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Hybristophilia: Women who love Criminals

19/4/2014

 
I have to admit that the Oscar Trials have awakened my interest in psychopathy once again, on various levels. There was, for example, the occasional (or more than occasional) person shouting “I love you, Oscar!” outside the court rooms, which started me thinking on “groupies” and other related pathologies.

A Hybristophile is a person (mostly women) who is attracted to men who commit extreme/or outrages crimes on other, such as rape and murder. Often then, the focus of attention is therefore someone who has been imprisoned and obviously, received a lot of celebrity status*.

What normally happens is that the passive hybristophile (I am not addressing the aggressive hybristophile here, e.g. where the female is actively involved in the crime, sometimes even the instigator) may contact a prisoner based on what they have read or seen in the media.  Once they get a response, off they’re running with an imaginary love affair.

These “jail romances” – as often the hybristophili would actually get engaged and even marry the prisoner – are the result of an active search for a partner within that particular community. What I mean with “active search” and “particular community” refers to some of the possible reasons why these women might be attracted to an accused or prisoner of outrages crimes in the first place.

Some women view it as the ultimate expression of masculinity to have committed these outrages. (The adolescent bad-boy attraction taken to its ultimate). Which it isn’t of course, it basically adulates the most horrific aspects of gender-stereotyping.

From an evolutionary perspective, it might even make some type of unconscious biological sense to some to want to bear the children of such a man; as their children might have better chance of survival (indicating a very primitive level of functioning).

*It has also been speculated whether attaching themselves to such men, could be a way for these women to achieve higher social status. A lot of it has to do with these perpetrators having celebrity status which gives to some women, a “rosy glow” whether it might be kidnapping, assault, rape of murder).

After the first meeting, should the prisoner/accused have responded to their letters, these women are always surprised at his ordinariness, his seeming humanity, his respectful communication (and charm, in the case of psychopaths). Some like dogs, others have cats, some have normal hobbies whether cooking of gardening (no-one ever claimed criminals not to have human qualities as well) and some even have special talents.

The woman is a-washed with relief and now all types of out-of-this-world qualities can be ascribed to him, including excuses for what he has done.  (Passive hybristophiliacs tend to put themselves in positions to be seduced, manipulated, and lied to by the object of their fantasy).

These feelings are then easily mistaken for love (which by the way, contains serious sexual attraction). And this love is never contradicted by reality... Since you don’t live together and rarely meet, it’s a perfect relationship for someone with idealised fantasies. The ultimate, reality-proof romance.

The hybristophili is usually delusional and develop these relationships, feeling and believing that she is special. Only she, uniquely, can understand his pain. Even though her lover may have killed numerous people, he would never harm her... Even in the most damning of evidence, she will manage to think up mitigating circumstances.  Others believe that they can “change” their lover and even have rescue fantasies.  While underneath, some may find the blood lust enormously erotic.

So, while research indicates that some hybristophiliacs are often insecure, have low self-esteem, have often been victims of physical and sexual abuse, it is also indicated that some simply “want to sublimate their violent tendencies by collaborating with a perpetrator of violence”  (Vitello, 2006). It may even be a way to commit vicarious murder or crime. (Vicarious: as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another, or to experience through another).

And while it might seem a rather innocent relationship (though not necessarily understandable) to the public eye, one has to wonder whether this is really such a positive relationship for the perpetrator himself.  What he gets from such a relationship is reinforcement of his [own] justifications for his crimes, and it often supports the delusion that his victims were complicit.

Further reading and references:

Linedecker, C.L. (1993). Prison Groupies. New York: Windsor Pub Corp.

Lovearthistory (undated). The psychology of hybristophilia. Located at: http://lovearthistory.hubpages.com/hub/psyhparaphilia

Isenberg, S. (2000). Women Who Love Men Who Kill. Backprint.com 

Money, J. (1986). Lovemaps: Clinical concepts of sexual/erotic health and pathology, paraphilia, and gender transposition in childhood, adolescence, and maturity. New York: Irvington.

Vitello, C. (2006). Hybristophilia: The love of criminals. In Hickey, E.W. (Ed.). Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia

The psychology behind inheritance conflicts :"Wills are lit fuses for unfulfilled emotional needs and family break-downs”

23/11/2013

 
When parents die, children deeply grieve over them. Each of the children will cope and deal with the loss in his or her own unique way. Then comes the inevitable Will and inheritance to complicate mourning and loss… Sibling rivalry over personal belongings, finances, family homes or land. At first sight, we always jump to the conclusion of wealth and greed. However, there seems to be more to inheritance conflicts than meets the eye.

