In comparing the phenomenon of murder to a convulsion, Dr. Menninger finds similarities in that they are both symptoms of something wrong in the individual's adjustment to life. They are not diseases, but symptoms of a diseased personality and a difficult situation. The apparent difference between murder and convulsion (one is presumed to be a conscious, voluntary act and the other an involuntary, unconscious act) seems negated when one considers that the unconscious portion of the mind is so much more powerful than the conscious. Both murder and convulsion deserve psychiatric study into their various causes in every instance.

A case history of a murder as a symptom of psychological isolation is offered. The death of a young farmer's wife and baby, for which the farmer was held accountable, raised the speculation that he had been forced into an unequal and handicapped struggle with life, resulting in psychological isolation from proper contact with others. His incarceration in prison seemed a wasteful and useless punishment.