Is it normal to think about hurting people?

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17 Comments

So every now and then I will get these thoughts in my head. It's not with any certain type of people. Just out of no where I will think about how I can hurt the people around me. Even kill them. It could be people I have known my whole life, people I just met, or anything in between. It's never daydreaming about hurting someone that isn't near me, it's always when I am around people. It's completely random though. Like one time I was over a friend's relative's house shooting our guns. Just out of nowhere I started thinking "I could kill everyone here right now really easily." I was with a loved one, two close friends, and a person I had just met. This is just one example. I obviously have never acted on any of these thoughts and don't think I ever will. I am a pretty good person I think. I really do try to be nice to people in general. I have a lot of friends and I believe people who just meet me enjoy my company. I have briefly spoken to a friend about this while we were drunk and he said he has crazy thoughts sometimes too. Is it normal to think like this?

Is It Normal?
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Comments ( 17 ) Sort: best | oldest
  • Light_Yagami
    12 years ago | pl

    Dear person.
    Are you a guy? If so, I think you are about as normal as any guy in the world. Every single guy (I can only talk about guys as I am one) knows they have a capacity for such violence. I know exactly what you're talking about, as an example, I often see people and am completely aware of how fragile they are and how easy it would be to hurt them.

    The fact is, as long as you keep this attitude ("I obviously have never acted on any of these thoughts and don't think I ever will. ") then you'll be ok.

    Read/watch Fight Club.

    Good luck.

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    • rustynail
      12 years ago | pl

      @ Light_Yagami. Yes, I'm a guy. And I have seen Fight Club. Great movie.

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  • boys-are-toys
    12 years ago | pl

    It's normal if you're not actually tempted by it. If it's just a thought then i think a lot of people , including myself does the same thing.

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  • Pooter1111
    12 years ago | pl

    I think it's normal to think about how fragile life is.

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  • jbobby
    12 years ago | pl

    It's normal to think about it, as long as you don't act on it.

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  • _me_
    12 years ago | pl

    You can do that, but make sure to comeback to reality

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  • spacerandy
    12 years ago | pl

    Normal, I think. I get that too, usually in public places like the subway and somtimes at home. I find myself imagining the harm i could do, or what could go wrong in certain situations (e.g. when holding a knife). I don't have psycopathic tendencies, i think it's more closely related to paranoia, being on guard at all times.
    I guess it's normal to a certain degree.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago | pl

    guys or girls could have violent fantasies with a gun in their hand. guns make cowards brave and the weak strong. any pissant can pull a trigger

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    • Mr-Time
      12 years ago | pl

      The strong use bladed weapons, a warrior's weapon.

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    • rustynail
      12 years ago | pl

      This really has nothing to do with feeling powerful with a gun in my hand. That was just an example to show that I don't think like this with just a certain type of people. Maybe read a little more thoroughly next time.

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  • rowlingstone
    12 years ago | pl

    I don't think that's normal. I'm a guy and I don't have any violent urges at all, ever. No joke, even in my dreams, I don't harm anyone. In fact, violence for the sake of it repulses me.

    Of course people piss me off sometimes, but when that happens, I never imagine myself hurting them. Rather something along the lines of "I hope they're demoted" or "I hope he doesn't pass the exam" or something like that.

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    • rustynail
      12 years ago | pl

      It's not really a violent urge where I "want" to hurt someone. It's just thinking "I could easily hurt this person right now." I haven't hurt anyone in my dreams either, that I can remember anyway.

      Also, this has nothing to do with people pissing me off. It's just in random situations. I normally think the same way you do when people make me angry, except if said person is a physical threat to someone I care about or someone that doesn't deserve it, then I want to physically hurt them.

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  • lyqazwsx
    9 years ago | pl

    For guys I've gotten the impression that this is normal due to hormones wired more toward aggression and violence. I have these same thoughts on a regular basis and im not 100% sure its normal because im a girl haha.

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  • idea
    12 years ago | pl

    It may also be something to do with feeling uncomfortable with some of the people their...?

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  • Reptilia
    12 years ago | pl

    Yeah. jus don't act on it and be pleased with the mental images if at that. Maybe just watch some gore videos to quench that I would recommend traces of death

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    • rustynail
      12 years ago | pl

      Lol, you make it sound like I'm psychotic or something. These thoughts don't please me at all. I always think "why the hell am I thinking this?" I don't think it's about quenching some kind of violence thirst.

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