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Psychopath mental state
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Ever seen movies with the characters of Hannibal Lecter, Jason, or Michael Myers? These are very famous psychopath in the Hollywood world. The way these movies show a psychopath is misconception to what a psychopath really is. A psychopath is “somebody affected with a personality disorder marked by aggressive, violent, antisocial thought and behaviour and a lack of remorse or empathy,” or “an offensive term for somebody who is regarded as highly antisocial, aggressive, and lacking in empathy.”(Encarta ® World English Dictionary) In Doc Zone’s “The Psychopath Next Door,” the documentary explores how psychopaths live among us, undetected through a participatory mode. Doc Zone is trying to bring awareness to the general public about the dangers …show more content…
around them. Psychopaths are often found in the business industries due to their demand of wealth, power and prestige. Sociopaths do not have a conscience and the variety of behaviours they engage in depends on their personal characteristics and preferences.
For example, a very intelligent sociopath may climb to a position of power in an organization or in politics. A reason why psychopaths are found in noisiness is because they want to win. To dominate. To control. To manipulate. Dr.Robert, who is a forensic psychologist at UBC said “You are going to run into of theses individuals, some time in your life, more than once”(Doc Zone) and the experience is either going to be exciting or devastating. Life for them is a game (without emotions) and the thrill is to be had in getting others to do what their bidding. An example in “The Sociopath Next Door” a book written by Martha Stout shows how a successful business man is undergoing an important business meeting, but goes home to feed his dog because he plans to be away for 36 hours. This leads into Martha Stout’s explanation why he does this which is because of his conscience and not an bond with the …show more content…
dog. Most sociopaths are male, but contrary to pulpier belief, they are smarter than most people and their intelligence spread mirrors that of the broader population.
Sociopaths often succeed in the business industries because they are highly manipulative of the people around them and can tell lies convincingly. Also “psychopaths love chaos and hate rules, [which is why they] tend to thrive in the fast-moving world of business, says Dr. Paul Babiak, a psychologist from New York City.” (Doc Zone) To add, they can fake emotions for effect, like crying at critical moments even though they do not feel sad at all. Although they do not feel for emotional bonds, they feel emotions such as jealousy, and anger. A reason why psychopaths are so smart is because they have no problem in achieving their goals. If they have to get married for money that would have no problem, for them it is a success. This helps with the fact that psychopaths can lie about anything in a completely convincing matter. They can go to any extremes to justify for their actions, even id it does not make sense. This is a good business thing in business which would make the owner prosper. Also, as many businesses hide their mistakes, psychopathes too refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes or misdeeds. Sometimes they admit to envy or dissatisfaction at not having emotions or meaning in their lives and sometimes their 'game' is to destroy others out of
frustration. Lastly, Doc Zone’s documentary discusses how many business psychopath characteristics like determination and leadership qualities are taken as charming and admirable. Whereas, the person is often cunning and shameless with their deeds. A business man who is a psychopath would never take a step which would not benefit him. Even if it comes off as kind or polite there would be a motive behind the deed. Psychopaths succeed in the business industry because they plan every move. They will think of all the positive and negatives outcomes of a certain decision. To add, they do not trust the people around them at all. Psychopaths will cross check your about you and find out your weaknesses. They will then use these weaknesses against you and seek advantages whenever they need to. This is what business men do to make their companies bigger and for them to go even higher. Also, many businessmen are hot-headed meaning they get anger very quickly. This is another psychopath trait because they feel every petty insult to their honour. Most people bite back when they heard something rude about themselves, but psychopaths are quick to react when it comes to themselves. To sum it up, the business industry is where the majority of psychopaths are, who often lay undetected by normal citizens. In the documentary “The Psychopath Next Door” by Doc Zone, the show educates citizens through a participatory mode of filming which allows the audience to learn more about psychopaths. Doc Zone’s documentary makes the watchers realize psychopaths are nothing like the Hollywood versions, but instead live to dominate and thrill to win. Psychopaths are people who have a antisocial personality disorder and manifest in aggressive, criminal or amoral behaviour, without empathy or remorse.
