The Madness Inside Jared Loughner's Head

"Mental breakdown," Jared Lee Loughner himself used those words to describe his state of mind in the months leading up to the massacre.

In an online chat room, Loughner wonders, "Does anyone have aggression 24/7?"

He also expresses hurt at being rejected by women, writing, "It's funny when they say let's go on a date about three times and they don't go." And there are these violent images "I know how to cut a body open and eat you for more than a week."

We're also learning more about Loughner's obsessions. Including the documentary Zeitgeist, which explores conspiracy theories about 9-11.  

Zach Osler was friends with Loughner in high school. He told Good Morning America Loughner was known for heavy drinking and taking the powerful hallucinogenic herb salvia, which was in the news recently after Miley Cyrus was caught on tape reportedly smoking it out of a bong.

Osler says, "I really think this Zeigeist had a profound effect on Jared Loughner and how he viewed the world that he lived in."

Another friend, Ane Gutierrez, spoke with The Today Show and said "He was a nihilist, he was really into lucid dreaming."

Lucid dreaming was depicted in the recent Leonardo DiCaprio movie Inception.  

Loughner posted a disturbing video of himself on You Tube. He's wearing a creepy mask and burns an American flag over this heavy metal soundtrack from the band Drowning Pool.

Now the band is speaking out, saying the accused killer misinterpreted their song.

As the nation struggles to understand what led Jared Loughner to such an act of violence. Those who knew him are left wondering whether the massacre could have been prevented.

Osler sobs, "I could have did or said to help him or try to get him help. I just didn't, so that's why it's hard to look at the picture of him, it looks like a monster."