for Ms. Woods.
It was her belief that in the year prior to his arrest, he started changing and this scared her. She viewed him as more intense and focused, and less interested in interacting. She believed that this change was due to his concern for a friend of his who was an illegal alien and had been hurt on the job and then deported. At one point he showed her a letter he was writing to some government official regarding this subject, and she was surprised he gave it to her. He indicated to her that he was meeting with friends in Colorado or California to try to help his friend. During that time period he appeared more withdrawn and would spend two to three hours at a time "writing like crazy" and then he quit coming into the Library. She does indicate that over the years, he occasionally helped around the Library by boxing books, shoveling snow, cleaning up, or painting. At one point the Library planned an open house and Mr. Kaczynski came to that function. Ms. Wood indicated that she did visit Mr. Kaczynski in jail. He has been corresponding intermittently to her, but she indicates it is actually she who is trying to maintain the correspondence as a means of support. In the last several letters prior to Christmas, she perceived that he was feeling down so she has been writing more often. She believes that the significance of his situation is all "coming home to roost."
COURSE OF EVALUATION: This Court Ordered evaluation took place between 01/11/98 and 01/16/98. Medical examination was not completed by this examiner. Review of his 'records show that Mr. Kaczynski has undergone physical examination and laboratory studies both while in custody at FCI Dublin and the at Sacramento County Jail. Those records were available for review. In summary, Mr. Kaczynski is a 55 year old, white male, who is 5'911 tall and weighed 153 pounds as of 09/09/97. Blood pressure was noted to be 130/80 and pulse 54. Outside of a refractive error and slight bradycardia, physical exam was within normal limits. Review of medical history indicated no known medication allergies. He had some history of seasonal allergies to ragweed, a tonsillectomy at age six, removal of congenital cyst of the upper jaw at age 13, removal of impacted wisdom teeth at age 22, removal of a benign skin lesion of the left neck in 1991, and fracture of the left fifth finger, resolved. He also gave a history of some palpitations but denied that this was a significant problem now except when he felt very anxious or stressed. Occasionally he has suffered from constipation but generally manages this with his diet. He intermittently suffers from insomnia. He also gave a history of hemorrhoids. Mr. Kaczynski denies any ongoing chronic medical problems, although he does indicate that over a period of approximately five years he monitored his blood pressure. This showed blood pressure values to be within an acceptable range. Family medical history is positive for cerebrovascular accident in his maternal grandmother at the age of 40 [text redacted]. His father was diagnosed as having metastatic lung cancer and prior to his death suffered from Reynauds Syndrome. [text redacted] Mr. Kaczynski is currently on no medications but does take one multivitamin daily and uses ibuprophen for muscle pain secondary to exercise. He wears glasses for reading. He indicated that he generally felt well physically throughout this period of evaluation.
Review of medical records indicates that on 01/07/98, Mr. Kaczynski attempted suicide by asphyxiation. He used his underwear to fashion a tourniquet which he used in an attempt to asphyxiate himself - He suffered an abrasion to the right side of his neck. He describes getting dizzy and experiencing some dimming of his vision. At that point, he considered the negative potential outcome of being "brain damaged" and not succeeding in his suicide attempt and discontinued his efforts. It has been determined that he did not suffer any medical sequelae from that attempt. When this incident was discovered the following day by identification of the abrasion on his neck, he was moved from his housing status on the second floor to the eighth floor and placed on suicide watch. He was evaluated by Sacramento County Jail physicians at that time and diagnosed as having an Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood secondary to stress from his legal situation. Other diagnoses were deferred.
Routine laboratory studies conducted following his suicide attempt were within normal limits, except for an elevated triglyceride level that was considered to be nonfasting. He remained on suicide watch until 01/12/98.
Pertinent history in regard to the suicide attempt included the fact that Mr. Kaczynski had felt frustrated and depressed over the way his trial was progressing. He had developed conflicts with his attorneys which he viewed as impossible to resolve. He perceived that he would not be able to represent himself or obtain alternate counsel and decided to kill himself instead of proceeding to trial with a defense strategy that he did not want.