Psychopathy has fascinated the public for years due to the gruesome and evil portrayal it has received in the media. Psychopathy is defined in the DSM-III as a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior (Patrick, Christopher, Fowles, Krueger, Rober, 2009). Psychopathy represents a cluster of different dimensions of personality found amongst the general population to varying degrees (Patrick et al, 2009). The diagnostic definition is meant to be applied to adults, however psychopathology can occur in children. Controversy surrounds the topic of childhood mental illness because the brain is not fully developed until the age of 18; thus allowing the possibility that symptoms are the result of growing up and will change. The triarchic model, formulated by Christopher J. Patrick, is the most commonly used model in diagnosing adult and childhood psychopathy. This model suggests that different conceptions of psychopathy emphasize three observable characteristics to varying degrees; boldness, disinhibition and meanness (Patrick, et al, 2009). Boldness is the first observable characteristic and is comprised of low fear including stress-tolerance, toleration of unfamiliarity and danger, and high self-confidence and social assertiveness. Disinhibition; characterized by poor impulse control including problems with planning and foresight, lacking affect and urge control, demand for immediate gratification, and poor behavioral restraints. Meanness is defined as lacking empathy and close attachments with others, disdain of close attachments, use of cruelty to gain empowerment, exploitative tendencies, defiance of authority, and destructive excitement seek...
Are psychopaths like Alice, “mad or bad?” (page 21). The question whether psychopaths are mentally ill or just a bad seed has caused much debate. Dr. Hare explains that the problem is not only labeling them mad or bad, but who deals with them. “Does the treatment or control of the psychopath rightly fall to mental health professionals or to the correctional system?” (page 21). Not only are professionals confused on how to classify psychopaths, but the media also creates confusion. Psychopath means mental illness and the media uses the word to classify someone as, “insane or crazy”, (page 22). Dr. Hare explains that even though psychopaths, “cannot be understood in terms of traditional views of mental illness”, they, “are not disoriented or out of touch with reality, nor do they experience the delusions, hallucinations, or intense subjective distress that characterize most other mental disorders…psychopaths are rational and aware of what they are doing and why.” (page 22). Most professionals use the term psychopath and sociopath as one in the same. Since DSM-III, antisocial personality disorder has been used in place of psychopath and sociopath. Philippe Pinel was the first psychiatrist describe a psychopath and Harvey Cleckley was one of the first successful publish a book describing a psychopath to the general public . Pinel used the term, “insanity without delirium”, (page 25). Cleckley wrote The Mask of Sanity, which influenced researchers in North America. Dr. Robert Hare explained that WWII was the first time clinicians felt a need to diagnosis people with psychopathy. Due to the draft, there was a need to weed out the people could disrupt or harm the military structure. Dr. Robert Hare realized how hard it was to identify a true psychopaths from rule breakers and developed the Psychopathy Checklist. This checklist is used world wide to help clinicians identify true
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is a book by Jon Ronson, where he investigates the idea of psychopathy and the many individuals involved. Psychopathy is defined as “a person who is mentally ill, who does not care about other people, and who is usually dangerous or violent.” Ronson visited mental health professionals and psychopaths in order to determine the right way to control the diagnosis of mental health disorders. Throughout the novel, Ronson focuses on three main themes, which are the definition of madness, unnecessary mental diagnoses and the problem with confirmation bias.
The psychopath know the reasons behind acting a certain way and just don't think about the consequences. Even in the DSM-IV clear definitions of a psychopath doe not exist but the closes to diagnose is anti-social personality disorder. Dr. Hare instead developed the Psychopathy Checklist for people to diagnose psychopathy. The first part of the Psychopathy Checklist looks at the emotional and interpersonal traits of the disorder(Hare, 1993). Some of the emotional qualities that the clinician would look for is as followed: glib/superficial, egocentric/grandiose and lack of empathy.
