Isdal Woman

Isdal Woman events

The investigation

The other investigation

The modern investigation

Discovery of Isdal Woman

Discovery of suitcases

Isdal Woman theories

Personal problems

Mental problems theory

A fraudster

Elaborate suicide theory

A spy network courier

A prostitute

A German spy

A Soviet spy

Isdal Woman

Mental problems theory

Mental problems have been mentioned as possible explanation to what Isdal Woman was doing before her death, although there are no solid evidence to support that thesis.

Facts that are supporting the theory:

changing appearance, hotels, rooms, being on the guard, all of it suggest some sort of paranoia being behind her activity,
she traveled around without any known goal,
she most likely died due to suicide, which suggest some sort of personal problems, if not mental problems,
if she has taken her own life and was trying to use flames to destroy her own body this would strongly suggest deep personal, if not mental, problems,
removal of labels from items she had suggests that she was trying to keep her identity unknown,
no one came forward to identify her, which could mean she had no one close to her or she was mixing with people who were reluctant to admit it (criminals, spies, etc),

Facts that oppose the theory:

even if she was paranoid or had some sort of mental problem, she still would need means to obtain false passports and resources to travel,
obtaining fake identities and items to change her appearance suggest she was able to plan her steps ahead, which kind of contradicts the mental problems theory, unless they were mental problems with paranoia,
hotel staff did not noticed if she was depressed or suicidal,
her meetings with men in hotels means she was not detached from reality, nor paranoid to the extent she would see everyone as a danger,
if she was following Penguin missile trials, it does not sound like someone with mental breakdown,
the removal of label from her items could have been done by someone else, f.e. someone who killed her and posed it as suicide,

It it easy to put all of the events down on some sort of mental problems or mental breakdown, but most of activities of Isdal Woman seemed planned, like she was using some logic, even if we do not know or understand that logic. She consistently was trying to change or fake her identity, she was on the move like she was expecting some sort of danger - all of it seems rational, although we do not know why she was doing it.