As this course requires students to write a paper related to the brain, the very first topic comes to my mind that is the brain of serial killers. Since my childhood, I have watched lots of different television programs about various serial killers. Most of these shows mainly focused on the different killing ways of those killers, but did not reflect why they want to do so and what encourage them to do so. Therefore, I would like to find out the answer to these questions and to better understand about serial killers. In this paper, we are going to investigate the brain structure and functional varieties between the serial killers and normal people. First of all, we have to define the definition of a serial killer and a murderer. The definition …show more content…
But we merely try to understand the root of the problem which is the brain of the serial killer. The first difference is that most serial killers are psychopaths, but not all psychopaths are serial killers. These serial killers mainly have two kinds of personality disorders, including antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder. According to the article posted by Clearview Centers, LLC, “Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms, people who have Antisocial Personality Disorder have a tendency to manipulate, exploit, or violate the rights of others. The symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include Aggression and getting into frequent physical altercations, poor impulse control and neglecting to consider consequences, irresponsibility (for example, the inability to hold a job or fulfill other obligations), deceitfulness (as evidenced by regular lying or misrepresentation), disregard for the safety of others and self, and general lack of remorse following mistreatment of others, inability to conform to social norms, often engaging in illegal behaviors. This pattern of violating others’ rights inevitably leads to an impaired ability to establish and sustain positive relationships with others.” And “The symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, on the other hand, include the following efforts to avoid abandonment and rejection, whether this abandonment is real or imagined, poor impulse control, including reckless and self-endangering behavior such as substance abuse or binge eating, mood swings, characterized by bouts of unprovoked and intense anger, depression, or feelings of emptiness, poor self-image, including periods of self-doubt and self-importance, unstable interpersonal relationships (alternating between idealizing and despising others), recurring suicidal behavior or
This paper looks at a person that exhibits the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). In the paper, examples are given of symptoms that the person exhibits. These symptoms are then evaluated using the DSM-V criteria for BPD. The six-different psychological theoretical models are discussed, and it is shown how these models have been used to explain the symptoms of BPD. Assessment of
In order for someone to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, they must experience at least five of the following symptoms: 1) fear of abandonment, 2) a history of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones, which often go back and forth between idealization (which includes love and extreme closeness) to devaluation (which includes extreme hatred or anger), 3) a disto...
Lieb, Klaus MD, et al. “Borderline personality disorder”. The Lancet, Volume 364, Issue 9432, Pages 453 - 461, 31 July 2004.
The term borderline personality disorder (BPD) was termed by Adolph Stern in the 1930s to describe a group of people on a “borderline” between neurosis and psychosis (SITE). Today, BPD is described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as “a pervasive patt...
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) hinders people’s security, makes interpersonal and interpersonal relationships difficult, worsens the person suffering from the disorder’s life and those around them, effects their affect and self-image, and generally makes a person even more unstable (Davidon et al., 2007). This disorder is a personality disorder which effects the people’s emotions, personality, and daily living including relationships with other and job stability. People with BPD may experience a variation of symptoms including but not limited to: intense contradictory emotions involving sadness, anger, and anxiety, feelings of emptiness, loneliness, and isolations (Biskin & Paris, 2012). This disorder makes it hard for the person with the disorder to maintain relationships since they have tendentious believe that people are either strictly good or bad. Also, they are sensitive to other people’s actions and words and are all over the place with their emotions so those in their life never know which side to expect. (Biskin & Paris, 2012)
Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crimes. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individual in a single event.
Before Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was clearly defined, it was called a “wastebasket” disorder. This meant a patient could be diagnosed with it if they didn’t fit clearly within another certain diagnosis. BPD was often confused with schizophrenia, non-schizophrenic psychoses, and anxiety and depressive disorders. This disorder was commonly said to respond poorly, if not at all, to treatment. Today mental health professionals have proved this remark false. Unfortunately though, BPD is still held under this stigma and is frequently thought to be “untreatable.” According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, BPD is a personality disorder, or Axis II disorder, in Cluster B. This essay will not only provide important information about Borderline Personality Disorder but it will thoroughly outline the etiology, symptoms and prognosis. It will also tell how one can be diagnosed with BPD, how it can be treated and it will highlight a recent study about the brain activity of this disorder.
