Tuesday 24 March 2009

Learning from Fritzl

Earlier in the month we were discussing Josef Fritzl's trial. While much water has gone under the bridge in regard to that case in the last fortnight, I stumbled across this post at Editing the Herald (which I rather enjoy perusing) last night and thought this comment might be of interest to readers here too:
3) I know I'm breaking my own moratorium on reporting Josef Fritzl gossip, but I find the latest turn the case has taken to be grimly humorous. "Fears mount for Fritzl's mental health", says the article, which continues to say that his "mental health had deteriorated since the verdict".

So there are worries about the mental health of a man who imprisoned and sexually enslaved his daughter, keeping his second family locked in a secure basement?? In other news, Hitler may not have had all his marbles, and Einstein was rather clever.
I truly hope that someone, or a team of someones, are able to work with Fritzl to work out how he ended up so broken. If we can learn from that maybe we can save others in the future, or at least what to look for.

1 comment:

Anna said...

Interesting ... I guess what is meant is not that Fritzl has developed mental health problems recently, but that those are causing him subjective distress for the first time. And, of course, he should receive whatever care is appropriate - but it's very hard to understand how someone could seemingly have no empathy at all, or how that might be treated.

Above all, I hope that his daughter and her kids manage to live some semblance of a normal life eventually.