Exploring the Minds of the Psychopathic. Sociopaths (psychopaths), are made through life's experiences, with some having a genetic predisposition that means life's everyday experiences will provide the stimuli to active the triggers for sociopathy. Other sociopaths do not have this genetic inclination, they were born ordinary, but have had strong negative stimuli that forced the brain into the coping mechanisms of sociopathy by the activation of these triggers.
Jim Fallon explains the most common trigger of psychopathic killers as the hostile environments throughout their childhood, and/or the people that surrounded them as a child. Danger and physical abuse causes a person to view the world as a dangerous place for themselves, and they become hyper vigilant and paranoid as a way of trying to foresee and cope with threats. Not only do the hostile environments effect the thought process of an individual, but also the feeling of emotional neglect by those seen as important, such as a mother or father. The person has not been supported emotionally to the degree that is too painful to be sustainable, which causes the emotions to dampen, allowing the individual to feel mute to strong feelings of love or sadness. This disintegration and atrophy of emotions continues until they are reduced to a level that the individual can cope with without too much discomfort. In the semi-nonfiction literature In Cold Blood, Perry Smith goes through similar mental and emotional burdens as a child, which ultimately tests his physiological state. Due to the lack of attention and nurturing from his parents, Perry yearned for any sort of immersion from others, and would deeply admire anyone who would display some type of pity or regard for his personal beliefs or views, even if the individual did not have as good of intentions as Perry thought (i.e Richard "Dick" Hickock). |
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