Review : ' Strange Questions On The Psychopath Test '

Diagnosing an individual with a mental illness balances on a fine line between giving a life-long label and misdiagnosing. Mental illness is best viewed on a continuum allowing for a varying degree of severity. In the field, mental health professionals are faced with determining what signifies the appropriateness of diagnosing a mental illness. A professional’s judgment is impacted by their personal perceptions and observations, societies views and norms, and the patient’s history. The film, “How Mad Are You? A Search for Insanity” demonstrates the difficulties in distinguishing those who are mentally ill from those seen as healthy ( ). I will explore my reactions and thoughts regarding the participants’ experience as well as the mental health professionals. Additionally, I will share how this information is applicable to my future career in the field of social work.

Tony is very smart but also quite poor. His family didn't have enough money to send him to school but since he was smart and the nuns had faith in him they were able to provide him with a scholarship: “His family could not afford to send him to school. But the nuns believed in him because he was smart and a good boy.” (McKay 44). This shows how tony was viewed as a person before everything with the LRA happened. Tony also had a dream to become a priest when he was older. He never openly said it but it was very obvious to others; “ He has never actually said to his friends, but everyone knew that tony really wanted to become a priest.” (McKay 45). This shows that Tony wanted to go to school to repay god and how much of a good kid we was and how he didn't deserve to have to become a rebel soldier.

According to the “Hare Psycopathy Checklist” a psychopath is a person who knows right from wrong in our society but often feels no guilt, remorse or empathy when they engage in wrong actions. They lie easily, blame others for their actions and often hurt people who are close to them. David Berkowitz meets the criteria of Hare’s checklist and is believed to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz is known as the “Son of Sam”, a thrill seeking serial killer who terrorized the city of New York for over a year. Information about David Berkowitz’s background, personality traits and lifestyle and his serial killer profile help to prove that he is in fact a psychopath. In conclusion, this essay will prove to readers that David Berkowitz is a notorious

“Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do?” (Easton Ellis). Are we considered evil by our action or thoughts? If we are constantly contemplating evil and horrific thoughts but do not act upon them, the initial thoughts may still influence our unconscious minds, which can then, in turn, affect our conscious thoughts and actions indirectly. Compare that to those who act upon their evil thoughts and therefore are more authentic to their natural and uninfluenced personality. Humans are strongly related to our savage animal brothers; however we do everything in our means to appear separate and civilized. Regardless of our attempt at separation, we still remain savage beasts by nature and suppressing our natural state only makes our

It can be postulated that the Joker is in fact an individual who has become fixated on one of these stages; more specifically the oral stage. This hypothesis stems from the observation that he consistently licks his lips through the duration of the film. Freud's theory would suggest that he does this as a way to feel pleasure or comfort. For instance, during the interrogation scene with Batman it is evident that the Joker is anxious and constantly licks his lips, perhaps as a way to diminish his feeling of anxiety ( De La Noy & Nolan, 2008). The question that remains is why is the joker fixated at this stage? Could it be due to his traumatic experience? Does the pleasure associated with this horrible experience have anything to do with his psychopathic nature? Unfortunately, the responses to these questions are entirely based on the different interpretations each individual has and, therefore; the true answers may never be known.

In 1973, psychologist David Rosenhan published “On Being Sane in Insane Places” which documents the results of studies he and his confederates conducted at 12 different psychiatric hospitals across the United States. The studies were an examination into the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis methods. Rosenhan’s research focused on testing the hypothesis of whether or not psychiatrists and medical staff can distinguish the sane from the insane and if the characteristics that lead to diagnoses relate more to the patient or to the environment and context in which they’re being assessed. (Rosenhan, 1973) The study was divided into two main parts. Participant observations and comparative information studies were noted as well as they gave valuable insight into the treatment of psychiatric patients, conditions in psychiatric hospitals, and the effect that diagnostic labels had on how patients were perceived by staff. Ultimately, the study discovered that psychiatrists could not reliably distinguish the sane from the insane and insight was gained into how diagnostic labels and environmental context play a strong role in the perception of behavior.

The character’s name was Anthony Stark, but was known as Tony (Admin1). Tony Stark was an engineer who suffered from a heart injury when he was kidnapped by a group of terrorists. He created a suit of armor that empowered his escape, and helps in protecting the world. Tony Stark is a very witty character. Tony uses sarcasm throughout many comic books, and all of his movies.

