:twocents:
Thank you, Smooth Operator! I hope people don't mind all the psychological mumbo-jumbo I come out with in my posts. I know this isn't a mental health thread -- it's about helping to find Sky. I post about psychology because I think starting to develop a profile of a potential perpetrator can be helpful in untangling the details of a crime (and, it's a total bonus to hear that it's helping some posters understand themselves or family members/friends better!).
That said, if a person has a diagnosed personality disorder, one of the hallmarks of these types of disorders is what we might view as manipulation, "pulling the wool over someone's eyes," and presenting as one person at a certain time and as another person at a different time. It's all in attempt to get your needs met -- at whatever cost.
Just to back up my statements, here's some diagnostic criteria for various personality disorders, as quoted from the DSM-IV: "deception, repeated lying, conning others for profit or pleasure, reckless disregard for safety of others, lack of remorse, rationalization, instability of mood, identity disturbance"
and on it goes.
Also, it should be said that, so far as I know, JB was never diagnosed with a personality disorder. She was diagnosed with mood and anxiety disorders, which are very different. Diagnosis in general is highly subjective; it's not an exact science. What one clinician might see as bipolar disorder (with marked highs and lows in mood) might be seen by another clinician as borderline personality disorder (which includes often rapid mood swings/affect disregulation, as a person with borderline PD reacts strongly to environmental and relational changes). Persons with diagnosable personality disorders can also be very good at getting a clinician to diagnosis them with something other than a personality disorder, and you can see how that would happen with the above diagnostic criteria.
Just a thought....perhaps JB was misdiagnosed. :twocents: