Poll for the Armchair Psychologists

[ATasteOfHoney]

I don't find Jodi impulsive because her moves that seem impulsive- converting to Mormonism, most of the job changes, and moving to Mesa are actually calculated. It seems impulsive for a sane person to do these things, but she is not the poster girl for sanity (not insulting her, just that anyone who murders someone may not be completely sane). She calculated the conversion and the move to get and keep Travis Alexander at different times in their "relationship". Many of her job changes were calculated purely for romantic control. She didn't want to be alone and needed to find someone new to take care of her- ex; PPL, the Ventana Spa, the camp restaurant where she was with MM. Every move she has made has been some sort of almost chess move to "win" at life the easy way. But there is no easy way. She should have learned that. As far as her story about the "ninjas", I think she projected the female as the more violent one in an Edgar Allen Poe "Tell Tale Heart" kind of way. It was her subconscious's way of telling on herself. Just my opinion.

BBM: ITA with your analysis-----excellent post, Tiger.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

I am no mental doctor, so this is just my opinion.

I voted Just one crazy succubus from hell! I think Jodi is just a mash-up of all kinds of crazy. So crazy succubus from hell describes everything she is, IMO.

I'm sure there are plenty of doctors that would love to interview her and her foggy brain. I wonder if she gets the DP, if she will decide to donate her brain to science?

Haha, Rolling! She is not that interesting for the doc's to psychoanalyze. She is a common, ordinary BPD with comorbidity. Nothing too extraordinary, and just profoundly affected and never been treated; and that's the surprising part of it, if there is any at all---> she's never been in therapy, never been on meds. No big mystery though as far as making a diagnosis. Easy peasy.
'Just like the rest of us that go shopping looking to buy capri pants. Dime a dozen and no biggie. MOO.

 

[Ambiance]

a short synopsis of each since you had to look them up to find them

 

[al66pine]

I know this is an poll thread, but I can't find a better thread for my question. (Mods- move if not approp. here)

ATasteOfHoney posted in Jodi verdict watch threads:
"...BPD is a personality disorder and is an AXIS II disorder. Only AXIS I disorders (ex. schizophrenia, multiple personality/dissociative disorder) take the death penalty off the table..."
------------------------------------------------

Can anyone offer suggestions please ....

... for links, websites and/or books re mental health, mental disorders, mental illnesses, generally? Kind of a general survey for the layperson? Not too technical, DSM-lite for dummies?

To borrow ALV's 'entire context' phrase: in college in the early 1970s, I had a few psych courses, from which I now recall little more than could be shoe-horned into a Readers Digest article.

Unlike ALV I don't want to be stuck in the 1970's.
Some psych testimony in the Arias trial was consistent w. what I remember, but much wasn't. To be expected in part w. 'dueling experts."

Maybe other links, websites and/or books explainingwhich mental illness Dx support Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity defense.

I'd like to have something to read and have handy as a reference to turn to as I read the W/S armchair psych threads or true crime books.

Thx in adv. :seeya:

 

[cassius4]

I'm bipolar, she's not. Trust me.

 

[Forensics1]

It has been a long time since I was a working child psychologist in 1975 to 1980. Things have changed and I am no longer up to date on the latest diagnostic codes, descriptions, etc... But here is my take.

Arias is a sociopath. These days I think she would have been termed as having 'anti-social personality disorder'. Clearly she meets the criteria for ASPD. Now that she has murdered someone, and performed as she has during the trial, I believe she has earned the title of 'sociopath' as well.

Or, just call her evil.

Ciao

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

It has been a long time since I was a working child psychologist in 1975 to 1980. Things have changed and I am no longer up to date on the latest diagnostic codes, descriptions, etc... But here is my take.

Arias is a sociopath. These days I think she would have been termed as having 'anti-social personality disorder'. Clearly she meets the criteria for ASPD. Now that she has murdered someone, and performed as she has during the trial, I believe she has earned the title of 'sociopath' as well.

