PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONS. PART 1

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In an effort to move somewhat away from descriptions that contain moral values, the classifications of mental disorders have moved away from the term "psychopathic" and replaced it with "antisocial." However, most authors prefer to use the old term "psychopathic" instead of the modern "antisocial", explaining that the term "psychopathic" combines intrapsychic and interpersonal characteristics, as well as biological characteristics that are not reflected in the description of antisocial personality disorder. Many people with a psychopathic personality are not overtly antisocial, that is, they do not overtly destroy social norms (3, 4, 5). Given that "psychopath" always resorts to the exploitation of social relations, the term "antisocial" does seem unfortunate. Although if we keep in focus that the main problem of a psychopath is the leadership of the opposite morality, accepted in society, this definition does not seem so unfortunate.

A person with a psychopathic personality structure is a person who failed to experience a feeling of attachment, as a result of which he was unable to incorporate good objects into his inner world and did not identify with those who cared for him. The main thing that a psychopathic person is concerned about is dominance, the establishment of his dominance and the deliberate manipulation of others. Psychopathic manipulation differs from manipulative techniques used relatively unconsciously in other personality disorders in order to satisfy their needs indirectly. The psychopath always has a constant urge to “make” the other, with an accompanying feeling of arrogant delight when the victory is won. In other variants of personality disorders, manipulation is aimed at achieving emotional closeness / distance, the goal of psychopath manipulation is to dominate and destroy predatoryly (2, 3, 5).

Regarding the mental dynamics of psychopathic personalities, it is known that they use primitive defenses, such as omnipotent control, projective identification, and various forms of dissociation (1, 2, 3).

Deprived of the experience of communicating with reliable attachment figures, the child identifies with the so-called “alien self-object,” which is perceived as a predator. This I-object is an a priori representation that structures the image of the enemy, which is present both within us and in the external world. In a child with a developing psychopathic structure, the predator archetype is predominantly internalized as an I-object (5).

A sense of human affection contributes to the development of emotions and the nervous system. Ideally, in the first year of life, the parts of the nervous system associated with experiences are formed through the consistent, progressive construction of attachment between the mother and the child, if the nascent consciousness of a child with an individual temperament and genetic code meets a hostile and dangerous environment or figures providing care behind him, then a tendency to violence is laid. Parents who are hostile or completely indifferent can cause trauma that will be felt for generations to come. After receiving an injury, a child develops a need for solitude, which coexists with hatred, fear, shame and despair, which should remain invisible to others, especially to himself. If a healthy child is confronted with fearsome caregivers, then he does not develop the much-needed attachments that contribute to emotional development and the formation of a mature nervous system (2, 3, 4, 5).

Failure to gain attachment leads to problems with internalization, which, in turn, leads to the fact that the superego is not formed. In the absence of a functioning Super-Ego, a state that O. Kernberg called "pathology of the Super-Ego", a person manipulates or exploits others without feeling guilty or remorse (2).

Clinical observation concerns the emotions that the gaze of the "psychopath" evokes:

“The reptilian, predatory gaze [of the psychopath] is, in a sense, the complete opposite of the tender gaze of a child gazing into the eyes of the mother. The nascent self is reflected as an object of hunting, not love. The frozen gaze of a psychopath conveys anticipation of instinctive pleasure rather than empathic concern. In this interaction of two beings, the main thing is power, not affection "(Mela; 5 each)

People with psychopathic disorder, unlike other types of disorders, are more likely to commit aggressive actions that are inherently “cold-blooded” and “predatory” than “warm-blooded” and affective ones. The aggressiveness of a predator is to find, wait, track, and then attack the prey. The hidden behavior of a predator indicates a low level of affective and physiological arousal. Affective aggression occurs when an internal or external threat arises, as a result of which the activity of the autonomic nervous system is activated and a posture of attack or defense is adopted: the heart rate increases, breathing becomes intermittent, anxiety increases. Predatory aggression is the hallmark of a psychopathic person, whether it be a primitive act of violence against an outsider or a deliberately refined act of revenge against one's business partner (4, 5).

There are various "versions" of psychopathic personalities from bloody rapists and murderers to softer "versions" of financial swindlers (of varying degrees of scale) and opportunists. That is, there are variants of "psychopaths" with more flexible Him and more successfully adapted personally and socially. However, in their interactions with other people, they bring an element of seduction, provocation, deception, neglect, anticipation of unbridled sex and violence.

In some cases, the underlying psychopathic structure may remain unrecognized for the time being. However, in some cases, "inexperienced viewers" may fall into despair from the sudden act of some forty-year-old mother of two children, who suddenly left the family for a financially successful man living in the neighborhood, who continued for a number of years with unfathomable immoral serenity. children and not bothering to go to them to visit. Even greater horror and confusion among people who sympathize with poor children and an unhappy husband will be caused by the news that by that time a forty-five-year-old woman with calm indifference will leave her next victim in order to enter into a homosexual union with a man whose marriage will allow her obtain the desired citizenship. In a conversation with the eldest daughter, who, having gained courage, will find her mother after a few years and ask her the question: “Mom, have you always been a lesbian?”, The woman will answer: “No, I’m not a lesbian, I am not attracted to women at all. I have to wait another half a year and I will divorce. " The abandoned daughter, secretly dreaming of knowing that all her mother's actions were dictated by her homosexual desires, which she could not realize, had to learn about her mother's inherent psychopathic character, expressed in a calm indifference to the suffering of others, which she causes and dispassionately observes, accepting them evidence of their power. The sequel to this dramatic story is based on a psychopathic sense of envy, which set off a whirlwind of sweeping manipulation in the woman aimed at destroying the sense of closeness between the sisters and their father in order to destroy what she herself had never experienced - the pleasure of the ability to love.

Literature:

1. Dmitrieva N. Korolenko Ts. Personality disorders, 2010
2. Kergberg O. Aggression in Personality Disorders, 1998
3. Lindjardi W. Guide to Psychoanalytic Diagnostics, 2019
4. McWilliams N. Psychoanalytic Diagnostics, 2007
5. Dougherty N., West J. The Matrix and Character Potential, 2014