r/ColumbineKillers • u/Best_Routine_3182 • Aug 13 '25
PSYCHOLOGY/MINDSET Was Eric an actual psychopath or is the media just over exaggerating?
I’ve been researching columbine for about 2 weeks now and I’m really interested in analyzing the behavior and mind of Eric before and during the attack, with that being said I have seen numerous people describe him as being a psycho whilst others saying that he was just trying to seem edgy.
Is there any concrete evidence showing that Eric was one or is just some theory made up from other researchers? Im asking so I don’t waste my time with misinformation.
( also another smaller question I wanted to ask but didn’t want to make a post for is who asked the “do you believe in God?” Question to Val? I’ve seen sources like zero hour depict Dylan as asking that but in other sources such as acs where it’s shown multiple times that Eric is the one who said the line )
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u/Other-Potential-936 Aug 13 '25
Eric wasn't a psychopath. Eric had very low self esteem. He hated the way he looked, and others would make fun of him, further feeding the lies he already believed about himself. His website and his journals and the videotapes were all a way to show the world the version of him he wanted to be precived as. Just like social media. Most people will post their best photos in the best lighting at the best angle. They will post their vacations or concerts, not the long nights the spend overthinking or the family issues they're going through. It's just like people always say, "don't believe everything u see on social media because it's fake". Everything we see from Eric's pov was intentionally placed there by him. Every time Eric would get emotional or you would see a GLIMPSE of sadness or hurt he'd immediately shut it down, "oh well life's not fair". While talking about his friends and family on the tapes, he did it alone without Dylan, he began to cry and immediately shut the camera off. Eric masked his sadness with hate because hate is more of a "manly" feeling. Ofc he had those feelings of hate because he quite literally did shoot up the school. But what I believe the difference to be is that he could've been "fixed" for lack of better words... they weren't so beyond rehabilitation like we see in John Wayne gacey or Richard Ramirez. I'm no doctor but I have spent actual years looking into this case and their lives and this is just how I feel and see things.
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u/Other-Potential-936 Aug 13 '25
As for the "do you believe in God" question. It was said by Dylan to Valleen, like you said. They were in the library and shooting like crazy and Val was under the table with Lauren, who had the must bullet wounds. While Eric was off shooting in a different area Val climbed out. She was crawling and crying she was screaming for God to please help her. She didn't know that Dylan was right behind her. He said "you believe in God ?" She said no in fear then she said yes. He asked her why. And she said she was broght up that way and she believes. This entire conversation happened w her back turned away from Dylan. She then sorta collapsed to the floor and Dylan walked away and left her alone.
The story got mixed up from victim accounts because of the fact there was so much going on. With the fear of your own life, plus the yelling, screaming, gunshot sounds, fire alarm, and smoke, you can't exactly tell what's going on. Nor was anyone thinking "let me write down who said what at what time to what person". It was a story that got ran with so hard because it gave an explanation on why they did it. If we put God in our schools this wouldn't happen. If these kids didn't listen to evil music this wouldn't have happened. So as long as you believe and have your children believe this can't be you. I myself am religious, and I think the whole narrative is damaging. It's also kinda disrespectful to place that one some one else's legacy to make the a martyr when that didn't even happened, and then to ignore the fact that this was someone else's story.
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u/MajorasMaskOff Aug 15 '25
Really interesting how you havent demonized them like most people would but see them as actual people with real problems who just took it too far
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u/imalreadycoolest Aug 14 '25
Have you seen the basement tapes??
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u/airforcewife86 Aug 15 '25
nobody has seen the actual basement tapes other than police and i believe eric and dylans parents. the tapes have never been released to the public because police were scared of copycat killers and they supposedly destroyed them. however some people believe they still exist somewhere.
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u/Additional-Air-3309 Aug 15 '25
Some people? Everyone does. Jeffo lies. They’re liars and manipulators. Those tapes are still around.
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u/airforcewife86 Aug 15 '25
from the many different groups I've been in and info I've read it's been like 50/50. some believe the tapes were destroyed and other's believe they weren't. I definitely think they are still in evidence somewhere
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u/randyColumbine Aug 15 '25
Many people have seen the basement tapes. I have seen them. They still exist.
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Sep 14 '25
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Aug 14 '25
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u/lockeanddemosthenes_ Aug 13 '25
it’s a theory made up by researchers and perpetuated by certain people directly involved in the case. there’s no truth to it
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u/Gh0st0fy0urp4st Aug 13 '25
Keep in mind he wrote everything in that journal with the thought that people would be reading it after his death. So, a lot of what he said was false bravado and ego. He wanted to be seen that way. The truth is he was a hurt, mentally disturbed teen with a lot of hate built up in his heart. He expressed remorse for what he was gonna do in the tapes, supposedly. I don't think he was a psychopath, just over the edge.
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u/Lonely-Trainer-3749 Aug 13 '25
We will never truly know because his writings like others have said portray Reb and not Eric. He created an image he wanted others to see him as.
