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Antisocial personality disorder case studies
Antisocial personality disorder theory
Antisocial personality disorder theory
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1) Description of “abnormal behavior”
In the film, American Psycho, Patrick Bateman was a wealthy investment banker who also happened to be a serial killer. He was highly intelligent and was charming which attracted many of the women who came his way. Unlike most people in the world, he lived in constant pain. He was rarely happy with himself, and also hated everyone around him. He felt that he needed to inflict his pain on others in violent ways. He always had something disgusting to say such as, “I like to dissect girls; I am utterly insane.” It is outside of the norm to speak in this way, therefore he would be considered deviant. He displayed feelings of distress as he became frustrated very easily with himself and others. Everything
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When he would become angry with someone he would automatically threaten them. For instance, he was angry with the bartender and muttered to himself how much he would enjoy killing her. He could not function in normal settings. He would be with his coworkers and would have trouble staying focused on the conversation because he had his mind on other things going on in his life, such as killing another person. He would have strange verbal outburts, would sweat perfusualy, was uptight, and was rude to his friends. He did not care about anybody except himself, and that was evident when he broke up with his fiance. As she began to cry during the breakup, he clealy had no feelings for her. His behavior was dysfunctional; he could not work productively, and could not hold relationships. Patrick Bateman was clearly a danger to others. Even if he didn’t have a specific problem with someone, such as a prostitute, he still felt the need to kill them. He had poor impulse control, and would …show more content…
People who have this disorder are usually self-centered and have a hard time maintaining relationships. This is clear as in the entire movie he doesn’t seem to care about his fiance. He had sex with many other women, and when he was asked if he was dating anybody he responded by saying, “not really.” This also shows how he was a liar. He constantly lied to get out of situations and to make himself feel better. For example, he believed that he made a reservation at a restaurant when they were clearly all booked. As well as being a pathological liar, he was also decietful. He tricked a prostitute into thinking she was safe by going to his apartment. He ended up murdering her with a chainsaw. He was always rude and straightforward to others as he was inconsiderate of anyone’s feelings. He told a woman he worked with exactly what to wear; and if she did not look good he would tell her she was ugly. He was very shallow and arrogant as he cared very much about his facial features. Patrick did not display many emotions except for greed and digust. He showed zero remorse for the people he murdered; it was as if nothing happened. People with antisocial personality disorder also show recklessness. Towards the end of the movie he believed he was going to get caught for all of the murders he completed, and therefore decided to shoot everyone he came in contact with. This included police officers, security
Film Analysis of Psycho When ‘Psycho’ was first screened in New York on 16th June 1960, it was
American Psycho (2000) offers a devastating social satire of the 1980s materialistic and hedonistic high society. Ironically, the film's monsters-in-hiding become increasingly evident even as the cinematography attempts to obscure most of the victims of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) with the dark hues of the nighttime. Additionally, the point-of-view (P.O.V.) editing in relation to Patrick Bateman illustrates his frustrations to the audience and shows his struggle to not only become the best in his society, but also prevent others that are either not fit for his society or those with particularly annoying idiosyncrasies from being a part of that society. The character study depicts the daily activities of Patrick Bateman, a young New York stockbroker working for Pierce and Pierce, as he hides the murder of Paul Allen (Jared Leto) from Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe). As the film progresses, Patrick's mask of sanity slowly slips as he finds out that he is not the idea of Patrick Bateman that he reflects himself of being throughout the film and realizes the disconnection that he has from the world around him.
As the movie goes on we are also introduced to Tiffany who seems just as “crazy” as Pat, but amazingly she helps him control his episodes through dancing. According to the DSM-5, a book published by the American Psychiatric Association, which helps psychologists diagnose a person with a mental illness, Pat does somewhat reach abnormality. His mood swings lead him to do things that would not be considered “ok” by society and his mood swings also interfere with his daily life as well as his relationship with the people around him. The first half of the movie we see he hardly gets any sleep because he is reading books in order to catch up with his wife’s, which is a teacher, English syllabus. Once he finishes reading one of the books he is so angered by the ending he throws the book out of his window, breaking the glass, and waking his parents at
Psychopaths come in big and small packages with many different forms of personalities. Most of the time these psychopaths pop up in the middle of the darkness when people are least expecting it, like at Columbine. There are many types like Eric and Dylan, who hide their emotions. Then, there are people who are open to their craziness and enjoy their lives as a psychopath, like Hannibal Lector or Norman Bates. Always remember, never judge a book by its
The Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) measures twenty-two behavioural characteristics or lack thereof that have been previously identified as the defining characteristics of a psychopath by Cleckley as well as other influential clinicians. Hare measures these characteristics on a three point scale ranging from 0-1. In addition Factors are used to group thematically similar behaviors. For instance, persons prone to boredom, whom share a lack of realistic long term plans, live a parasitic lifestyle and act on impulse, have been grouped together in Factor 1. Factor 2 measures those persons with a lack of remorse of guilt, failure to accept responsibility for own actions, a lack of sincerity/conning, egocentricity, glibness/superficial charm, drug or alcohol abuse which is not the direct cause of the antisocial behaviour, and callousness or lack of empathy. Factor 3 co...
