Homicidomania
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
A historical psychiatric term describing an irresistible impulse to commit murder, often associated with impulsive insanity or schizophrenia. The 1930s Soviet perspective attributes this drive to various psychological mechanisms, including sadistic components or delusional thoughts.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
HOMICIDOMANIA (from Latin homicidium—murder and mania—madness), an irresistible drive to commit murder; a psychopathological symptom characteristic of various conditions, most often described as a manifestation of impulsive insanity, but also encountered in schizophrenics and other psychiatric patients. At the core of this drive, various psychological mechanisms apparently lie in different cases: sadistic components (in female poisoners), a desire to be free from an unbearable situation (the murder of children in their care by single young women), delusional thoughts, etc.
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Cite this page
“Homicidomania.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/homicidomania/