Borderline Personality disorder is a commonly misdiagnosed mental illness. The symptoms of borderline personality disorder are so closely related to other mental illnesses, that it is most often under diagnosed or misdiagnosed altogether. This illness can be completely debilitating to effected person. They do not understand that it is their mental illness that is making them feel the way that they do. They feel hopeless, like their lives will never improve from this point. Which is a major factor into why borderline personality disorder has one of the highest rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.
Serial killers come in many forms. They range from well-educated, articulate men and women, to those who have had nothing in life. Psychiatric illness and unfortunate life events often underlie the behavior of serial killers.
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
Serial killers are defined to “be driven by instinct and desire to kill.” In a study done in 2000, Dr, Richard Davidson says, “people with a large amount of aggression – in particular people who have committed aggressive murders or have a social disorder – have almost no brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex or the anterior cingulated cortex while activity in the amyglade continued perfectly. The orbital frontal cortex and the anterior congulated cortex control emotional impulses while the amyglade controls reactions to fear.” Davidson concludes his research claiming that although environment can and will affect a serial killer’s thoughts, it is a killer’s genetic makeup that inevitably creates murderous thoughts.
Many studies suggest that there are significant differences in the brain between individuals who possess antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy). While not all people who possess an antisocial personality disorder will become serial killers, every serial killer studied has an antisocial personality disorder; “Neuropsychological testing revealed abnormalities in all subjects tested” (Blake, Pincus, and Buckner 1642). Brain injury, brain abnormalities, or mental illness affects all the serial killers tested. Even if all serial killers had some type of abnormality in the brain, would that mean that they were doomed to become a serial killer? According to the experimental findings discussed in Neurologic Abnormalities in Murderers; 64.5% of serial killers have a frontal lobe dysfunction and 29% have temporal lobe abnormalities. The frontal lobes of the brain “control the essence of our human...
Most serial killers can be placed in two categories, the psychopath and the psychotic. Psychotics are clearly insane and fail to perceive reality correctly. However, very few serial killers fall into this category. Most serial killers have a thought out scheme, or plan of going about things. They think things through, and evaluate what the situation could bring to them. This comes from a long line of abuse, intolerance, and dysfunction during their early childhood years. Many people may even go so far as to view certain serial killers as geniuses, in the respect that their actions are so well thought out so very carefully planned. These types of serial killers would fall, under the psychopath category. A psychopath, also known as a sociopath, does not suffer from a mental illness, where in their makeup of their DNA have nothing to do with the way they are. A psychopath, rather suffers from a severe brain flaw, or personality, resulting due to the way they were brought up, their environment, and the way they were treated by family, especially that of the parents, or brothers, and sisters. One thing to note about the psychopath is that, the majority of the time, they realize the crime they are committing is wrong. This does not concern them,...
The earliest warning signs of serial killers can be traced back to their childhood. It is believed that the mind of a murderer is charged with a turbulence of emotions stored from early childhood (Abrahamsen 18). When these often repressed emotions are activated, the mind, particularly when aroused or frustrated, becomes violent, and so it is that a person who may appear quite normal and well adjusted on the surface, becomes possessed by a mind that murders (Abrahamsen 18). The study of 36 incarcerated killers by Robert Ressler, Ann Burgess, and John Douglas, which can be found in their book Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives, found many common behavior indicators in their childhoods. These behaviors include daydreaming, compulsive masturbation, isolation, chronic lying, bed wetting, rebelliousness, nightmares, destroying property, fire setting stealing, cruelty to children, poor body image, temper tantrums, sleep problems, display assault toward adults, phobias, running away, cruelty to animals, accident prone, headaches, destroying possessions, eating problems, convulsions, and...
Nurture. Are serial killers born or created? n.d., para.1). One main psychiatric illness is the inactivity of the orbital cortex in the frontal lobe that holds the capacity to stop the urges to be violent to someone (IBID). The frontal lobe is where the responsibility of the behaviour of the person is located in (Rutigliano, n.d., para. 3). It is responsible for the behaviour of violence, self-control, planning, judgment, social needs, and many other social needs of a human (IBID). The orbital cortex inactivity is common in almost all serial killers (The Brain of a Serial Killer, n.d., para 4&5). This explains why serial killers tend to make bad decisions when it comes to violence