and possible sleep deprivation in the last period of his life must be factored into any speculation as to the cause of his possible psychotic symptoms, as these two activities are known to trigger psychotic reactions in some individuals. Hitler never visited a psychiatrist, and under current methodology, any such diagnosis is speculation. Drug use Prescribed 90 medications during the war years by Theodor Morell, Hitler took many pills each day for chronic stomach problems and other ailments. He regularly consumed methamphetamine, barbiturates, opiates, and cocaine, as well as potassium bromide and atropa belladonna (the latter in the form of Doktor Koster's Antigaspills). Criticism of using Hitler's health to explain Nazism In a 1980 article, the German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler was highly dismissive of all theories that sought to attribute the rise and policies of Nazi Germany to some defect, medical or otherwise, of Hitler's. In Wehler's opinion, besides the problem that such theories about Hitler's medical condition were extremely difficult to prove, the problem was that they had the effect of personalizing the phenomena of Nazi Germany by more or less attributing everything that happened in the Third Reich to one flawed individual. Wehler wrote: Echoing Wehler's views, the British historian Ian Kershaw argued that it was better to take a broader view of German history by seeking to examine what social forces led to the Third Reich and its policies, as opposed to the "personalized" explanations for the Holocaust and World War II. In his book Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil (1998), the American journalist Ron Rosenbaum sarcastically remarked that theories concerning Hitler's mental state and sexual activity shed more light on the theorists and their culture than on Hitler. Inbreeding as a possible factor It has been theorized that Hitler's physical and mental health problems were the result of Hitler having been significantly inbred, possibly having monorchism. With his father Alois Hitler possibly being his mother's second cousin. People who are inbred have a higher chance of having developmental disorders and harmful mutations. References Notes Bibliography Further reading External links Did Hitler have only one testicle? from The Straight Dope OSS document alleging sexual deviancy History Channel's Episode - High Hitler Health Hitler, Adolf Huntington's disease