Information provided through the attorneys, Sacramento County Jail personnel, and the Jail records, indicate that Mr. Kaczynski has, with the exception of his suicide attempt, been a cooperative and easy to manage prisoner. His housing has been single cell, with limited access to exercise, and essentially no contact with other prisoners. He quickly understood the rules and routines of the jail setting and demonstrated an awareness of how to access medical care or intervention for other reasons. As noted, he did report significant sleep disturbance in the jail, which he attributed to excessive noise during the night time hours. He verbalizes a need f or a full eight hours of sleep and it is unclear how accurate that assessment is. He did discuss the problem with Jail staff and for a short period of time was given a prescription for Melatonin. He claims some confusion occurred about dispensing the medication, and he was given an alternate medications He did not take that medication, and decided not to pursue medications to aid his sleep cycle. Mr. Kaczynski reports that once he was moved to FCI Dublin, his sleep improved. Upon return to the Jail he was housed in a quieter area and has not had significant problems with insomnia since that time.
Mr. Kaczynski's mental status exam remained fairly consistent throughout the week of interviews. Description will be interspersed with pertinent historical mental status information. Mr. Kaczynski appeared as a slender build, gray haired, white male, who showed adequate hygiene and was dressed in orange jail clothing and a T shirt - He carried his glasses with him and utilized them while reading and writing during the interviews. He was oriented to person, date, time, place and situation. He understood the type and purpose of the evaluation and expressed his intent to cooperate. Throughout the evaluation he answered questions to the best of his ability, was able to discuss information, and relate a narrative without prompting. No abnormality of gait was noted. No psychomotor retardation was evident. There was no evidence of tremor, tics or unusual mannerisms. Eye contact was good, although when asked a question that he perceived as difficult, or one to which it appeared he was not sure how he should respond, he tended to look down and avoid further eye contact until his answer was prepared. During those times, he would also at times clench his hands together and pat them on the table, and appeared to be actually in some distress in his efforts to formulate a response. This only happened on a few occasions throughout the interviews. Speech was of normal rate and tone.
He did demonstrate some need for excessive explanation and often focused on details. In addition, the information he initially supplied in response to questions was frequently given verbatim from the information available in his voluminous writings. When pressed to expand on the issue, he presented some minor trouble in rewording his answer or in expanding or explaining it, but persisted with the examiner in an effort to accomplish the task. There was no evidence of the use of neologisms or clang associations. The volume of his speech was appropriate from a conversational standpoint and he would identify if he had any problems hearing a question or conversation above the noise of the jail. He seemed intent on clearly understanding questions posed to him. No evidence existed during the exam of any hearing problem. He showed the capacity to remain in the interview process f or periods of several hours without demonstrating undue anxiety or restlessness. On one occasion he did identify to the examiner that he was nervous during the interview and he had not felt that experience with other individuals who were interviewing him regarding mental health issues. This topic was discussed, he was able to relax, and it did not interfere with progression of the evaluation.
Mr. Kaczynski denied any current suicidal ideation. He talked openly about his previous suicidal ideation and attempt on Wednesday. He admitted that he had felt desperate and could not perceive a suitable option. He chose to attempt to die instead of proceed with the trial process. He indicated that the experience in the attempt, in and of itself, had dissuaded him from further attempts utilizing that method and he does not anticipate having access to medication or sharp instruments with which to try suicide by an alternate means. He does admit that if he becomes suicidal again, he would not be likely to discuss this with anyone, and indicated that he did not believe that his efforts were stemming from depression. He was able to entertain the idea that if he were to develop suicidal ideation as the result of significant mood problems, he would be more willing to seek help or intervention. Mr. Kaczynski denied any current homicidal ideation, although he admitted to having significant anger towards a number of people.
Evaluation of his affect showed little variation from what would be expected in this type of evaluation setting. He showed some anxiety but denied depression now or in recent weeks. He did admit to moderate feelings of depression early in his period of detention and discussed several periods of depression throughout his life. He indicated that he believes in the period between 1978 and 1979 he was experiencing some degree of depression, accompanied by insomnia. He attributed this to a stressful life situation including a difficult situation he described on his job. He indicated that he had started a relationship with a female manager at the foam cutting plant where he was working with his brother and father. After three dates that relationship had failed [text didacted]. He remembers contemplating suicide by hanging at that time, then describes that he became full of rage and instead decided to take a knife and mutilate the woman. He proceeded to the parking lot at the work site and got into her car. At that time he changed his mind and again felt very sad. A second period of depression, that he relates was of longer duration, lasting from 1988 to 1994. Again he had intermittent trouble sleeping and felt that during that time he was under a great degree of stress. He denied any period of depression since that point in time. As noted above, Mr. Kaczynski did seek medical evaluation of insomnia which he believes was related to depression, on one occasion in 1993, and was prescribed Trazadone, but did not continue that prescription. He described his mood since the year prior to his arrest as consistently being about six on a scale of one to 10. He denied any periods of elevated mood and demonstrated none throughout the evaluation period.