...not function without an element of ruthlessness and a need to win. Could any capitalist be called a sociopath? In my opinion I believe that while this non-fiction novel does enlighten us to some degree on the nature and behaviors of sociopaths, it is not a myopic and in depth study worth putting any faith-based investments into. Also, it fails to answer a major and simple question: what does the future hold for these ‘monsters’? Will the population of sociopaths increase exponentially, until it is they who must destroy us for being the minority? Or are their numbers diminishing due to social awareness about this condition? Is sociopathy purely biological in nature or does this personality disorder also stem from personal experience or otherwise? In short, this book raises more questions that in answers, resulting in a disappointing and unfulfilled search for truth.
Sociopaths are not very educated people because they are very rebellious people. In the article "Infographic Psychopath vs sociopath" it says "…Sociopath is often unable to keep a stable job. They tend to not have a job or not be able to keep a steady job. The behavior they have makes them not able to keep a job for very long periods of time is There reckless behavior holds them back from being responsible people and keeping a job for very long. Unlike psychopaths they are unwilling to have a job because of their lack of
It stems from an underlying sense of rage. Sociopaths feel deeply angry and resentful underneath their often-charming exterior, and this rage fuels their sense that they have the right to act out in whichever way they happen to choose at the time. Everything is up for grabs with sociopaths and nothing is off limits. Meyers - "The 'Meyers'"
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
I agree that psychopaths can exhibit learned knowledge of morality; however, I believe that their moral indifference can be attributed to the brain abnormalities and behavioral deficits. Because these deficits are uncontrollable with respect to the individual, pulling from Levy’s (2008) argument, psychopaths are not responsible for their lack of motivation regarding morality. Additionally, their diminished attention span and inability to gage consequences also play a role in their moral indifference. A psychopath may logically understand that their actions are wrong, but because of a shortened attention span they cannot focus on the many long-term consequences of their actions (Maibom 2005). Thus, they are not responsible for their actions because of a plethora of abnormal brain and behavioral
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
What is a psychopath? What type of person can be characterized by this and how do they come to be? But first before we can answer these questions we must first know what a psychopath is. Psychopaths are people suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviors; clinically it is a person who has a lack of what we would consider a conscience. Psychopaths are seen to suffer from a lack of empathy because of psychological, genetic and environmental factors. Scientists have many theories concerning psychopaths. Scientist do not have a definite clear cut answer on what is the cause for psychopathy but they have many ideas; nature and the nurture of the person. Nature is the genes that the person carries. The nurture of the person when they were a child is simply means how they were treated when they were growing up and/or how they were raised. Some scientists even consider it a possibility that it could be a mixture of the two.
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
About 1.6% or so of the US population can be described as potentially psychopathic. Some people cut to the conclusion and determine that misunderstood kids are potentially psychopaths. Identifying a child as a psychopath is not developmentally appropriate. The label “psychopath” cannot be placed on a child who is developing emotionally, mentally, or physically. Children who have mental disorders are often interpreted as psychopaths and awful people but they are not, they’re just misconceived.
The movie Psycho, is one of the most influential movie in Cinema history to date. The director Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to test many of the conventions of movie making that was common at that time. Alfred Hitchcock movie broke many cultural taboos and challenged the censors. Alfred Hitchcock showed a whole bunch of at the time absurd scene, for example: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) dying naked while taking a shower, Norman Bates with split personality disorder, and the first ever flushing toilet shown in a movie. Because from the late 1920's to the late 1950's, movies were made usually go around the story, and usually with a lot dialogue. This movie gives the audience an experience that was much more emotional and intuitive. The viewers were caught up in a roller coaster of shock, surprise and suspense based on image, editing and sound.
The media most often showcases psychopaths as individuals who are inherently evil and dangerous towards themselves and others. Yet, this concept of psychopathy goes far beyond this idea of pure evil and instead necessitates a needed psychological understanding. These individuals, psychopaths, are generally characterized by a lack of empathy and conscience. Indeed, psychopath’s indifference to the repercussions of their actions combined with other characteristics such as hostility and aggression make for a potentially dangerous personality (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In order to identify a psychopath’s recidivism, it is important to differentiate them from sociopaths who, instead of having a psychological impairment that makes it difficult for them to socialize, have been systematically under socialized (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In accordance. psychologists have developed the methods such as the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) to help identify those with psychopathic tendencies (Walters, 2012, p.409). That is why predictions of recidivism among psychopaths is most efficient when done