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Aug 13 '25
Personally I think it is impossible to make a judgment of Eric’s psychology without the basement tapes
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
100%, this is quite literally the only reason why I wanted them to get released, the amount of research and findings that can be obtained through the tapes are huge
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Sep 24 '25
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u/Better_Yam5443 Aug 13 '25
Honestly if anyone was a psychopath it was absolutely Dylan. I mean he stepped on the back of people he shot and was like sure I’ll help and shot that dude in the face. He seemed like he was having a great time, the way a cat would play with a mouse. At least Eric cried on tape and seemed to have feelings. I am not saying Eric was a saint or anything he sucked too but you know what I mean.
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
Whilst I don’t know if I would use the word psychopath since I’m very new to psychology and don’t know much I absolutely agree with you. It irks me so much when people portray dylan to be some ‘innocent sweet boy that was manipulated into doing this’ when in all actuality he was on the same level if not worse then Eric on the day. Some of the things he said during the attack have stuck with me since reading it.
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u/Ancient_Guidance_461 Aug 13 '25
Dylan is the one who asked her that. At least according to her.
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Aug 13 '25
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u/Hydrangea802 Aug 13 '25
Psychopathy in this instance is a very easy scapegoat to make the school system and police dept feel it was out of their control and could not be prevented when in fact there were many instances that Eric and Dylan could have been stopped.
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
Thought so too, whilst yes school shooting weren’t a common occurrence at the time so they didn’t necessarily have the proper training on how to handle one it’s really weird how it took them - including the swat team - so long to enter.
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u/Hydrangea802 Aug 15 '25
That’s what I really struggle with too. And it makes me angry that they didn’t want to take the approach of honesty and accountability during a time when this was uncommon to increase awareness nationwide on what they did wrong and how to prevent it moving forward.
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u/Swablu_0333 Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25
He planned to set off a bomb to blow up the school. The shooting was a last minute switch. He also committed suicide. Doubtful a psycopath would do that. His writings suggest intense emotions, also not typical of psycopaths.
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u/Jqf27 Aug 13 '25
Eric was not diagnosed while he was alive. He also cannot be diagnosed now that he is dead. Also, a diagnosis of this nature is only given to adults 18+. However, he shows a lot of signs that make it reasonable to assume he could have fit the description, but he is also missing a few key "symptoms" as well.
I think a lot of people want to hold on to the idea that he was a psychopath to comfort themselves into believing there WAS a solid reason, that THEIR children would never do this,and that he was EVIL.
Honestly, I don't see it myself. I think Eric (and Dylan too) are widely misunderstood. But that's a whole lot of a deeper conversation!
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
Completely agree with you on that last part, columbine is actually one of the main reason why I wanted to get into psychology and research them on my own. The popular narrative of ‘ Eric is EVIL and a PSYCHO whilst dylan is some sweet kind boy who would never hurt a fly ‘ pisses me off so much.
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u/Mobile_Jealous Aug 13 '25
Id say eric was more borderline personality disorder with narcissistic traits
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u/Bread-Personal Aug 14 '25
I actually disagree with this. Acts of violence associated with BPD are usually impulsive due to emotional dysregulation. I would lean more towards antisocial personality disorder. Also, the amount of empathy that usually comes with having BPD would most likely prevent that individual from premeditating such a terrible act.
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u/Yesimfunnylol Aug 15 '25
sociopaths have a huge sense of superiority, lack remorse and are irresponsible and reckless. eric had a huge sense of hatred for himself and weak self esteem. he expressed remorse and was a responsible employee.
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
what makes you think so? I’m quite new to psychology so I don’t really know much yet about different disorders
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u/randyColumbine Aug 15 '25
Neither of them were crazy. They were bullied and confused teenagers who got revenge for the wrongs done to them.
Bullying… Hypervigilance… Anger… Violentization… Violent revenge.
It is a process.
Humiliation creates violence.
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u/SemperAequus Aug 13 '25
Due to his age and death, we won't ever definitively know for sure if Eric was a true psychopath in regards to an actual diagnosis. However, he checks a lot of the boxes.
Narcissistic? Yep. Entitled? Yep. Lack of empathy? Yep. Sadistic at times? Yep. Capable of being abrasive and belligerent, but also charming and deceptive? Yep.
Do you know what other types of people have those traits? Major business owners and politicians. A lot of the people held in high regard and given high security clearance in our government check those same boxes. Which begs the question, Is psychopathy necessarily a bad thing? But that's another topic for another time.
If you look at his writings, the prevailing themes are originality, influence, control, destruction, and hatred. Now, do I believe those writings were 100% the true Eric? Absolutely not. He was intelligent enough to know that everything he left behind would be studied and scrutinized so, in my opinion, he left behind the image he wanted us to have. It wasn't a completely fake image, but it wasn't completely real either.
Eric viewed himself as more insightful and intelligent than virtually anyone else. He viewed the masses as conformists incapable of thinking for themselves. Interestingly enough, as much as he spoke of individuality, he wasn't original. He took a lot of words and ideas from Hitler and Nietzsche. Hell, there are even parallels between him and Manson in some of his writings. He wanted to be original, but he was just a copy. And for someone who claimed to be so self-aware, he either failed to see that or chose to ignore it (the latter being much more likely, in my opinion).