Or, just call her evil.

Ciao

The MMPI (gold seal test) "suggested" BPD, clearly.

 

[MEC]

I'm not a mental health professional, but I'm definitely an armchair psychologist. I think she is a psychopath with narcissistic personality disorder.

I had to reject BPD, because they are usually known for their intense feelings. I don't think psychopaths have intense feelings about anything, except for maybe rage.

I don't really understand the difference between sociopath and psychopath. I'm beginning to think that they might be different terms for the same thing. Or perhaps a way of designating that society may have made them that way (sociopath) vs. being "born with it" (psychopath). Totally not positive about my diagnosis, though. I'm sure I could be persuaded to throw any of the cluster B's at her.

:twocents:

 

[Cate49]

How wonderful to see the crew again and the new posters. Though I am far from any type of professional I did do some psych courses in collage many moons ago. The multiple personality disorder as many believe from the movie "Sybil" staring Carrie Fisher is an extremely rare mental illness. The fact that different personalities having no knowledge of the others is just not common. I am fairly certain there is but a handful of true multiply personalities documented.
It is my opinion that sociopaths are not all murders. The opposite in fact they coexist with us frequently. IMHO they are the heads of governments and corporations that lack the empathy, remorse. They are our wonderful neighbors that would help you at the drop of the hat. Our parents, siblings and friends. It is not a rare and does not always equate to violence. My question is "is this psycopathy more prevalent in this time more than any other and if so why".

 

[SaucyGal]

I am new to the WS community. I do not know this case very well, but I have seen a good portion of interviews JA has given, as well as testimony given by a few people. My opinion is that JA has AsPD. In many cases AsPD goes hand in hand with narcissism.

I recently gave a presentation on PD, specifically AsPD. I am currently an undergrad student, but I already have a degree from the "school of hard knocks". My son has AsPD along with a myriad of other disorders. He has had issues since he was very young eventually being diagnosed with conduct disorder as a minor. He then "graduated" to full blown psychopathy as an adult. I would be interested in knowing more of JA's childhood.

On a side note, I am only on day 8 of the trial and have watched the network interviews she has given. Any recommendations on key days/testimony or should I just continue to watch the trial in its entirety? TIA...Btw, it is great to be here.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I am new to the WS community. I do not know this case very well, but I have seen a good portion of interviews JA has given, as well as testimony given by a few people. My opinion is that JA has AsPD. In many cases AsPD goes hand in hand with narcissism.

I recently gave a presentation on PD, specifically AsPD. I am currently an undergrad student, but I already have a degree from the "school of hard knocks". My son has AsPD along with a myriad of other disorders. He has had issues since he was very young eventually being diagnosed with conduct disorder as a minor. He then "graduated" to full blown psychopathy as an adult. I would be interested in knowing more of JA's childhood.

On a side note, I am only on day 8 of the trial and have watched the network interviews she has given. Any recommendations on key days/testimony or should I just continue to watch the trial in its entirety? TIA...Btw, it is great to be here.

Welcome to Websleuths! Glad to have you!

Sorry about your son.

I am in total agreement with you, Jodi's a psychopath.


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[Linda7NJ]

How wonderful to see the crew again and the new posters. Though I am far from any type of professional I did do some psych courses in collage many moons ago. The multiple personality disorder as many believe from the movie "Sybil" staring Carrie Fisher is an extremely rare mental illness. The fact that different personalities having no knowledge of the others is just not common. I am fairly certain there is but a handful of true multiply personalities documented.
It is my opinion that sociopaths are not all murders. The opposite in fact they coexist with us frequently. IMHO they are the heads of governments and corporations that lack the empathy, remorse. They are our wonderful neighbors that would help you at the drop of the hat. Our parents, siblings and friends. It is not a rare and does not always equate to violence. My question is "is this psycopathy more prevalent in this time more than any other and if so why".

Oooooh great conversation starter, in headed to bed now but will be sure to post tomorrow!