Inheritance conflicts actually are underlying indications of children’s need to feel connected, and being important to the parent.  Personal items inherited, even family homes or land, are not about material aspects only. It is rather what the items symbolise to the grieving children. Grandma’s riempies bank, mum’s wedding band, dad’s old reading glasses, whatever the item; each has a particular value and story. Each item inherited serves as a connection to history, to where we come from, memories of childhood, the people we loved and who shared our lives, and especially as reminder of how much our parents loved us.

 How a parent decides who inherits what, is therefore the final grade of how children interpret the parent’s love for them. And how well that parent knew and understood his of her children's needs. Whether this is a true and realistic reflection of that parent’s love is irrelevant. The Will is a parent’s final and last wishes and is interpreted as the conclusive judgment of what the parent presumably felt towards the child. 

Basically, every hug or kiss, every tear or laugh shared during a life-time, becomes eclipsed by the emotional weight of what is written in a Will. Suddenly a life-long relationship is cut down to some belongings, photo albums and (maybe) a bank account… 

Therefore, considering the said emotional aspects and/or symbolic meanings of inheritance, financial compensation versus actual items, for example, is not considered as the same type of connection to or love from the parent (e.g. the one child gets money and the other gets the family home). Parents should keep that in mind.

Neither is a Will the place to compensate for “deserving actions” from a child. Estate lawyers warn in particular against such actions. Rather compensate the “more deserving” child in another way, separately.

 Any inheritance also reawakens old
sibling rivalries. All children (even mature adults!) are extremely sensitive to any perception of unfairness. Any sign of possible favouritism can support suspicions that a particular sibling was always more loved (Why did mum still did my sister’s school tie at grade 10 every morning, while I had to make my own since grade 4? Hypothetical example.)

After a parent’s death, siblings then easily become life-long reminders of “failure to be a good enough son or daughter” or “not being loved equally” or betrayal by siblings themselves, regularly leading to permanent relationship breakdowns. It may seem as if, even after parents’ death, siblings seemingly continue to rival for their love. It becomes much more than being upset over inheritance per se.

 In addition long forgotten, old family hurts may reawaken, and over and above the trauma of losing a loved parent, even more complicated processes of grief are triggered. As a matter of fact, the surviving children now have to cope with more than one grieving process simultaneously.

 Of course, different families have different situations. Where a sibling actually rival beforehand to convince a parent of their loyalty or love or good intentions in order for another sibling to inherit less (or the perceptions thereof exists) the whole family dynamics or equilibrium turns upside down. The “outsider” sibling regularly experiences rejection and the worst kind of betrayal. No betrayal is worse than being betrayed by those you love and trusted.

 It is no wonder that inheritances, therefore, so often lead to heirs/families being torn apart! 

http://2020insight.com/avoiding-inheritance-conflicts/#sthash.rGkhITOJ.dpuf
http://2020insight.com/avoiding-inheritance-conflicts/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200607/how-can-i-deal-unfair-will



Obesity a mental illness or simply be seen as gluttony without borders?

22/5/2013

 
Considering the final and long awaiting publication of the DSM-5 (DSM=psychiatric and psychological “bible”) I consider it interesting to publish some pre-debates/articles on what should or should possibly not be included in new [era] criteria of mental illness. After all, the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria are what we will have to live with for at least the next decade or 2!

Should Obesity be deemed a mental illness in the DSM-V?

Author: Risper

Obesity is one of the major public health concerns facing developed and developing countries in the world. Since the turn of the twentieth century, health statistics shows that the prevalence of obesity and overweight has escalated owing to a number of factors including change in lifestyle patterns. In United States, it is estimated that more than a third of the entire population is obese. It is currently estimated that about 32.2% of United States adults are obese and it is feared that the rates of obesity will escalate in the future going by recent trends. Obesity has created public health fear because it is related to a number of conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and other life threatening conditions. It is also estimated that it costs United States between $70 and $100 billion every year to treat various conditions arising as result of obesity. Obesity also reduces individual life by between 5 to 20 years which means rise in cases of obesity will come with devastating effects on the quality of life and life expectancy in the long run. Although the government has put in place programs that are aimed at fighting obesity, it is should be noted that the prevalence of obesity continues in the backdrop of these strategies. Evaluating the increased cases of obesity, it has become necessary to reason whether these strategies are effective or is it that they are not reaching the targeted population. Obesity is not a problem to particular groups in the society since individuals across the social demographic divide are affected. Current strategies are targeting all groups in the society but they have done little to mitigate the pandemic. These are just few of the facts on obesity that are agitating the call for immediate measures to supplement the current one which are not very effective in fighting obesity.

