Serial killers and social anxiety

Modern psychology believes that serial killers tend to universally
suffer from social anxiety. This, combined with other psychological
disorders and social factors, are said to turn a normal person into a
serial killer.

The Countess Elizabeth Bathory is known in history for being the
ruthless noblewoman who had hundreds of slave girls sadistically poked,
cut, and bled. She did this out of the belief that their blood would
sustain her youth indefinitely. While modern analysis can only begin to
scratch the complex psyche of one of history's most prolific and cruel
serial killers, Elizabeth Bathory is suspected by some to have had a
rather bad case of social anxiety. This, some theorize, combined with
her malignant narcissism and her high social status, had combined to
from the figure that many would know as the "Blood Countess."
Serial killers, according to most recent profiling techniques and
psychological developments, tend to suffer from social anxiety. While by
no means the only mental condition that marks the mind of a serial
killer, social anxiety is nonetheless considered to be one of the more
common problems of such people. Other factors, such as signs of sadism,
particularly towards animals, are also cited as factors. However, there
are elements in the community that believe societal pressures also exert
a large effect.
Of course, social anxiety is not entirely uncommon in modern times. In
fact, to some degree, most experts believe that everyone has experienced
a moment of social anxiety. However, that does not make everyone in the
world a potential serial killer. Social anxiety helps make a serial
killer, but it is by no means the definitive sign of one. Indeed, there
are several psychologists contended that while modern serial killers
tend to suffer from this condition, it is arguable whether or not
historical killers such as Bathory and Jack the Ripper suffered from it.
After all, the fear of society in general, in theory, is a fairly recent
phenomenon.
Another point here is that social anxiety may manifest differently in
serial killers than from others, especially if combined with a number of
other psychological disorders. For example, it was possible that
Elizabeth Bathory suffered from a twisted sense of social anxiety as she
was frequently obsessing over her appearance. Some recent analysts have
theorized that it was not so much her actual appearance that concerned
her, and more her standing amongst her fellow aristocrats at the time.
In addition, while there are hardly any pieces of evidence to support
this assumption, a small group of people are starting to theorize that
Jack the Ripper suffered from a form of social anxiety. There is hardly
enough evidence on the Ripper's psychology to even ascertain whether
Jack really was male, much less ascribe his actions to some sort of
psychological disorder. Proponents of this assumption put forth that it
was possible the Ripper suffered from social anxiety and had difficulty
approaching more respectable women. While this is entirely plausible, it
is arguable whether someone who could not approach a woman of good
social standing would be able to lure a prostitute to her demise without
alarming said individual.
In the end, serial killers with social anxiety are claimed to feel
powerless amidst modern society's power structures and individual
networks. Perhaps, in the act of capturing, killing, and mutilating
their victims, the killers gain some sense of control over their lives
and their place in the world. In the end, isn't knowing where one
belongs in the grand hierarchy of things something that everyone seeks?
Perhaps, in the end, serial killers are only seeking what everyone else
is seeking, albeit in a way that the average person is unable to truly
comprehend.