According to the Psychopathy Checklist Revised by Robert Hare, a psychopath is a mentally unstable individual that typically displays insensitive behavior and demonstrates a strong lack of empathy towards others. Psychopaths are described as emotionally shallow and exhibits abnormally violent social behavior. Furthermore, David Berkowitz accurately fits this criterion and is described to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz, recognized as the Son of Sam killer, relentlessly tormented the citizens of New York City for over a year. Throughout his killing spree, Berkowitz murdered six people and injured seven more, amounting to thirteen shootings overall. Consequently, many theories have surfaced in regard to why David Berkowitz murdered his victims, including theories of a possessed canine and a brutal satanic cult. Although theories exist about the Son of Sam killer, evidence shows that David Berkowitz murdered because of psychopathic issues and mental instability.
People suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder have an intense fear of abandonment and will go to drastic measures to avoid real or perceived abandonment. They may engage in suicidal or self-mutilating behaviours, and impulsive behaviour. Alex Forrest has an impromptu affair with a married man without using any contraceptives or (protection), which is risky and impulsive behaviour. In a later part of the film, Ms. Forrest cuts her own leg with a knife when she confronts Mrs. Gallagher, and when Mr. Gallagher tries to break off the relationship, she cuts her wrists in an attempt to get him to stay with her (Jaffe & Lansing, 1987). This is after she violently lashes out at him the first time he tries to leave. Inappropriate, intense anger and difficulty controlling that anger is another symptom of Borderline Personality Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). People with Borderline Personality Disorder also have a tendency to view others as “all-good” or “all-bad” (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013). They may idealise a person one minute and despise them the next. An example of this “splitting” is the tape Alex leaves for Mr. Gallagher. Her words to him at the beginning of the recording make it seem like she cares deeply for him. However, as the tape continues to play, her words become harsh and antagonistic (Jaffe & Lansing,
The film Psycho, details the story of a woman by the name of Marion Crane, as played by Janet Leigh. The film starts of a with a bedroom scene where Marion starts to discuss her future with her lover Sam. After her brief encounter with Sam, she returns to her work where she comes into contact with $40,000 in cash. With possession of such a large sum of money, Marion runs off with the money; it's implied that she wishes to run away with Sam and the money so they can start fresh. While on the road, she stops at a motel which becomes the scene of her murder and also the scene that will be explored in greater deal. However, after running away with the money, private investigators are hired to track her down to avoid having to involve police. The investigators find her far too late and find and arrest a psychotic man who lives as the memory of his controlling mother.
In American Psycho, A handsome urban professional named Patrick Bateman who lived in New York City in 1987.
According the fourth edition diagnostic manual of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), the category psychotic disorders (Psychosis) include Schizophrenia, paranoid (Delusional), disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, residual type. Other clinical types include Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder/Manic depression, mania, Psychotic depression, delusional (paranoid) disorders. These are mental disorders in which the thoughts, affective response or ability to recognize reality, and ability to communicate and relate to others are sufficiently impaired to interfere grossly with the capacity to deal with reality; the classical and general characteristics of psychosis are impaired reality testing, hallucinations, delusions, and illusions. Mostly, these are used as defining features of psychosis even if there are other psychotic symptoms that characterise these disorders (L. Bortolotti, 2009).
In the book, “The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character is very strange in numerous ways. His name is Holden Caulfield and boy has he got something wrong with him. He rambles on and on about nonsense for the first 20-something chapters of the book. He only likes 3-4 people in the book. He smokes and drinks heavily at the ripe age of seventeen. He has been expelled out of numerous prep schools, and feels abandoned and not wanted. He has some sort of mental illness and I think I know what it is. I believe that Holden Caulfield has a mental illness known as Borderline Personality Disorder, also known as BPD. The reasoning for my thinking is that Holden’s actions match up with the symptoms of this illness and the isolation he
On the bad boy end of the spectrum, exists the research of Crysel and his colleagues. For them, the anti-hero can be broken up into three different categories: the narcissist, the psychopath, and the machiavellian man. Each of these is actually a form of mental illness when taken beyond a certain point. For each of these sub-categories of the anti-hero, the study
Fifty years ago, a person breaking the law would either be called crazy or a criminal. Today, the mental health community has much more specific diagnoses. However, the explanation of certain behaviors may be difficult because there is much overlap among mental conditions. In Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder. In both the book and film adaptation, Bateman’s actions can be understood more accurately when analyzed in light of modern psychology.
One of the biggest traits of psychopath serial killer is their inability to empathize with human feelings. There is no generic profile for psychopath serial killer. Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene. They will use people for excitement, to build self-esteem. In the movie the behavioral science doctor mentions that Dr. Lecter ate a nurse’s tongue and during the ordeal his pulse rate never raised above eighty-five, which is usually a pulse pate of a regular person that is resting. The calmness he displays is a shallow emotional response, as well as lacking empathy or remorse.