Paragraph 2: It is well know that obesity is caused by increase in body weight due to excessive accumulation of fat. This means that current strategies have emphasized on the need to reduce body weight since this will be the only way that obesity can be reduced. However, most of these interventions have flopped because they advocate for the wrong weight loss strategies. It has been noted with concerns that most interventions to fight obesity are commercialized with means they are advocated by organizations wishing to reap big from the current pandemic. Standard interventions which are based on promoting weight loss through lifestyle changes with an aim of decreasing excessive food consumption and increase engagement in physical exercise are advocated in few campaigns but they are also difficult to sustain. Although there have been major intervention that are encompassed in social and scientific processes in treating obesity and related conditions, morbidity from obesity and related disorders continue to increase due to failure of current strategies and intervention to sustain weight loss.

Paragraph 3: Failure of the above strategies has forced policy planners to go back to the drawing board and think of other strategies that can effectively deal with the pandemic. Great discrepancies that have been recorded between metabolic treatments of consequence of obesity and recorded failure to reverse obesity show that the condition goes beyond metabolic disorder. Psychologist are reasoning why individuals, despite understanding the grave consequences that accompany obesity, continue to overindulge while engaging in less physical exercises. In this regard, recent research has shown that there is psychological aspect of obesity which means that it is related to brain disorders. This implies that consideration of the mental component of obesity can be an important step in treating obesity and facilitate individual compliance with interventions and minimize the relapse. This means that obesity should be included in the DSM-V that is used in assessing mental disorders. DSM-IV recognizes the existence of eating disorders which bear mental component. It has been used to assess individuals who are suffering from eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia nervosa and in each case, it outline the symptoms of the conditions. It recognizes that these disorders have severe mental impairment and comes with adverse effects but it does not recognize obesity although it has devastating mental and psychological consequences. Recent researches show that a basic feature of obesity is compulsive food consumption that leads to failure to restrain from eating. This symptom is parallel to DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse and dependence on drug, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and binge eating, which implies that obesity shares feature with the current DSM-IV conditions. This means that obesity should be included in DSM-V since it has similar symptomatic characteristics with most conditions that are in the current DSM-IV.

Paragraph 4: The main question for this study will be; should obesity be included in DSM-V? To prove that obesity should be included in the DSM-V, this study will prove that there is mental component in obesity. First, this study will get a close understand of obesity and its prevalence. Second, the paper will look at the risk factors for obesity and factors that have compounded on society efforts to fight the condition. Third, it will review the conditions in DSM-IV and their characteristics. Lastly, this paper will prove that obesity should in deed be included in DSM-V in light of facts gathered from the previous sections.

Defining obesity and its prevalence

Paragraph 5: Obesity is defined as increase in body weight. It is a medical condition that normally leads to increased body fat leading to increase in body weight beyond the normal ratio of body weight to height. Obese individuals have more than that 20% of recommended body weight. Obesity is different from being overweight and both can be differentiated through measurement of Body Mass Index which is a ratio of body weight and height squared. Obesity defines BMI above 30 while individuals with BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered to be overweight.

Paragraph 6: According to Haines and Neumark-Sztainer (2006) obesity is an eating disorder that is directed by unhealthy eating. They show that obesity has been on the rise in United States and more than two thirds of Americans are overweight with an estimated a third of this population being obese. Over the last three decades, the prevalence of obesity and has increased across the demographic divides with 15% of young between the age of 6 and 19 considered overweight. Recent data shows that in all states, it was only Colorado that had less than 20% of its population obese. This means that most states in United States have more than 20% of their population obese. About 32 states showed prevalence of more than 25% and six states among these had prevalence more than 30% of the population. On average, the 2008 data estimated that more than 26% of all adults in United States were obese and future projection show that if nothing is urgently done to reverse the trend, more than 41% of adults in United States will be obese by 2015. The number of obese adults in the country has continued to increase from 19.4% in 1997 to 26.6% in 2007.

Paragraph 7: Government statistics also shows that in the last two decades, the percentage of children between 6 and 11 years has more than tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%. The percentage of teenagers who are obese has increased from 5% in 1980 to 18.1% in 2008. Obesity pandemic is also creeping in early childhood. Statistics shows that prevalence of obesity among children between 2 and 5 years has increased from 5.0% in 1980 to 12.4% in 2006.These statistics shows that the rate of obesity in the population is on the rise and unless something is done to reverse the trend, quality of life for most Americans will continue to deteriorate due to effects of the pandemic.

