Jeffrey Dahmer's Mom Joyce Struggled With Her Mental Health For A Long Time
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*Trigger warning*: self-harm, suicide, violence.
Netflix's true crime series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, has consistently been at the top of the streaming service's most-viewed list since its release last month. And not long after, a doc covering the notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer's, confession tapes dropped, too, so it's no wonder everyone has a lot of questions about the man.
In case you’re not familiar with the name, Jeffrey Dahmer went on a killing spree from 1978 to 1991, often targeting gay men of color, per Biography. He regularly took photos of the men while dismembering their dead bodies, had sex with their corpses, and kept gruesome souvenirs, including decapitated heads and genitalia. He even reportedly ate some of their bodies after their death.
The limited series and docuseries give everyone a little glimpse into the lives of the real people who were affected by Dahmer's crimes, including his victims, neighbors like Glenda Cleveland, his father Lionel, his stepmother Shari, his brother David, and grandmother.
Dahmer, who was murdered in prison in 1994, was raised by Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. While Lionel has spoken out about his son’s crimes several times, even writing a book about it, Joyce tended to stay much quieter on the subject.
So, who is Joyce Dahmer and what happened to her? Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Joyce Dahmer?
Joyce Dahmer is the biological mother of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Her ex-husband (and Jeffrey’s father) Lionel Dahmer said in his 1994 book, A Father's Story, that Joyce had difficult pregnancies with Jeffrey and his little brother David. During those pregnancies, she had muscle stiffness (along with other symptoms) and was prescribed phenobarbital and morphine, he said.
She went by “Rocky."
Joyce is called “Rocky” in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, as well as in other news pieces, but there’s no clear explanation as to why this was her nickname.
Joyce later used the surname “Flint" instead of "Dahmer."
She struggled with mental illness.
In the limited series, Joyce's mental health struggles were depicted in intense and chaotic scenes. While it's unclear how much of the depiction was based in fact, Lionel did state in his book that Joyce suffered from postpartum psychosis after giving birth to David. In case you’re not familiar with it, postpartum psychosis is a rare condition that can happen after someone gives birth.
In 2018, the condition affected about between one and two of 1000 women and often requires medical treatment, according to a study in The National Library of Medicine.
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms can include:
Confusion and disorientation
Obsessive thoughts about your baby
Hallucinations and delusions
Sleep disturbances
Excessive energy and agitation
Paranoia
Attempts to harm yourself or your baby
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that “psychiatrists had said that Rocky was not responsible for what her son became, but she always wondered.”
Joyce also continued to struggle with her mental health after her son's crimes came to light, and she tried to take her own life in 1994, per the United Press International. The outlet noted that Joyce turned on her gas oven and left its door open. She was found lying face-down in her home with a will and letter and was taken to a hospital where she recovered.
Although Jeffrey was still alive when Joyce made her suicide attempt, she had planned to leave all her belongings in her will to her younger son David, per the United Press International.
She and Lionel divorced in the 70s.
Joyce and Lionel divorced in 1978 when Jeffrey graduated high school, according to HITC. Joyce won custody of David, who was 12 at the time, and Jeffrey stayed with his dad since he was close to graduating from high school. Around this time, Jeffrey killed his first victim.
Joyce believed her son was a 'victim of a compulsion'
In a 1993 interview, Joyce said Jeffrey was a "victim of a compulsion, an obsession," she told Hard Copy.
"Intellectually I know that I had done a good job as a parent. I knew this had to come from something outside of Jeff ... we still do blame mothers," she said.
Joyce also believed Jeffrey should have had access to treatment. "He's not a monster. He's a human being. And I think he deserves some help," she said, per TODAY.
She spoke to Jeffrey when he was in prison.
Before his death in 1994, Joyce was talking to her imprisoned son at least once a week, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"I said to him, I asked him, `Do you still have these urges?' " she said at one point. “He said, `Yes, Mom, I'm so glad I'm locked up. I'd be afraid what I'd do if I weren't locked up.'”
She really wanted his brain studied.
Joyce believed that there were biological reasons for Jeffrey’s crimes, and she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Jeffrey "always said that, if he could be of any help, he wanted to do whatever he could." So, Joyce wanted to donate his brain to be studied after his death.
His brain was preserved in formaldehyde after he was killed by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver, but Lionel wanted Jeffrey's brain to be cremated with the rest of his body, according to the Los Angeles Times. In December 1995, his brain was cremated.
At one point, she planned to live with her son David.
Joyce was planning to move in with David (he was going by a different name at this time), who was living in another city in the Midwest, she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, per TODAY. She had hit hard times with her finances, and her job didn't bring in much money. Her Fresno home had also gone into foreclosure in 1996.
Where is she now?
Joyce died of breast cancer in 2000, according to Deseret News. At the time of her death, Joyce was a case manager at the Central Valley AIDS Team and founder of "The Living Room," an HIV community center that opened in Fresno, California, in 1996.
"Everybody loved her. She would do anything for her clients and for anybody really. She was just this wonderful person,” Julio Mastro, the Living Room's executive director, told the paper at the time.
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