He grew up without a father, it was because of this loss that he often wondered what it would be like to have one. The fact that his own brother was hanging around the wrong people and falling deeper, and deeper into the world that demolishes any chances of a decent future for young people. A world full of violence, drugs, and imprisonment. Tony undoubtedly influenced Wes for the worst. This is obvious when the author writes, “To Wes, Tony was a “certified gangsta.”

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.

Definition of psychopath is someone who with a sociopathic personality; a person with an antisocial personality disorder.

Schizophrenia is a mental ailment in which the person inflicted is taunted by uncontrollable voices heard inside their heads and very vivid, realistic hallucinations. The voices and hallucinations can be benevolent, but they can also be violent. Many cases constitute of people being told by such voices to hurt themselves or others. People who suffer from Schizophrenia are often isolated from society and admitted into psychiatric wards and mental institutions for the majority of their lives. The general public does not understand the torment that these people go through on a day-to-day basis. In order to give readers insight into the mind of a schizophrenic, the poet Jim Stevens uses the depleting condition and turmoil taking place inside

While growing up the words, “ Think before speaking,” were placed in people’s mind. There are few people that don’t consider this and this phrase is meaningless to them. The thoughtless words they speak may sometimes affect the people around them. Being thoughtless makes people be selfish and cruel too because they only care about themselves. They don’t show consideration for the needs of others. Sometimes these particular behaviors can consider a person to be a psychopath or it may not. Psychopathy is described as a personality behavior considered by suffering from antisocial behavior, lack of remorse and empathy, and not being afraid of any risk. To determine if someone is a psychopath there is psychological assessment. For instance, in the book The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, he informs the readers about a Canadian psychologist called Bob Hare; who designed a psychopath test to diagnose psychopaths (Ronson 59). This checklist test will help me diagnose if my older brother

“I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip" (Harron) thought Patrick Bateman as he contemplated his growing feelings of emptiness and need for bloodlust. American psycho is the story of a greedy, materialistic, self obsessed businessman who transforms into an unstable and violent sociopath. Abnormal behavior can be defined by four patterns deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger (Comer 2). Deviance is exhibited as unusual, or extreme behavior. Throughout the movie, Bateman was very blunt and would casually say violent, graphic comments. The only time Bateman experienced distress was towards the end of the movie when he couldn’t stop killing. He began to panic, called his lawyer to confess, and didn’t go into work. However, most of the time Bateman said he enjoyed the rush of a kill. Typically, abnormal behavior interferes with the person's ability to conduct daily activities (Comer 2). As a result of Bateman’s abnormalities he could not sustain a healthy relationship. The most extreme characteristic of Batemans abnormal behavior was that it caused him to put others in danger.

Of all the psychiatric disorders, none are more chilling to the world then the psychopaths and sociopaths. These two disorders, categorized as antisocial personality disorders, bring about the absolute worse people and killers that the world has ever known. The infamous serial killers, the people who do the unimaginable, were all psychopaths. The ability of these people to do what they do and know that what they are doing is wrong, is perhaps one of the most chilling and shocking characteristic of these people. Psychopaths and sociopaths are very often thought by most to be the same disorder, yet they are different when classified by many psychiatric researchers. The people classified as psychopaths and sociopaths are separated by one main difference, and that is if they were born with a lack of the ability to empathize or if they were affected as children in a traumatic environment. Although both of these horrible disorders derive from a different area, the reality is that they are unpredictable, undetectable and most importantly, they can be very dangerous.

Tony is an indian. In the beginning, you get the impression, that he is a sweet, innocent and caring boy. He’s very helpful but also very naive. Through the story, it gets more and more clear, that there is something mentally wrong with Tony. He keeps believing, that the cop is something that his parents warned him about in his childhood, wich he calls ‘a masked dancer’. His parents told him not to look into the eyes, so in Tony’s head, the cop’s sunglasses equals the masked dancer’s mask. And Tony ends up killing the cop, and telling Leon that everything is O.K., it’s killed, they somethimes take on strange forms. He also compares the cop’s raised billy club to the witch’s raised human-bone in his dream.