Paragraph 9: The main reason for having DSM is to provide criteria that can be used by healthcare professionals and the public in general to fight major conditions that are affecting the public. Although DSM has concentrated on mental disorders alone, it is important to consider that any condition that touches on life brings about mental conditions. This implies that with a condition like obesity that has eaten into the life of most Americans, it is important to include it in DSM-IV criteria due to the accompanying effects.

Risk factors for obesity and compounding social factors

Paragraph 10: There are many factors that lead to obesity. Obesity results from interaction of different factors which can be related to genetics, culture, physical activities, emotional or psychological factors, gender, age, dieting, and medical problems.

Paragraph 11: Genetic factors have been identified as major factors leading to obesity. Genes play an important role in the body by regulating body caloric intake and research studies have found out that individuals whose parents are obese are also likely to become obese. Research evidence shows that family history increases the chance of becoming obese by 25-30% although this depends on environmental predisposition. A recent research by Khamsi (2007) revealed that there is defective gene referred to as FTO, which is associated with 70% increase risk of obesity. Individuals with two defective copies of FTO genes were shown to be 3 kg heavier than average.

Paragraph 12: On the other hand, culture has been identified as another major factor that leads to obesity. It has been identified that people learn how to eat and cook following patterns of family and community culture. While there are few individuals who can break this cycle, it is often postulated that cultural factors have a stronger influence on individuals eating patterns. There are social events which are centered on eating large meals which may encourage eating more than their body needs. The modern culture promotes eating habits that leads to obesity. It has become a common practice for families not to eat in their homes but most people prefer to eat out and mostly in fast food restaurants. It has also become a modern culture to cook using butter, chocolate and other high caloric foods which are contributing to excessive intake of calories. There is a growing behavior of overeating even when individuals are not hungry owing to increased availability of food.

Paragraph 13: Increased food intake, coupled with physical inactivity has increased the risks for obesity. The modern patterns of life are devoid of chances for physical activities. Most Americans are not engaging in physical activities. The concept of ‘automobility' means that people are driving even for a shorter distance. As a result people become overweight and it becomes difficult to engage in physical activities due to pain in joints and other problems.

Paragraph 14: There are many emotional and psychological factors that are making people to eat more and become obese. In modern American life, food has been taken as a solace when people are stressed. Every time one feels down, one turns to food and as a result, they eat more and more without knowing that they are full. In addition, food has always been associated with celebration and this condition is compounded by trend toward consumption of fast food in these celebrations. There are a lot of significant memories that are attached to food even after weight loss and most people are not able to escape the cycles to go back to over eating again.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/should-obesity-be-deemed-a-mental-illness-in-the-dsm-v-4876744.html

About the Author

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Why do ADHD children [eventually] struggle with socialising?

11/5/2013

 
Children with ADHD often struggle in social situations. This sometimes only start showing up later on (not necessarily before the present cut-off diagnostic age of 7 according to the DSM-IV). This might have to do with executive functioning. 

Since ADHD is often unrecognised by the man on the street, socially inappropriate behaviours are easily attributed to other causes and these children are regularly seen as rude, self-centred, ill-mannered, irresponsible, lazy, or their behavior is considered even as poor parenting. Yet negative labelling leads to social rejection over time not only in the peer group but also later on their adult relationships.

 So, a serious question is why do these children so often struggle in social situations? 

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) describes ADHD behaviour as being easily distracted, missing details, forgetting things, difficulty maintaining focus, easily becoming bored, struggling to complete chores or tasks, daydreaming, struggling to follow instructions, often loosing
things, fidgeting and squirming, talking non-stop, can become very impatient, inability to tolerate frustration, needing immediate gratification (struggling to wait for things or taking turns), acting without considering the consequences, blurting out answers, and showing emotions without restraint.

 It is not difficult to understand why such behaviour might generate unhappiness in peer groups and interfere with relationships.

 In the DSM-IV problematic executive functioning is not directly spelled out under ADHD but rather under neurocognitive disorders (of course, problematic executive functioning also occurs during or after brain traumas which really necessitates a correct diagnoses of ADHD). However, behaviour such as the required diagnostic symptoms for ADHD does cluster under executive functioning. Basically it is those behaviours that drive parents and teachers up the wall! Executive functions can be considered an umbrella term for those vital tasks required for planning, strategy, organisation, self-control, regulation of attention, and of
course, social insight and interactions.

For this reason the DSM-V which is to be published during 2013, proposed various changes to the diagnostic criteria of ADHD amongst others possibly changing the cut off age to twelve. Previously the problem behaviour had to have been present before the age of seven. However, problems with executive functioning do not necessarily show up by age seven... (The DSM-IV criteria for ADD/ADHD have also been heavily criticised for reasons such as subtypes being unstable over time, impulsivity being under presented while lack of attention receives the primary focus, subtype classifications leading to borderline cases for example. The child fulfils only five criteria of a subtype and therefore can receive no official diagnoses, and so forth - Hence, no offical help.)