Intelligence, as assessed within the interviews, appeared to be above average. Memory was excellent for immediate, short term, and long term recall for factual information. Concentration within the interviews was good. Mathematical ability to add, subtract, and multiply showed no evidence of problems. Mr. Kaczynski denied ever experiencing any type of hallucinatory phenomena. He was asked about auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory,, and tactile hallucinations, and persistently denied experiencing them now or in the past. In response to routine review of similarities and proverbs, he showed an ability for abstract thinking. Thought processes showed no evidence of looseness of association. Some tangential thinking was intermittently evident throughout the interviews. As noted, he had a need to provide excessive detail in an organized fashion. There was no clear evidence of thought blocking within the interviews. Despite pauses in his ability to respond to questions, he did not show loss of his train of thought.
Mr. Kaczynski did return repeatedly to the theme that he had been severely abused during childhood. On exploration of this issue, he described the abuse to be severe verbal psychological--abuse. His perception seemed to be inconsistent with the data he provided to support his point of view, in that he over valued the negative impact of very minor statements and rather routine behaviors. He also demonstrated some suspiciousness and paranoia in the interviews, in that he continued to anticipate that the interviewer had a hidden motive or meaning to a question, and during each session would both verbally and in writing ask for additional detail and present additional arguments Of Positions or opinions that he had espoused during a prior session.
Mr. Kaczynski presented a clearly organized belief system that he was being harassed and harmed by modern technology. He stated that he believed that the system as it exists is bad and rebellion against it is justified. He further stated that freedom and personal dignity have greater importance that comfort and security. This belief system was explored at length with Mr. Kaczynski and it was evident that it had developed in his early 20s, during a period of time when he was feeling particularly isolated. This appear to stem from his acceptance of a variety of ideas that he had culled from reading books such as the "Technological Society" referenced above. It is interesting that he had not only latched onto the ideas that were presented, but had expanded them to the extreme and accepted the suggestions and premises, many of which were only opinions stated by the authors, as if they were fact. He has subsequently devoted his activities and time in rebellion against a future as he accepted it would be. In essence, the ideas that he collected and wrote about in the early 1970s remain the basis for his current belief system. He f eels compelled to live a life of extreme isolation and to focus his energy against the aspects of society that are attempting to control the masses. This includes a focus on advertising, genetic engineering, computer technology, business, certain aspects of education, chemical companies, etc. He expresses philosophical and personal concerns about these issues and feels personally threatened by the potential advances in these areas. Included in this is his inability to critically read newspapers, magazines, and books to determine if statements carry any actual merit. He tends to collect pieces of literature, opinions, and comments that support his views and use them as justification for continuation of his ideas. Mr. Kaczynski has intertwined his two belief systems, that society is bad and he should rebel against it, and his intense anger at his family for his perceived injustices. He talks openly about his ability to direct his anger from one set of ideas to the other quite fluidly.
Upon extended interview, it was evident that Mr. Kaczynski is extremely sensitive to even minor criticism and tends to perceive this, or even an absence of encouragement or positive response from an individual, as a deliberate attempt at humiliation or harassment. He also tends to seek support and interaction in ineffective ways and will frequently write an individual believing that an innocuous question will provide a hint of the type of response that he is looking for from the person receiving his correspondence. Evident also is his inability to identify common social cues in the environment. Historically, this appears to have been a problem even before solidification of his ideas in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There is evidence of ideas of reference in review of Mr. Kaczynski's history over an extended period of time. Incidents within the environment involving noise or human activity are perceived by him as personally directed and he responds with extreme rage and a wish for revenge. As outlined in the body of this report, historically during certain time periods he has described examples of what appear to be ideas of reference in his belief that individuals who are talking at some distance from him, have him as a topic of their conversation and are speaking negatively about him, and are impacting in a destructive or hostile way on his well being.
Despite Mr. Kaczynski's ability for abstract reasoning in response to proverbs and similarities, he tends to concretely interpret the statements of individuals. He becomes quite focused on the words of a comment, to the exclusion of focusing on the actual meaning of the phrase. Although he demonstrated the capacity to use humor within the interviews, he could not interpret light comments or attempt at teasing within the interviews and needed to have an explanation to clarify the meaning of such interactions. When asked about the basis of his belief system he attempted to provide excessive supporting evidence. When challenged on the initial premise, he appeared perplexed and it was evident that he did not challenge the belief system on his own regardless of existing evidence.
