What Makes a Psychopath?

As I told everyone here about the script I was writing about lack of empathy last week when Delia psychic air this news. I finally had a little time to produce it. Here is the movie!

Is lack of empathy a costly epidemic?
http://current.com/items/90866956_is-lack-of-empathy-a-costly-epidemic.htm

Think about: We might be living in the midst of psychopaths!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/deep-brain-stimulation/MY00184

"Deep brain stimulation"

nature is the reactant, and nurture is the catalyst.

we are all predisposed genetically. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response )

Mental Health Topics

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/index.shtml

@iamaman-

I don't think this article is "arguing for Eugenics" so much as learning as much as we can in order to help people with psychological problems in the best way we can.

"finding out what predisposes someone toward psychopathy and how these vulnerabilities interact with the environment to give rise to a full-blown case of the disorder -" They ARE saying it's nature and nurture.

I have been around people with many brain conditions that ranged from the some what mild, to the absolute dangerous !It shocks me really that we can invent systems that make it possible for people to speak just by thinking of words,but we STILL can't cure many conditions! But then the human mind is not an easy thing to figure out!

"Nature vs. nurture"

"Past research, including studies with twins, suggest there is a genetic predisposition to psychopathy. Still, it remains uncertain how much their environment influences the development of the disorder. "Just because one has a predisposition doesn't mean that they have to end up behaving that way," Newman said."

"It remains hard to get to the root of psychopathy, since the most recognizable group of psychopaths are criminals, "and bringing prisoners out to get their brains scanned puts a lot of people in risk, so it's very complicated to do," Newman said."

"Still, understanding the roots of psychopathy in the brain hopefully will lead "to an ability to identify and negate the problem,," Newman said. "By finding out what predisposes someone toward psychopathy and how these vulnerabilities interact with the environment to give rise to a full-blown case of the disorder, I believe one might be able to prevent the unfortunate development of psychopathy." "

psych 101

its both!!! not just one or the other. any undergrad who has taken psych 101as part of their GR, should know this. (or even philosophy 101- one cant exist without the other)

is this really an article arguing for Eugenics?!?!?

"and bringing prisoners out to get their brains scanned puts a lot of people in risk, so it's very complicated to do," Newman said.

its because of insurance liability not because the prisoners are not willing. they would do anything to pass the time. (fluff)

http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/narcissistic-personality-disorder

egocentric
One entry found.

* Main Entry: ego·cen·tric
* Pronunciation: \ˌē-gō-ˈsen-trik also ˌe-\
* Function: adjective
* Date: 1894

1 : concerned with the individual rather than society
2 : taking the ego as the starting point in philosophy
3 a : limited in outlook or concern to one's own activities or needs b : self-centered, selfish

— egocentric noun

If a parent does not teach a child to feel empathy or to put themselves in the position of another person or an animal, they can create a monster.

I suspect that some Republicans who blame victims for their problems, like O'Reilly blaming rape victi;ms and molested children, are either psycopaths or on a mission to create a hard uncompassionate Republican core. If everyone blames the poor, or the disadvantaged then why assist them? I had a Republican tell me that my friend who has breast cancer had no one to blame but herself for not having health insurance. The thruth is that after being unemployed for a long time whe did not have the funds to buy it. But that is not good enough for them. This rich person could not imagine what it would be like to not have a trust fund to access.

People are born messed up some times. There are no two way about it all it takes is a few little cells that end up in the wrong place and the person is a little off. Thats why in the family would arange marrages in the old days it is called selected breeding people have been doing it for hundreds of years if not thousands. You don't want to throw uncle fred in with aunt marge if there cousins do ya? With what every body is doing to there selves I can't wait to see what our future holds.

I swear I worked with a psychopath once. She's still at the same workplace but not near me anymore thank god. She keeps getting tossed around departments like a hot potato - no one wants her and this being a corporation, they are hesitant to fire her, since she can be really charming and is marginally competent.

The fun now is watching her self-destruct from afar. Karma's a bitch and so are you.

Oh btw, she's pregnant. Ouch for humanity.

My personal belief is if people were taken care of, had a good job, were educated, and didn't have to worry about getting sick, or could see a consular then a lot of these issues would be taken care of. However I do believe that some people just can't be help. Sometimes the problem is to big to fix or prevent.

This is a question That has haunted me for years . I think some people are born with a predisposition , but need a certain environment to bring it to fruition . There are thought mechanisms that are in the psyche , call them thought patterns , if you will . Sets of tactics that each individual falls back on to create the personality . " How to stand up to a bully " and " How to trust " or " How to be a friend " for example . Each of these are determined by the self . What kind of person do they want to be ? So the script gets written , as a person grows up through childhood . There is a weakness in some people , a void , where the self should be . They cannot connect to others , not really , because they have nothing to connect with . At least they do not feel it , if it exists . Perhaps it is a detachment , like what happens in multiple personalities . This is not known . It seems to me there is no substantial "self" to connect with conscience , others , empathize , control impulses , or write the essential programs of the personality . They cannot feel for others , because there is not enough self to feel with to do so . What they seem to come up with as a substitute , is a way of perceiving that is very limited . Data is taken in with a lack of depth . They are impulse dominant . I think this is because the programming has simply not been written . Like being aware of only one dimension in a three D reality almost . Only extreme cases of conditioning "life threatening" are potent enough to simply get them to momentarily divert an impulse . It seems to get worse with age . At least that has been my observation .

when this article says psychopaths deserve no sympathy because they hurt our trust of other people...it makes it sound like these people are monsters just because they dont follow social rules!

(from APA)

Item 2006A1 12.C
Reference Committee #1
Assembly
May 19-21, 2006

FINAL
ACTION PAPER

SUBJECT: Eliminating the use of Antisocial Personality Disorder as a Basis for Civil Commitment

INTENTS: To dissuade psychiatrists from utilizing Antisocial Personality Disorder as the clinical basis for applying to have an individual civilly committed for involuntarily treatment.

To inform legislative and judicial bodies of the profession of psychiatry’s strong conviction that Antisocial Personality Disorder never warrants consideration as a mental disorder, disease, defect or abnormality for this purpose.

PROBLEM: During the last two decades, 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes that extend the use of civil commitment to involuntarily confine sexual offenders to treatment facilities after those offenders have completed the prison terms to which they were sentenced. Several other jurisdictions are considering adopting similar statutes, and the governor of one state, Vermont, proposed legislation that would have permitted the civil commitment of all violent offenders, not only those convicted of sex crimes.

Sex offender (or sexually violent predator [SVP]) statutes differ from the statutory provisions of “traditional” civil commitment in a number of ways, among the most prominent of which is the articulation of a different definition of what comprises a mental illness. Several sex offender commitment statutes state that an individual deemed to be suffering from a “mental abnormality” or “personality disorder” could be eligible for civil commitment. The definition of “mental abnormality” has been construed by some forensic psychiatric experts to correspond at least in part to the paraphilias. “Personality disorder,” used in this statutory context, clearly includes Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD).

Some forensic experts have proposed that while paraphilias ought to be considered clinical bases for SVP civil commitment, ASPD should not. This is a significant distinction in that a sizable subset of those who commit sexually violent offenses (e.g., raping adult victims) are not found to warrant any psychiatric diagnosis other than ASPD. Several cogent arguments support the exclusion of ASPD as a basis for civil commitment:

ASPD is a disorder largely defined on the basis of the behavior exhibited by the individual; it is not premised on any underlying disturbance of thought, mood, cognition or aberrant sexual urge. Indeed, one of the DSM-IV criteria is “failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest,” which makes plain that the relationship between ASPD and criminal behavior is tautological (i.e., People commit crimes due to ASPD, which is defined in part by committing crimes).
ASPD “does not readily fit into assumptions of the medical model of involuntarily civil commitment-that is, the necessity to protect individuals when they are unable to recognize their need for treatment because of a serious mental illness.” (Sreenivasan, Weinberger, and Garrick)
There is no clearly recognized, efficacious treatment for ASPD. In fact, many consider therapy interventions to be contraindicated for those who fall on the psychopathic end of the ASPD spectrum as those interventions have the effect of enhancing the psychopathy.
The law has already established a precedent for discounting ASPD for consideration as a mental illness in that “Not Guilty be Reason of Insanity” statutes in many states explicitly exclude ASPD from being considered a mental disease or defect for that purpose.

One of the aspects of this article that interested me was that I have long wondered what the dividing line was between a "sociopath" and a "psychopath" insofar as I had always been under the impression that the former was just a sort of "nasty but watered-down" form of the latter.