 How and where, does executive functioning and social relations interlink?

 Firstly, we do not even know about the term executive functions. So nobody informs us to look out for additional problems besides attention or hyperactivity. Neither are we told that the medication does not address that particular issues re ADHD. While focus and hyperactivity almost always react positively to medication, it is not necessarily the case with executive functions (possibly one of the reasons why so many parents give up on medication and believe it doesn't work). Parents in particular are confronted by the social and emotional behavior of the child, while the teachers struggle with the academy. So, while medication might assist the child to improve at school, it still does not help with the "home bound" or "socialising" issues which parents, mostly, are confronted with.

However, if a child's attention span and hyperactivity is not medically addressed it denies him the opportunity to function on the same level as his peers and also to interact according to the social requirements of his group. Now I am referring to only "sporadically" medication provided to the ADHD. One of the things I have never understood is why practitioners often tell parents the ADHD child only needs the medication during school hours or when studying. This I find irresponsible as the child socialises also in the afternoons, over weekends and during holidays, and for this attention and hyperactivity also need to be addressed.

Let's face it, children can be cruel. Those who march to a different beat are often ridiculed, bullied, and rejected. No wonder they are more prone to seek the company of so-called delinquent groups. There they are more easily accepted for who they are.

What I am also trying to say here, is that medication is the first step. Without medication you can forget about addressing all the other issues that accompanies ADHD.

Getting back to the ADHD child’s social relationships, the ADHD child therefore needs [over and above mediation] more parental guidance during his forming years than so-called normal children. The ADHD child in particular often/regularly requires monitoring and feedback in social situations as he already struggles with amongst others meta-cognition (the ability to read the impact of his behaviour on others and to adjust it accordingly) and internalizing language (using "self-talk" to control one's thoughts and behaviour and direct future actions). His often disability to tolerate frustration and to think before acting or speaking regularly leads to misunderstandings and conflict. It is therefore not simply a question of correct medication, but also addressing the various other problems that regularly accompany ADHD.

 Various interventions to assist parents and ADHD children are available, such as specialised parental guidance, behavioural therapy, neuro-therapy and biofeedback, cognitive or rational emotive therapy (especially where the ADHD child has already developed a mood disorder) and social skills training. In
addition the ADHD child often also requires specialised support with schoolwork, where comorbids (other learning disorders such as problems with reading, writing, mathematical) are also present.

 Problems with executive skills therefore require that ADHD needs an integrated, holistic approach, not only medication. It is well-known that IQ does not “rule” the world” anymore, but EQ as well. What is the use of passing high school, if you cannot cope otherwise in the world out there....

 We would therefore do well when we also assist our children to develop their social (and EQ) skills. ADHD
parents in particular would do well if they remember that over and above medication, they also need to pay attention to their ADHD’s child’s social skills (yes, at risk of repeating myself constantly…)

 Afterthought -  As one teenager states:
"When in doubt, ask us! We do not wilfully misbehave." (Cashin 1997).

With ADHD, we really have to start thinking outside the Box instead of being boxed in by what we can expect from these children; versus what we ourselves  are willing to contribute.

 References

 Barkley, R.A, Biederman, J. (1997).Toward a broader definition of the age of onset criterion for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997:36(9): 12-4-1210

Cashin, J. (1997). Jamie Trying to Fit In A Former Student's Perspective. Available at  http://adhd.kids.tripod.com/jamie.html.

 Clinical Practice Guideline: Diagnosis and Evaluation of the Child with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Pediatrics 105 (5): 1158-70  2000.

Denckla, M. (1996). A theory and model of executive function: A neuropsychological perspective. In G. Lyon & N. Krasnegor (Eds.), Attention, memory and executive function. Baltimore, MD.: Paul Brookes. pp.
  263-278.

 DSM-IV. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th Ed. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

 Guevremont, D. C., & Dumas, M. C. (1994). Peer relationship problems and disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 2(3), 164-173.

 Russell A. (2010). Against the Status Quo: Revising the Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD. Barkley Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.2010; 49 (3):205-207.
 
http://www.chrisdendy.com/executive.htm

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    Disclaimer: As stated on the home page, this site is both for educational [students] as well as self-help purposes [to reach those who do not always have access to direct professional help]. Where articles make use of case histories to demonstrate or support arguments, they are presented as examples only and comparisons which might be made with persons either living or dead is coincidental unless otherwise stated or referred to by research.
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