An interesting behavior within the extended interviews, possibly related to his intelligence and familiarity with the mental health evaluation process since he has seen so many evaluators, was his effort to attempt to guess the correct response to a question by utilizing information from previous declarations and reports. When questioned, he attempted to answer in the direction opposite to what had been stated in the previous evaluation. If questioned about this, however, he became anxious that his initial plan was in error and that the interpretation in the previous report was actually not accurate. He would then become very concerned and confront the examiner as to why, with the assumption that the examiner was taking his response to be an affirmative for a pathological symptom instead of the absence of such. This behavior did raise some question about the honesty of his self-report in response to questions about specific symptoms of mental illness.
It does appear that Mr. Kaczynski's investment and convictions about the outcome of modern technology and the alleged abuse by his family are consistent with fixed belief in that he does not challenge them in response to new information. Both of these systems could be viewed as meeting the criteria of nonbizarre delusional beliefs. The certainty of this, however, is clouded by the duration of these beliefs and. the adaptation he -has made by extreme social isolation.
Mr. Kaczynski adamantly denies any experiences of thought insertion, thought broadcasting, mind control, or command hallucinations. He does describe a variety of fantasies and nightmares, and it is unclear through this evaluation, whether his report of those as occurring only while he is sleeping is accurate. Some of his writings discuss his ability to use his will to control the outcome of these experiences, and raises the question as to whether these are actually hallucinatory experiences rather than dreams and fantasies as he labels them.
Mr. Kaczynski's judgment is viewed as being poor, both from the basis of review of collateral information and observations within The interviews. He was unable to modify the presentation of his responses within the interviews to present information in a less negative light.
Evident throughout the interviews was marked ambivalence and this was apparent throughout his writings. He clearly exhibited the capacity to hold opposite and conflicting feelings toward the same person or issue, and showed no insight into this. He frequently expressed both hatred and a wish for revenge and love and affection for the same individual. He did show the capacity for sadness in interviews and would frequently tear up when remembering fleeting relationships he had with individuals. In that regard, it was noted that he tends to form very rapid intense emotional attachments to women, but also men. [text didacted]. Historically, he has developed love relationships that were never reciprocated with individuals and maintained them for extended periods of time, idealizing them and at time devaluing them. An example is a relationship he wished he had developed with when he was a young student at Harvard. He was able to identify that even at the age of 43, he had tracked her down and written her regarding the details of that relationship, which had never actually developed. He expressed regret that he had not heard back from her. He also demonstrated a propensity to focus on passing comments in regard to his self-image and to utilize those comments and incorporate them in an unusual way into his thought processes. An example is referencing a comment made by an older Italian woman when he was 15, that he was beautiful boy, especially his eyes. It was not until 1994 at the age of 50, that he further explored this issue and asked another woman, whom he did not know well, whether he was physically attractive. He indicated she responded he was "run of the mill" and at that point in time he no longer wondered why he had never developed a successful relationship with a woman. As described, he had grappled with that issue for more than 30 years because he had been told he was physically attractive at the age of 15 and he held onto that belief; so he could never understand why women were not attracted. Having now been told by another female in 1994 that he was simply average in looks, it immediately provided him with an explanation for why he had never established a relationship with a woman.
Mr. Kaczynski was able to demonstrate a very detailed capacity to handle information, but showed little insight into the nature of his difficulties or the ways to approach current problem solving. Although when asked whether he could consider a variety of options, he would reply "yes," he would persist in demonstrating why he would not choose to do so, even if the explanation presented was inconsistent with available information.
Mr. Kaczynski is a prolific writer. There is much repetition in his writings, which he does not appear fully able to appreciate. He currently exhibits a preoccupation with a need to negatively portray his family, and has in the midst of trial preparations, spent over four months writing an angry accusatory manuscript to "set the record straight." This consists of a rehashing of all the perceived injustices and a detailed focus on descriptions of events and conversations- Again, throughout this document, his ambivalence is evident. He openly describes his propensity towards anger and the satisfaction he feels from an act of revenge. He describes periods of stress in his life that seen related with him focusing on projects such as writing the Refutation, developing a new experiment, or dealing with a perceived slight or humiliation. Coupled with this, he has had numerous periods of dysthymia and insomnia. He has demonstrated no change in his appetite and no significant gain or loss of weight. His current sleep cycle appears adequate.