Don't Blame Terrorism on Mental Illness Either

In a recent post ("Terrorists Aren't Stupid (Nor Are They Ignorant)") I noted that contrary to conventional wisdom, terrorist are neither stupid nor ignorant. Several studies have demonstrated that the average terrorist (not just the leaders) tends to be well educated, come from a middle class background, and have attended secular, rather than religious, schools as a child.

I should also have also noted that the average terrorist does not suffer from mental illness. Several studies have found that although some terrorists do display signs of mental illness, most do not. In fact, the proportion of terrorists who are mentally ill is not higher than the proportion of people in the population at large who are mentally ill.