The Psycho of Wall Street: Diagnosing Patrick Bateman in American Psycho

Thesis Statement: Despite the common misconception that Aspergers is a disability, Christopher Boon demonstrates that the syndrome provides him with distinct advantages.

In the Movie, American Psycho, Patrick Bateman demonstrate challenges to identify his unique type of personality theories. The purpose of this essay is to review a selected film as a Psychology student, and discuss it from a psychological perspective. Also in this paper providing a diagnosis for a character in the movie and discuss the behaviors that support the selected diagnosis, and to explain and discuss the mental illness depicted in the film.

Personality disorders are pervasive in nature, and are depicted in various mediums from film to novels. Narcissism will be discussed as it pertains to American Psycho; a film made in the early 2000’s to describe a man who lives a double life as a business man and serial killer. The main character in particular, Patrick Bateman displays with themes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and his case along with the factors that are congruent with Narcissistic Personality Disorder will be discussed throughout.

Some of the characteristics of those who have autism consist of repetitive thinking and compulsive attention in things like symbols, languages and numbers. The cause of autism is not yet known as of now, however, many people consider it a genetic disorder which takes place at birth. Christopher Boone has one specific form of autism known as Asperger’s syndrome, his disorder is reflected through his fascination with mathematics, detail, astronomy and colours; his thoughts on routine and violent hatred to interaction, even though it is not specified in the book. In 1943 Leo Kanner a psychiatrist published a paper surrounded around the research of 11 young patients that fit into a fine variety of diagnostic principles that he measured out to be autistic. During Kanner’s career he has seen fewer than 150 cases that go with the description he came up with of the syndrome, he theorised that autism was very unsupported and rare. Autism turned out to be a foundation of embarrassment and several of those who were diagnosed were certified; in the 1970s everything started to change (Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Simons Foundation, n.d.). Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner both used the word autism, in the 1940s when they were doing

Approximately 947,570 Americans have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), however, it is not an easy disorder to explain (Bashe 19). With multiple conditions and characteristics in each case, AS is not an easy disorder to diagnose. Asperger’s Syndrome was named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician, who first described the disorder in 1944 after studying a group of children with similar, unusual characteristics. However, AS was not made an official disease until 1994. Consequently, Asperger disease is just now becoming published and popular so there is still research and questions being answered. Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, is noted by above-average

Asperger’s syndrome, which is also referred to as Asperger's disorder, is a type of Persuasive Developmental Disorder. Persuasive Developmental Disorder or PDD are a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of basic skills, the most recognizable of these skills is the ability to communicate and socialize with others as well as use their own imagination. Although Asperger's syndrome is similar in some ways to autism, there are important differences between the two. Children with Asperger's syndrome typically function higher than those children with autism. In addition to them being higher functioning; children with Asperger's syndrome generally have normal intelligence and slightly less than normal language development.

Autism is a brain disorder that is characterized by slow and difficult comprehension of spoken and non-verbal communication and repetition of behaviors. Autism is normally noticed in the first two years of a child (Myers & Johnson, 2007). Asperger syndrome is an autistic disorder that has almost the same similarities with autism. People with Asperger syndrome have little comprehension of the world and its surroundings and poor communication with other people. People with Asperger syndrome are hard to recognize, as they do not show on their outward appearances. They are average or above average intellectually and have fewer problems in terms of speech and specific learning disabilities unlike in autism. These difficulties include dyslexia, epilepsy, and attention

It was hard for me to watch this movie and separate Napoleon’s behaviors from his friends and family members. Many of the things he does and says are like those of the people around him. His overall weirdness was not behavior that I immediately would have identified as Asperger’s, rather someone who is simply a little odd. However, as I continued to watch the movie I was able to find certain examples that could be red flags for Asperger’s.

Since the understanding of psychiatric disorders have becomes more common in population, art pieces like movies and novels began use people with some extent psychiatric disorders as their main characters. In Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’s movie Rain man, Dustin portrayed a man called Raymond, and be diagnosed as autism. The movie present his experience with his brother which portrayed by Tom. According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed,; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), Raymond is diagnosed as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This paper will describe the symptoms on DSM-5 accompany Raymond’s behaviors in the movie. Moreover, biological, psychological, and social factors could influence ASD’s development in variance ways. The suggested treatment will also be discussed.

1. This book allows one to look into the mind of an eleven year old girl suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. It gives you examples concerning how she thinks and acts based on her surroundings and emotions.

The relationship between Asperger syndrome and autism has been a controversial topic in psychology. There is not a definite correlation which has been decided upon between the two and chiefly due to the fact that they are both overly similar. Concisely, psychologists seek to identify the main difference between them. In a simpler way, it is not yet clear whether autism and Asperger syndrome should be defined as independent (distinct) terms, or whether Asperger syndrome should be categorized under the wider realm of autism. In their researche, multiple scholars have come upon differing opinions and theories in support of their own perceptions of the two disorders which either agree or disagree at some point. Asperger syndrome is derived from Hans Asperger who is highly recognized for his efforts in defining the disease which many scholars had described as not diagnosable (Mayes, Calhoun & Crites, 2001).

By adding to the already numerous amount of headlines surrounding Adam Lanza’s diagnosis, First Post continued the cycle of linking mental illness with violence and tragedy. Even today, a person is far more likely to read news headlines linking a person with a mental health condition to a violent act or tragic event, rather than linking a person with a mental health condition to a positive situation. One good aspect about this article, though, was the inclusion of information on Asperger’s Syndrome by psychologist Laugeson and psychologist Eric Butter. The article listed poor social skills, repetitives behaviors and interests, and poor communication as common symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome and general autism. They also stated that Asperger’s Syndrome differs from autism, as delays in mental development and speech are not typical in those with this disorder. First Post gives an account from Lanza’s former classmates of the type of behavior he exhibited during high school. Whether the article meant to or not, as a reader, including this along with the

“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.

The novel presents characters that represent the symptoms and complications of Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Behavior is dysfunctional, when it interferes with a person’s ability to function on a daily basis (Davis&Palladino, 2007). Some of the more common characteristics of Asperger Syndrome include difficulty in communication, problems expressing feelings, devotion to routine, and obsessive interests in one or more topics (Jaffe, 2010). John’s father, Mr. Tyree conveys indication of the psychological disorder in his behavior throughout the entire novel.

Asperger’s syndrome is one of the most common forms of autism and most children with this form are high functioning in specific areas as well as lack social skills and Theory of Mind.