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[ShadyLadySleuth]

How wonderful to see the crew again and the new posters. Though I am far from any type of professional I did do some psych courses in collage many moons ago. The multiple personality disorder as many believe from the movie "Sybil" staring Carrie Fisher is an extremely rare mental illness. The fact that different personalities having no knowledge of the others is just not common. I am fairly certain there is but a handful of true multiply personalities documented.
It is my opinion that sociopaths are not all murders. The opposite in fact they coexist with us frequently. IMHO they are the heads of governments and corporations that lack the empathy, remorse. They are our wonderful neighbors that would help you at the drop of the hat. Our parents, siblings and friends. It is not a rare and does not always equate to violence. My question is "is this psycopathy more prevalent in this time more than any other and if so why".

BBM

To your last question, it is my own opinion that the answer is NO, it is not more prevalent in our time. I believe that with the increase in technology, e.g. TV, Radio, Internet, etc., more people are aware of it and it has a label that most people recognize. In earlier times, it went by differing names undoubtedly. Con man, thief, evil person, liar, cheat, moral depravity, unethical, to name a few common names. But now, clinicians all over the world can use the guidelines developed in our time and agree on a diagnosis. But human nature does not change and probably never will. Just my 2cents worth.

 

[Kindl Cat]

Whatever her diagnosis is -- she is a very dangerous person -- I don't see how therapy (talk therapy) could help her --- but I wonder if there are any meds to address her "issues" -- I have a background in counseling, but I'm not really familiar with specific meds -- If anyone has a background in this, I'd like to hear your opinion.

 

[Cate49]

It would be in jodi's best interest to be silent in her twitters and post veridic. She can't seem to remove herself from the light. Narcism just a tad.

 

[Cate49]

In my own opinion I feel sociopathy and anti social personality disorders are more prevalent than in the past. The increase in occurrence I can only speculate the result being the increase in population. The drive of greed and control and power all of which these personalities thrive. The enormous status we give to money, celebrity, power can in my belief create some incidence of the disorders. Another percentage born with the disorder and those created by external conditioning.
From the many posts that I have read of those brave people that share their experience. Borderline personality seems to be more of "war to the self not outward aggression". That is not always the case ase there are many exceptions in the field of mental illness.
The treatment for sociopathy and/or anti- social behavior is a indeed complex one for several factors. There is varying opinion on the differences in the two terms with anti-social personality bring a broader spectrum of behavior. The other factor is the comorbity of other combinations of personalities that I personal see in Jodi. The treatment would be unlikely to be sought by people with these disorders. Primarly because they do not see the illness in their self. Treatment is sought out from family and friends or court ordered treatment. The ducess of which is challenging because they do not see it in themselves despite the chaos/crime they create. They project blame of their actions on others and feel smarter than those trying to treat their condition. Some on this thread have spoken of DBT therapy of having success. The posts are on the previous armchair threads. I'd encourage anyone to read as they contain the experiences of the family and those living with these disorders. Experience can be the best teacher in understanding the sociopathic/ anti-social personality disorder and the effective treatments. It also expresses our own experience of family members not seeking treatment mentioned above. The effectiveness of the treatment of mental illness is still in infancy stages. The true cause of these disorders only touches the iceberg in understanding. My own opinion on the treatment of psychiatric behavior varies as I see the insanity of trying to derive evidence of illness from ink blotts. Freud had a host of his own personal issues as do we all and perhaps that too is the challenge of treatment. All of this is my simple opinion from a simple person. It makes me happy that justice was awarded Travis. The jury did their jobs and we should thank them for their ability to do so as I personal find it very hard to judge others. Especially in a case so intense with the world watching. Juours shipould themselves receive counseling IMO from the evidence and stress brought on by a brutal murder. I also see victims on both sides of this case. No winners or losers just heart wrenching saddness of lives distroyed and the loved ones left in the ashes.

