Letter to Editor. How to understand the fundamentalism and acts of terrorism?

In the light of the known definition of mental health the fundamentalist attitude and associated acts of terrorism, sometimes in the form of suicidal attacks are not normal behaviours. Although they are complex phenomena, described by psychologists and sociologists , it seems that the essence of the causes of fundamentalist attitudes and acts of terrorism should also be discussed by psychiatrists. This is important, in particular by reason of diffusion by the mass-media of fears, which increases prevalence of the anxiety syndromes. In face of the recent spread of these phenomena, any theoretical considerations, which bring closer the explanation of the essence of these occurrences, can be important because it can contribute to effective countermeasures. It is necessary to distinguish the trails of explanation of the nature of a fundamentalist attitude from theories related to the coexisting acts of terrorism. There are two different approaches to interpret the causes of terrorism. Activities that can be termed " terrorism " happened always. The well-known researcher of these phenomena Jerrold M. Post, outlining historical transformations notes that the first such actions in the twentieth century was the attack on the Israeli Olympic Village in Munich in 1970 [1–4]. J.M. Post proposes classification of all acts of terrorism and the distinction of: 1) Political; 2) Criminal; and 3) Pathological terrorisms. Among the Political Terrorism he distinguishes: A) Sub-state terrorism; B. State supported terrorism; C) Regime or state terrorism. Among the sub-state terrorism he discerns: 1. Social revolutionary terrorism (Left); 2. Right wing terrorism; 3. National-separatist terrorism; 4. Religious extremist terrorism, with categories of: 4a. Religious fundamentalist; and 4b. New religion terrorism. There is also 5. Single issue terrorism. J.M. Post cites many authors advocating his view that the vast majority of so-called terrorists do not show known significant psychopathological disorders [5–7]. It stresses that a typical psychological common feature of these people is their