Page 1 of 2 [ 20 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

LizardQueen
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 4

13 Jan 2009, 4:28 am

I can't leave the assertion that Australian serial killer Martin Bryant was diagnosed with AS uncorrected. A diagnosis of AS was considered when Bryant was being assessed by a psychiatrist after he was arrested, but I believe this diagnosis was ruled out. As far as I know Bryant wasn't formally diagnosed with anything except low IQ. There is a long report on the internet somewhere of Bryant's psychiatric assessment if you wish to look for it and read it. I believe it was done by some expert.

A while ago I read the chapter about Bryant in the recently-published Australian book "Inside their minds: Australian criminals" by Rochelle Jackson. It is abundantly clear that there is something seriously and profoundly wrong with Bryant's mind, and it can be traced back to his earliest years, but he doesn't have the odd-looking appearance that one often finds with genetic syndromes that impair cognition. I don't believe he has autism or anything on the autistic spectrum. Clearly Bryant is intellectually disabled in some way in addition to something terribly wrong with his personality. This type of thing is not particularly rare; I believe many criminals are mentally impaired. I think it is the severity of Bryant's condition that makes him a rare case. There is a sterotype of intellectually disabled people as harmless and innocent people, but this is often far from true. Bryant has a history of clearly sadistic behaviour. He apparently seriously assaulted a friend and could have murdered before the massacre. I am not sure that he fits neatly into the category of psychopath, but to be fair, the area of psychopathy is still being researched and the scientists are still trying to define that condition. If I had to make a guess as to what is wrong with Bryant, I'd say there might be a big empty space in his frontal lobes where essential brain matter should be. I would guess some type of prenatal environmental cause might be to blame; alcohol exposure, lead exposure, prenatal vitamin D deficiency??? The great tragedy of Bryant's life was that he wasn't institutionalized when he was a child. His parents unwisely but admirably tried to raise a son who was always destined to be a serious danger to all.

And as for Adolph Hitler being a psychopath, there is one problem with that idea. Not long ago I saw a documentary on TV about Hitler in which they said Hitler was absolutely devastated when his mother died, a weeping mess apparently. Apparently he said himself that he loved his mother but (only) respected his father. Hitler's grief over his mother's death was interpreted as evidence of some type of mental disturbance, but I think it's possibly the most normal behaviour of Hitler's that I have ever heard about.

I think people are much more complex than labels and categories, including the most evil and damaged people.



pandd
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,430

13 Jan 2009, 3:26 pm

Complete speculation on my part....Helen Clarke (MP for Mt Eden, and former Prime Minister of New Zealand), and probably her husband too.



philjones2011
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jan 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 1

16 Jan 2011, 3:38 pm

LizardQueen wrote:

And as for Adolph Hitler being a psychopath, there is one problem with that idea. Not long ago I saw a documentary on TV about Hitler in which they said Hitler was absolutely devastated when his mother died, a weeping mess apparently. Apparently he said himself that he loved his mother but (only) respected his father. Hitler's grief over his mother's death was interpreted as evidence of some type of mental disturbance, but I think it's possibly the most normal behaviour of Hitler's that I have ever heard about.

I think people are much more complex than labels and categories, including the most evil and damaged people.


Only partial quote sorry. I was surprised to read about Hitler's behaviour toward his mother. Yet his remorse, real or otherwise, is not inconsistent for someone with antisocial personality disorder. I had the misfortune to meet someone that 'suffered' (sic) from such a condition and their ability to adopt and embrace an 'emotional set' at will is astounding.

I guess it acts as a kind of camouflage. To be able to commit some bad act and then put on a convincing display that puts him/her in the position of a victim.



Severus
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2010
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 719

27 Jan 2011, 7:59 am

Look what I found on the back page of my 50th Anniversary Edition of To Kill a Mockingbird:
'Harper Lee...Her chief interests apart from writing are XIX century literature and XVIII century music, watching politicians and cats, travelling and being alone'.
I am sure that these were her own words and it sounds very Aspie for me.
This is the person that gave us the Radlies and the Finches (among which there were at least two persons with autistic spectrum disorder (though I think they were three and there were also a couple more who had scattered autistic traits), who was hyperlexic, had a tomboyish childhood, tried to stay away from public attention, never married (they said she actually had one romantic affair but this has never been confirmed) and wrote only one, albeit brilliant book.



Severus
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2010
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 719

08 Feb 2011, 9:42 am

Curt von Bardeleben, the prototype of Alexandr Ivanovich Luzhin from The Luzhin Defence. There isn't much information on him but his life (and death) story became the basis of Nabokov's book. If it is all even remotely true, he was either a HFA or Asperger's - as we never get to know whether he started talking at a normal age. Anyway, what we know is that he was a socially awkward, executively deficient, clumsy, unkempt, extravagant person who had one brilliant talent in one very specific field - the game of chess. Killed himself at the age of 63.