Until a week ago, the Eritrea-born alleged perpetrator was regarded as a respectable man. Only since last Thursday, the Swiss police searched the 40-Year-old living near Zurich, who met on Monday at the Frankfurt train station, a woman and her son out of the blue in front of an ICE – people he’d never met before, and to which he in no connection.

Still in the track bed of the 8-year-old Boy died of his injuries. Only with United forces, passers-by were able to prevent the offenders were still more people on the Track.

Only last week, Habte A., who in 2006 illegally in Switzerland and in 2008, the asylum received was striking. He threatened his neighbor with a knife, and then in his apartment, locked up, together with his own wife and three children. As a result, he fled. His wife explained to the authorities that you have seen your husband before, never like this.

Psychosis as a cause for the seemingly motive lots of fact

Even in professional life, everything was for the Eritreans have so far been positive: He is said to have worked for several years at the public transportation company of Zurich – he was previously a locksmith in Arau. The Prosecutor’s office confirmed in Zurich, Switzerland. Two years ago, he even in a publication of the Swiss Labour assistance as a model of the Integration was portrayed.

So how can a person who was until a week ago, seemingly normal and as a model for other acted, all of a sudden innocent people to threaten and kill? The court psychiatrist Peter Winckler from Tübingen he went on to add that a psychiatric disorder behind it, could put: “Because it is apparently a motif, also it could be a psychosis, the reason for his behavior,” the expert says.

Delusions, hallucinations, psychosis can occur suddenly

This may occur out of the blue and leads, depending on the severity of delusions and auditory hallucinations. “The affected person may hear voices, and to him the actions of commands, and to whom he delivered felt,” says the expert. Also, perception disturbances, and delusions may also be present. “The Affected sees and hears things which do not exist in and of which he feels threatened,” says Winckler.

That a psychiatric disorder could be behind the fact, the communication from the Prosecutor’s office of Zurich suggests: Thus, Habte A. 2019 was actually in psychiatric treatment. It was written on, therefore, supposedly sick.

Affected put medication on his own authority

As Winckler performs, are used in the treatment of psychosis called antipsychotic drugs, which have anti-psychotic effects: they inhibit the motor activity, Excitation and aggressiveness. A common Problem according to Winckler was, however, the affected patients have discontinued the medication on your own, because you feel that the side effects such as weight gain, drowsiness, and dizziness than distressing.

Whether Habte A. was, in fact, because of a psychosis in treatment, is to date not known. Even if the cause of psychosis is not clearly understood, there is, according to Winckler, a genetically determined disease process. This means that this disease is often in the family. However, many other factors can play a role – in addition to biological, psychological, sociological.

Psychosis often lead to criminal acts

Different is the situation of psychosis in the so-called secondary, in which an external cause can be ascertained. You can be the result of brain damage caused by dementia, or traumatic Brain injury, but also of neurological diseases such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. Similarly, infections, metabolic disorders, poisoning, and drugs such as LSD or Cannabis.

Is that a paranoid delusion may have led to the fact in Frankfurt, holds Winckler is out of the question. “In my work as a court expert, some I already came across that resulted in psychosis criminal actions”. He could remember a case in which a man, in the delusion he shoved the people in front of the S-Bahn, and thereby killed.