 

[Tiger09]

How wonderful to see the crew again and the new posters. Though I am far from any type of professional I did do some psych courses in collage many moons ago. The multiple personality disorder as many believe from the movie "Sybil" staring Carrie Fisher is an extremely rare mental illness. The fact that different personalities having no knowledge of the others is just not common. I am fairly certain there is but a handful of true multiply personalities documented.
It is my opinion that sociopaths are not all murders. The opposite in fact they coexist with us frequently. IMHO they are the heads of governments and corporations that lack the empathy, remorse. They are our wonderful neighbors that would help you at the drop of the hat. Our parents, siblings and friends. It is not a rare and does not always equate to violence. My question is "is this psycopathy more prevalent in this time more than any other and if so why".

Good post- but as a Sally Field fan, she was in the movie, not Princess Leia . MPD is a controversial diagnosis and IMO totally not what Jodi has, but I get the hysteria and fictional aspect because about a yr or so ago an awesome and controversial book came out called Exposing Sybil. Very good read. In a nutshell, it discusses how docs of the time used suggestive therapy and meds to "present" MPD and there is evidence in the author of the book Sybil that she may have been one of those cases. Many things in the book were fabricated and whatnot. What's interesting is that the real Sybil did have a personality a tad like Jodi's. She was a decent artist, strange relationship with mom (yeah the abuse was fabricated), and manipulative in weird ways. Check it out.

 

[Cate49]

Good post- but as a Sally Field fan, she was in the movie, not Princess Leia . MPD is a controversial diagnosis and IMO totally not what Jodi has, but I get the hysteria and fictional aspect because about a yr or so ago an awesome and controversial book came out called BalExposing Sybil. Very good read. In a nutshell, it discusses how docs of the time used suggestive therapy and meds to "present" MPD and there is evidence in the author of the book Sybil that she may have been one of those cases. Many things in the book were fabricated and whatnot. What's interesting is that the real Sybil did have a personality a tad like Jodi's. She was a decent artist, strange relationship with mom (yeah the abuse was fabricated), and manipulative in weird ways. Check it out.

LOl thanks for the movie clarification my memory is not always on spot. Indeed there are people with multiple personality and the person the movie was in reference to was real. It is a very rare incidence in the true journals of mental illness. The power of suggestion by a therapist needs to be considered. It dies not take much to sway a fragile personality/ego into the belief of dissociative disorders or other suggestive disorders. It is my opinion that one clinical diagnosis should always be confirmed by other clinical physicians to confirm or dispute. But, as in this case 3 qualified therapists gave varying opinions of the nature of Jodi's personality. We all clearly identified more or
less with the individual opinions.
There was a program recently about a woman that sought treatment from psychologist in her teens. They shared commonality of poetry and philosophy and the relationship became sexual while she was a minor. Later in life as a middle aged woman she murder him.
The point if I can still remember it would be simplistic. The diagnosis and treatment can be subjective. We all have egos that are week or strong or varying and this needs to be calculated into factor. The field of mental illness is today in my opinion still in infancy. I live my life trying to understand who/why I am. The work is vast and it is a quest that I will not doubt need to work on until the end of my life.

 

[Tiger09]

I think I heard about a case similar to that- sorry I'm in the hospital with a Crohn's flare on pain meds so forgive me if I sound cloudy lol - but anyway I remember seeing on maybe Snapped or something where a woman married her shrink and ended up divorcing him then killing him. It was devastating because one of their teen sons was home at the time and she dragged the victim through the mud. Of course, the poor kids were torn and confused. It was heartbreaking- but borderline personality- which JA has been diagnosed with is not close to MPD- a closer thing would be schizophrenia. This is due to the hearing of voices and the "fracturing" of the mind. In fact many of the cases that were diagnosed MPD were indeed schizophrenia. I never finished my bachelors in psych, but I came close- a semester or two away and I have been in therapy for a while lol. Also, I'm just curious like anyone else.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I have a question.

Lets say someone has an IQ of 122 and that would make them more intelligent than 93% of the population. Lets say they were well aware of that. Would that make them a narcissist?



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