PSYCHIATRIC REPORT
Part Two
Mental State.
Mr Bryant's use of language showed the limitations in vocabulary one would expect
from someone of low intelligence, But nonetheless there was a reasonable degree of
fluency and on most occasions, a clarity in his use of language. Occasionally he would
misuse words or mispronounce words, but these errors reflect ignorance rather than a
disorder in the use of language. There were occasional sudden switches in the direction
of Mr Bryant's discourse, but again, I suspect these reflect the changeability of
someone of limited intellect who is easily distracted by irrelevant or chance
circumstances.
Mr Bryant's mood was predominantly anxious and on occasion, frankly distressed. The
changes in his mood were appropriate on most occasions to the content of the
conversation. The occasional apparent emotional incongruity, I suspect, reflected the
shallowness of Mr Bryant's understanding and capacity for sympathy.
Mr Bryant initially denied that he suffers from any depression or lowered mood. He
attempted to portray himself prior to the incident as a cheerful individual whose
pleasure in life was only frustrated by the unfriendliness and unsociability of his fellow
humans. Later in the interview Mr Bryant became more frank. He talked of the extent
to which he thinks about the distress and the rejections in the past. He said that he tries
to live day by day, but acknowledges that frequently thoughts about past rejections,
and what he recalls as his victimisation at school by bullies, intrude. He has become
more caught up in these thoughts about past indignities over the last year. He said he
became increasingly unhappy and angry because he had no real friends. He said "all I
wanted was for people to like me". Their failure to respond to his overtures led him to
feel "that I'd had a gutfull". This culminated in the months before the tragedy in a sense
that there was no future for him, that he would always remain lonely and rejected and
that he would be better off dead.
Mr Bryant does report a degree of sleep disturbance in the months prior to the killings.
It was difficult to characterise this, but it seemed to be a combination of difficulty
getting off to sleep, sleep disturbed by nightmares and occasional early morning
waking. He does not however report any decrease in appetite or an interest in his usual
pleasure and pursuits. There has been no decrease in his libido. The picture that
emerges was not suggestive of a depressive illness. It was a pattern more reminiscent
of an angry and distressed man having increasing difficulties coping with his social
isolation and his various disappointments. Nevertheless in this context Mr Bryant came
to the conclusion that life for him was not worth living. He began to consider suicide
for the first time about a year ago. He said "about 12 months ago I decided I'd had
enough". The thoughts of suicide became more prominent in recent months.
Mr Bryant acknowledged that he has always been somewhat self conscious and shy.
He has throughout his adult life felt as if people looked at him in the street, talked
about him behind his back and laughed at him. He feels that they make derogatory
comments about his appearance and how he is dressed. This, in recent years, has been
combined with a conviction that people wanted to hurt or harm him. He sometimes
believes that particular individuals he sees in the street are bent on physically attacking
him. These sensitive and persecutory ideas are not organised into any system of belief
that there is a plot aimed against him. It amounts to a degree of oversensitivity and a
general conviction in the malevolence of others rather than being suggestive of
delusions of persecution.
Mr Bryant has believed for a number of years that the house he occupies is haunted.
His main evidence for this haunting is, what he describes as "the vibes in the house".
He has also on occasion, heard various noises, particularly at night, which he has
interpreted as the ghosts moving around. These on the face of it appear to be the kind
of bumps and bangs to which large empty houses are prone. Mr Bryant believes that
the ghosts are the ghosts of two women, one of whom he suspects is Miss Harvey. He
does not necessarily believe that these ghosts intend him any harm, but he is
nevertheless frightened when alone in the house and these thoughts occur to him.
Mr Bryant describes, on rare occasions, hearing what he believes to be the voices of
two women which he presumes are the ghosts speaking. These are brief episodes when
he hears the voices saying short phrases such as "come on" or "here". This, he believes,
has occurred two or three times in the last six months. It usually occurs when he is in
bed or alone in the house at night. It arises in the context of his fear of ghosts. These
brief hallucinatory experiences are not in my opinion of any pathological significance
and do not indicate a serious mental illness.
Mr. Bryant gave no description suggestive of ideas of reference in that he does not
believe that he has ever received messages coded or otherwise from the television or
radio. He did describe feeling moved by radio programs to travel but this seemed
indicative of impulsivity rather than of abnormal mental experiences.
Mr Bryant did not describe any phobias, generalised anxiety of an abnormal degree, or
panic attacks. There was nothing to suggest that he suffers from obsessional
symptoms. He does not have obsessive or eccentric concerns with any topics or
activities. He does show, however, considerable persistence with regard to his
resentments and anger about real or imagined insults many of which date back into his
childhood. He also has a rigidity of character favoring the repetition of the familiar
where possible and tending, once decided on a course of action, to persist in that plan
almost irrespective of the effects on others or himself.
Mr Bryant's general level of intellectual functioning is low. There was at the time I
examined him nothing to suggest that he was disoriented or that his consciousness was
in any way disturbed.
REPORT CONTINUES
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