David Koresh | Mental Health & Personality | Netflix Waco

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.

FOSTER, L. (2008). Waco and Oneida: The Impact of Public Opinion on the Survival of Unconventional Religious-Communal Groups in America. Communal Societies, 28(2), 1–22.

Wittmer, M. D. (2009). Traces of the Mount Carmel Community: Documentation and Access. Nova Religio, 13(2), 95–113. doi:10.1525/nr.2009.13.2.95

Jenkins, P. (2013). Waco in red and blue. Christian Century, 130(10), 28.

[hoopyy]

I come here to be scientifically informed about mental health topics, I stay here to be neutrally stimulated by jokes.

[davesworld]

Another feature that was left out of the series.
When the FDA was playing loud noises to annoy the Branch Davidians, they played sounds of rabbits being slaughtered. I always found that detail really disturbing.

[ahermannblue]

I'm even more interested in the personality pathology of the followers of people like this. Can you discuss that Dr. Grande?

[egrace]

This is a sad memory for me, I am a Texan.
I remember the disbelief I experienced over all the horrific deaths. Just horrible.

[cindyrhodes]

This is the best concise account of DK's background that I have ever heard. Thank you including the details of his previous issues.

[ronaldhuss]

After 30 years of law enforcement in a very large city, I see this as a complete failure on the part of the fbi, and atf. Koresh was known to go into town often where he could have been taken into custody and his influence neutralized. That would have, more than not, rendered a more peaceful outcome. But when you have supervisors and bosses, who suffer the same mental delusions as koresh, this is the result

[nicolej]

He went to Hollywood in hopes of being a rockstar, that didn’t workout, so became a cult leader. Totally makes sense lol

[cindyrhodes]

"I don't believe that losing 76 lives is the best the FBI could do." Agreed!!! "They fed the delusions. " Agreed!

[theresalero]

I'm a nurse. One of my favorite patients believed 1) she was Tiger Wood's Mom (very disappointed in his behavior), and 2) Queen of some American Indian Tribe. These delusions had no disadvantageous impact on her life that we could see, and they were not the reason for any of her medical hospitalizations. I asked the consulting Psychiatrist why she had these delusions.he replied, life is tough ."Isn't it more interesting to be someone important?" She was harmless, engaging and I loved her. Her husband took this in stride and took great care of her. Just a note to say that not all delusional people are dangerous and harmful.

[garynoesner]

Dr. Grande, I think you did a good job of laying out David Koresh's background and his rise to be the leader of the Branch Davidian cult. However, like many who were not out there, you have a very incomplete understanding of the negotiation challenges we encountered. You have the impression that the aggressive activities directed against Koresh, including the sound effects, were part of a coordinated negotation strategy. They were not. In reality, there was great deal of strategy conflict between the tactical team and the negotiation team I led. The negotiation team did not approve of or support the various demonstrations of aggression engaged in by the tactical team, knowing this was harmful to building trust. Those activities, usually done with no advance notice to negotiators only served to undercut our efforts. The FBI is not a monolith and we had major disagreements. My negotiation team secured the safe release of 35 individuals, including 21 children, so I think it is clear we had a good strategy and it was working. Without a doubt we would have gotten many additional individuals out absent those counterproductive moves, and perhaps even everyone out. You seem to suggest the FBI didn't understandd who we were dealing with. That may be correct with some senior FBI officials, but is certainly not true of the negotiation team or the profilers who supported us. By the way, we did indeed ridicule Koresh from time to time among ourselves in private discussion, but never while engaged in actual negotiations with him. My leadership of the negotation team ended on day 26, after all the safe releases, as I was seen as resistant to tactical aggression. I was guilty as charged. Finally, you mentioned it was unwise to use the "Avenging Angel" tank. The FBI used normal military CRV tracked vehicles borrowed from the Army at Ft. Hood with the gun barrels removed. The "Avenging Angel" name was already on the historic WWII era tank the producers rented for the Paramount (later Netflix) Waco series. It was obviously not part of the Waco operation at anytime. Again, I think your assessment of Koresh is quite good, but your understanding of the sophistication of the FBI negotiation team and the creative things we did to get 35 people out seems incomplete. For more insight into that, I would refer you to the Waco chapter in my book, "Stalling For Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator." Sincerely, Gary W. Noesner, Chief FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit (retired)

[trueshipsxxx]

It' so great that you actually include medical publications and essays in your descriptions, that's very helpful and just goes to show how informed and meticulously prepared your content is. 👌

[missjem]

I feel like Dr. Grande knows what I'm watching and reading about. Stop following me around Dr. Grande. 😉

[leannes]

I love that your personality is coming through. You made me giggle at the end. Also very informative!

[banjoist]

I worked with a guy years ago who had worked at one of the big music stores in Waco when he was going to Baylor. He said that Koresh came in from time to time for strings and stuff and that he was actually a very good guitar player.

[laurablue]

“‘Neutral Stimulus’... or ‘Let’s All Go Home’” 😂❤️
Brilliant video as usual. I haven’t watched the Netflix series but I have seen other documentaries about Waco. I wonder how the reporter coped following the incident? I’m by no means saying it was their fault, that would be an awful and untrue thing to suggest - how were they supposed to know the postman was his brother or foresee the subsequent events, but I can imagine there might be some undeserved guilt felt there.

[ajhproductions]

You're on a roll man, today i wake up to david Koresh. Waco was a complete and abject tragedy, and shouldn't have happened that way. Cant wait to see what's next. Thank you for keeping us busy and entertained, cheers!

[teenafesta]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate the way you review these cases with respect and using facts and science. I think you always give a very well informed analysis and I'm totally addicted to your channel. Thank you for your content

[cooldude-ongm]

very interesting. since you've already done david koresh and charles manson's analysis i think jim jones or marshall applewhite would be interesting cases to study. cult leaders truly are fascinating

[marychristensen]

As a former Mormon I can also say this sounds similar to the original Mormon prophet
Joseph Smith.

[StuffBudDuz]

I don't know the Netflix series, but the documentary "WACO: The Rules of Engagement" was very well researched and revealing, and was based entirely on actually footage from the compound.