SYDNEY: No one knows what Sydney mall killer Joel Cauchin was thinking, but psychiatrists say the main reason for his rampage was clear: he was schizophrenic, stopped his medication and dropped out of treatment.
Five women and a male security guard have been stabbed to death and dozens more injured, including a nine-month-old girl, since the knife attack in Bondi Junction on April 13.
Cauchi’s parents said their son was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17 and successfully treated for 18 years.
A serious mental disorder, schizophrenia can cause hallucinations, delusions, and disordered behavior. This requires lifelong treatment.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said Cauchy, 40, targeted women and shunned men, sparking a media debate about misogyny in Australia and was “open” to investigators.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the gender divide among victims as “ridiculous” and said he would do more to tackle violence against women, citing the number of women who die every week at the hands of men they know.
“But we’ll never know what’s going through the minds of people who do these things,” said Professor Ian Hickey, director of health and policy at the University of Sydney’s Center for Brain and Mind.
“The most obvious thing is the irrational mind of the criminal.”
The recurrence of mental illness can not explain the violence against other people, which is “rare” in such cases.
“Often these things are confounded by other factors; drug use, cutting, social isolation, homelessness.”
According to Hickey, no psychic idea is the same, and arises from each person’s perception of the world, both stupid and rational.
Cauchy may have attacked women only because men could defend themselves – French Damien Guerot praised the hero for fending off the assailant with an iron pole.
“The important social factors here are homelessness and isolation and the stigmatization of treatment for mental illness.”
Cauchi’s parents said he gradually weaned off his medication over the years after consulting a doctor because he felt he was doing well.
Since leaving home, he has been living in a car and in a dormitory and only communicates with his family through text.
Patrick McGorry, a professor of youth mental health at the University of Melbourne, said he felt sick and “homeless, completely cut off from all sources of support and in this psychotic state”.
McGorry, former president of the International Schizophrenia Research Society, says the behavior is “essentially a disorder or delusional.”
Attempts to characterize Cauchy’s actions as misogynistic are “absolutely baseless”.
“It’s just untreated or untreated mental illness.”
He said Australia’s mental health system was “inadequate” in ensuring patients like Cauchi received ongoing treatment.
People with schizophrenia have an 80 percent chance of relapse if they stop taking their medication, he told AFP.
“When he comes back, he won’t know that person is coming back and he won’t ask for help.”
Carolyn Nikoloski, chief executive of Mental Health Australia, Australia’s peak advocacy group, says there are gaps in supporting people who need complex care.
In an interview with AFP, people often avoid hospital emergency rooms.
“This is a common practice and there is no other place,” Nikoloski said.
“We know that mental health spending is disproportionate to the overall burden of disease, and has been declining over time.”
According to Professor Anthony Harris, head of psychiatry at Sydney Medical School, who has a special interest in psychosis, the health system is failing to catch people who fall through the cracks.
