Rifka Weehuizen, a researcher at the University of Maastricht of the joint realm of economy and psychology, published an article today in one of the main dailies of the Netherlands De Volkskrant on the assault on Queens-day 30 of April 2009 in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, by Karsten T. under the headline: “Of [the like of] Karst T. there are hundreds” (Van Karst T. zijn er vele honderden). The author describes the common psychic features of people who do get unemployed and points to the fact that suicide of the unemployed is twice as high as with regular employed people. “The aim of a suicide mostly is to put an end to what is experienced as unbearable emotional suffering without a way out in sight.” Weehuizen then sums up several common known factors in personal life, possibly in combination with personality dysfunctions, and rates them against the profile of Karsten T.. She also puts this in a wider perspective mentioning the effects of economic recession as expressed in an increase of unemployment, on mental health and a resulting increase of suicide, especially among men. She also points to the secularized society of the Netherlands where social contacts – especially of single persons – are derived primarily from the job circle. When a person loses income and has no job anymore it may result in a personal social and psychological disaster. Resulting loss of identity and meaning in life may lead to anger, aggression, being victimized, urge to revenge and loss of self-control. Weehuizen continues to argue that such a dissatisfaction with the economical situation or society in general is too abstract for directing strong feelings against, that under such circumstances the royal family may have appeared to Karsten as a symbol, not only of Dutch society, but also of people who appear to be rich, happy and loved; having everything the perpetrator was lacking. The focus of Weehuizen gets back now at the trajectory of the car of Karsten T. that ultimately crashed into an iron fence around a stone monument just after the moment the royal cortege in their special bus had passed a road with joyful bystanders awaiting an historical parade in honnor of the queeen. She proposes two interpretations of Karsten’s violent act: 1) the victims among the bystanders where just collateral damage standing in the way of his royal target; 2) they were part of his plan. Weehuizen comes to her end conclusion by stating that it is probable that the attack on this royal parade was nothing less and nothing more than [what in military terms are called ‘targets of opportunity’ (this is term is added by me here to clarify)] , that the objective could as well have been his former school, or former workplace.
Small picture of article by Rifka Weehuizen in De Volkskrant 6 of April 2009
You can also download the article in the orginal lay-out of the newspaper article (in Dutch) in pdf format via this link below (may take a while) d_vkkarttweeshuizen
the limping messenger 
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