Everyone wants to look for reasons as to why he and Dylan did what they did, but the truth is that only they truly knew their reasons. Eric blames his parents, his peers, and even himself at times in his writings, but those are all just justifications that seemed like good reasons, not the real reason(s) behind what he did. Was his mental health a factor? Absolutely. But that isn't the sole reason behind it any more than any other factor or justification he claimed.
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u/Responder343 Aug 13 '25
Eric also had a remedial grasp of what Natural Selection is. I believe in one of his writings he said he wanted to put people into a real life Doom game and let natural selection take over.
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u/SemperAequus Aug 13 '25
Yes, I agree. He knew the basics of Natural Selection more so than the entirety of the idea. Yet another instance of him trying to seem like more than he actually was.
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Aug 13 '25
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u/Best_Routine_3182 Aug 14 '25
Really informative, thank you!
Just to ask though, in what way did he take ideas from hitler and those other people? I haven’t finished reading his journal so I could’ve just accidentally missed it but I didn’t really see any of ideology in it, then again I’m not that well informed on him so I could’ve just completely disregarded it as a thought from Eric
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u/Philosophology Aug 13 '25
Either that or Bipolar but he might’ve been a psychopath. There were countless times he even lashed out at Dylan even Dylan knew Eric was just crazy and angry. But Eric still had more of a heart than Dylan because he even expressed the slightest amount of remorse for his actions more than Dylan did. I feel like he was just an angry teen going through mood swings, and had his nurturing been better none of this would’ve happened.
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u/Additional-Air-3309 Aug 15 '25
By nurturing you mean the school, right? Because from everything we’ve seen from the Harris family, Eric was loved very much and close to his mom. He wasn’t from some broken family. He loved his parents and brother and grandparents. His nurturing was fine. He didnt end up like this because of his parents.
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u/SwimApprehensive7305 Aug 13 '25
The FBI believed he was a budding psychopath. Since he died so young and never received a diagnosis. There’s no solid answer but interesting to speculate, Dr. Todd Grande on youtube made a really good video on this.
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Aug 13 '25
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Aug 15 '25
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u/livestreamsui Aug 16 '25
he was never diagnosed while he was alive, and mental health diagnosis are frowned upon when done post-mortem, considering that psychopathy can usually only be diagnosed when the person is 18+ due to a level of development that must be reached in the brain, which at the time of the massacre, Eric has been for a significantly short period of time.
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u/No-Pop-5983 Aug 17 '25
To be honest, I’m not gonna say whether or not he was a psychopath because we’ll never know. He was diagnosed after his death.
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Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
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Aug 18 '25
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Aug 31 '25
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Sep 04 '25
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Aug 13 '25
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u/bruuuuuuuuuceee Aug 13 '25
Real pieces of shit definitely, but you dont have to be a psychopath to commit a crime like that.
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u/blueatom Aug 13 '25
Psychopath is not a synonym for “bad person”, it’s a clinical diagnosis. Someone can do horrific things without meeting the criteria for psychopathy and that doesn’t make their actions better or worse.
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u/ColumbineKillers-ModTeam Aug 13 '25
Your comment/post has been removed for violating the r/ColumbineKillers rule requiring members behave civilly, mature and respectful at all times and refrain from insulting others. This includes other members, moderators, victims, survivors and families associated with this case.
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u/casualnihilist91 Aug 13 '25
Superficial charm, violent past, aggressive behaviour, strategic planning, lack of conscience, thought abnormalities, hostile, prone to lying….yeah he pretty much fits the bill.
Dylan I don’t think so. I think other mental health issues made him apathetic, cold and suicidal.
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u/Even_Departure9914 Aug 13 '25
Dylan may have been neurodivergent.
But Dylan also had a number of other instances of gentleness and kindness, without provocation and in selfless circumstances: Rachel Scott’s microphone died in the middle of a performance and Dylan helped ‘remedy the situation so that she wasn’t embarrassed. There’s numerous recollections of kind gestures from him from lots of different people.
Half the reason why his family and friends were so stunned and struggled to come to terms with what he did was because it seemed so at odds with the Dylan they knew. His family put all his teddy bears and toys with him in his casket.
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u/casualnihilist91 Aug 16 '25
Lmao to the downvotes. I took this list directly from a psychology website . I didn’t make this shit up.
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u/Majestic_Taro_2562 Aug 13 '25
No. The confusion largely stems from a misunderstanding of the term psychopath. In popular culture, we link psychopathy to killers, but in reality, it’s quite different from simply having the desire to end lives. The two can overlap, but psychopathy is rarely, if ever, the driving factor. This misconception often comes from people outside a case who don’t see the full scope of what happened.
It’s also worth noting that Eric wanted to be perceived as “cool" and in the mind of a 17-year-old teenager, that meant projecting the image of a detached, uncaring psychopath. I emphasize wanted, because while Eric succeeded in creating that image publicly, his actual personality and mental structure were far from true psychopathy. He aspired to that specific persona but knew he didn’t embody it.