A book that I found rather compelling on the subject is "The Sociopath Next Door" in which the author notes current estimates by psychological studies indicating that as many as one in twelve Americans COULD qualify as sociopaths as that term is currently defined.

Given the magnitude of that number, she spend the book talking about how the particular perspectives and social skills of these individuals allow them to "function" in society without, for the most part, beeing tossed in the hoosegow every few monthts for destroying someones life. As you might suspect, they are most certainly out there destroying lives, but most have the necessary self-awareness and psychological sophistication to do so in a way that not have a remedy in the law.

For reasons I wish I could explain better, her description of them as essentially conscienceless beings, swimming alongside -- but fundamentally apart -- from the rest of us reminds me vividly of that crusty old captain's description of the Great White Shark in the novel/movie Jaws. Sort of these killing, feeding machines that never completelely stop -- beautiful in their single-minded grace, but with eyes that are utterly flat and dead, like a dolls eyes...that only only roll back with pleasure as their teeth close in a killing clench...

join the marines!

Full court press, I'm afraid.

Hope that isn't going to be something that they can use in court. It would create more ways to put innocent people in jail.

Everything in life have its limits! The issue here is if a person can identify that line and recognize where is the limit! So here the person must stop because if you do not, you start to infringe in the rights of others! By crossing that line you automatically become a psychopath afterwards! Your intention will be only to mascaraed and troll therefore infringing in the rights of others. People like that needs to be stopped and arrested before they can do more damage to others!

If you have to ask....

So...um...how many from that list do i have to have to be considered a psychopath? Wait, dont answer that...

Most of the psychopaths Iv'e met seem to have a low response to their own feelings but a full understanding of how to manipulate the feelings of others. On two occasions I discovered they are abnormally strong. Once a psyco took me and 5 friends apart, tossing us around like dolls. We beat him until we were exhausted and it still didn't stop him.

So this is saying that frat houses are breeding grounds for psychopaths right?
It is interesting to note that all of the listed psychopathic traits are generally accepted by society as "cool" and ironic behavior.

Before some people go jump into wrong conclusion I want to let you know that I am very compassionate and I care about individuals with physical disabilities. What they all need from us is our love. If I did not care for them then I would be falling in the same path of the social psychopath. However, what I cannot agree is when they start to abuse us using their disabilities in the process. It is happening today folks! They all have been giving an open blank letter from the Department of Transportation to do whatever they want. No consequences, only categories of exemptions under the Law. So here are the consequences now!

http://current.com/items/88949769_who-are-the-acoustic-polluters-in-san-francisc...

They can speak and intrude inside our homes and lives with many noise emissions all under this government passive aggressive acoustic behavior policy.

Aw Della, I love your posts. [:.

&I agree.

our species did not survive the eons by trying to understand a nut...they usually execute the psychopath..*****that is indeed a cleaner and more PC to coin a criminal

ahh the athiest playing God again,,,,

any progress in making humans better??

Well I think we can all agree a fraction can be associated with biological factors. I say we prevent stupid assholes from breeding. They are unable to properly nurture a child or provide a hospitable environment. Look up the McDonald Triad: fire starters, bed wetters, and animal torturers usually have antisocial personality disorder. Not just 1 outta 3, but the trifecta.

By the way guys I indexed this to the group
"Sensorial Sciences"
because lack of feelings, in part comes from having some of your physical sensorial abilities shut down. I lived and worked with people that were partially deaf and what was an issue for me, it was not for them. They did not even care about it. That was because they could not hear and therefore in their heads and in their thoughts that did not process and therefore did not exist.

It is interesting you found this post Delia! I just wrote a script last week about "People lack of empathy" that plagues our society lately. What inspire me to write this script came when I was reading all the foul comments about health care and some other issues that are happening on my streets. From foul government policies to individuals, there is this lack of empathy for others and that leads to many of the wrongs happening in our society today. Good Call!

geez i think one of these was in the white house not to long ago... or maybe it was a pair of them...

I think a lot of violent Psychopaths learn it from their environment and may have some predisposed genes in their psyche.

The United States are being operated by psychopath eugenicists.

being ignored + government oppression = psychopath

A mommy and a daddy. (or one good lab.)

Pretty much those that invade and harass the boundaries of others. I can name a few like:
1. San Francisco Transportation Agency
2. Motorcycles
3. Cars with modified mufflers
4. Neighbors from hell

However it is just easy to see my environmental movies and wake up to what is really happening in our Country today.

We are born the way we are.