It’s easy to understand your girlfriend’s shoe addiction, or your boyfriend’s obsession with the driving range. Killing people, however, not so easy to understand.

Craig Traub, a criminologist and clinical psychologist, has this theory:

“There are three phases of addiction. Addicts experiment to find the right substance, then they abuse it and then they become dependent.”

Traub has treated many drug addicts, gamblers and alcoholics, and found many similarities to Ted Bundy (that lovely man who raped and murdered about 30 women in the 70’s).

“Of course, addicts are not serial killers, but people who are serial killers could be addicted.”

Traub says that often “the thrill of the addiction was setting up the behaviour rather than the actual habit”. For example, many gamblers prefer actually gambling to winning. So, according to Traub, Bundy would have had more satisfaction planning his next victim than actually going through with the violent acts.

“Addicts are not serial killers, but people who are serial killers could be addicted.”

Jackie de Wet, a forensic psychologist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, somewhat disagrees with Traub, saying that “alcoholism (alcohol addiction) is self-destruction, serial killing is murder”. Which means that your shoe addiction is only harming your bank account for the moment.

Read the full article at Times Live.