First I wanted to say hi - I am new here too so it is nice to see other new people joining this forum (which seems to become less active nowdays compared to what it used to be years ago, when I wasn't around). :seeya:
I very much agree about the sociopath part. In fact, I actually believe that her need for attention is one of the main reasons she killed her boys. Someone in this forum (unfortunately, I can't remember who and in which thread) put it very well - Darlie must have felt depressed because with kids taking up most of her time and money problems growing she wasn't feeling like the center of the attention anymore and these murders - if she would've gotten away with them - was a perfect way for her to get lots and lots of attention and condolences as a grieving mother who lost two of her sons.
I totally agree that it is impossible for a healthy mind to understand the way a sociopath thinks. I believe that is why so many people still support Darlie.
Also - I agree with you that for Darlie it would really be a more painful punishment to be sentenced to life. No attention, no documentaries made, no one would be interested in her if that was the case.
Hi.
I didn't know the distinction between a sociopath and a psychopath. I looked it up yesterday. I didn't look it up in DSM III, though.
The one main difference I noticed is that a psychopath doesn't learn from his/her mistakes. That disqualifies Darlie from that diagnosis. She is certifiably, undeniably, stone cold lock, irrefutably, dyed-in-the-wool sociopathic. I think she has psychopathic leanings but doesn't fit the entire profile.
I believe the clinical term you're looking for is "attention *advertiser censored*". :rockon:
Oh yeah, without a doubt she is. She's a lifer AW. Someone else here called it Histrionic Personality Disorder but she takes it to a whole 'nother dimension. She's that and so much more.
She could easily be a whole career for some entrepeneuring psychiatrist who's looking to make a name for himself on one case study.
You're right. She could have and certainly would milked being the distraught Mother boys who were murdered by an intruder (who, of course, would never have been caught) her whole life for everything it's worth. I'm sure she would have hired an agent to get her booked on everything from Maury Povich to 60 Minutes to the Morton Downey Show. And she would have gleefully cashed every check and kept all the money. "College fund for Drake? Nawwww. He'll be fine."
She would have been America's Victim Princess for Life. "Well, Don Pardo, tell her what she's won!!"
I realize that some people can't wrap their minds around things they can't wrap their minds around.
In other words, they can't know (will never realize) what they can't know.
Does that make sense?
That's why the old adage "you can't win an argument with a fool" is still true today.
Her family is simply in denial. They will never see their Little Princess for the Sick, Demented, Sociopathic Murderess she became. Her Mom will go to her grave defending her poor, victimized daughter. They have no interest or incentive to try to understand the mind of a sociopath.
If you listen to interviews of profilers like Robert Ressler (RIP) and John Douglas you'll hear them describe traits of serial killers, but they'll never say they understand them fully. I don't think anyone ever will.