Psychology and Film: A short list of some recommended depictions.

"You know what your problem is, it's that you haven't seen enough movies - all of life's riddles are answered in the movies" (Steve Martin)

Shame - Sex Addiction; Michael Fassbender style.

The Basketball Diaries - Heroin Addiction. A young Di Caprio is more interested in skin popping than shooting hoops. 

 

Awakenings- Catatonia. Based on real events, a tragic and heartfelt story with Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro. From Oliver Sachs' book of the same name.

 

Lars and the Real Girl - Loneliness, Shyness, and Social Ineptitude. When you think it's time enough for the family to meet your sex doll. She's a great listener!

 

Owning Mahowny - Gambling Addiction. The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a Canadian Banker with all the cash he needs. Based on a real-life incident: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce clerk Brian Molony, who embezzled over $10 million from his employers in just 18 months to support his gambling habit.

 

The Butterfly Effect - The Butterfly Effect! The idea, used in chaos theory, whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere, e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings in Rio de Janeiro might change the weather in Chicago.

Memento - Short-Term Memory Loss. Guy Pearce has anterograde amnesia and is unable to store recent memories.

 

Melancholia - Melancholia! Lars Von Trier's take on the mental downfall of one woman (with the end of the world not helping).
 

Project Nim- A great look at the intelligence of our closest animal relative. The chimp also knew one term: 'Ooohh Ooo, Ah Ah', meaning; 'this bath's too hot.' 

Take Shelter - Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) starts to believe that he is in the early stages of developing paranoid schizophrenia. His mother was diagnosed with the illness at a similar age and he is fearful of suffering the same fate. The plot explores the boundaries between delusions and reality.

 

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - Product Placement and Advertising in TV and films;  directed by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who brought you 'Super Size Me'.
 

The Bridge - Suicide. A tragic look at how the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has become an infamous place to take one's life.

 

Girl, Interrupted - Mental Institutions. Based on the true story of Susanna Kaysen in the 1960s.

 

The Machinist - An Insomniac doubting his own sanity. The producers of the film claim that Christian Bale dropped from about 173 pounds in weight down to about 110 pounds to make the film. His 63-pound weight loss is said to be a record for any actor for a movie role. He regained the weight in time for his role in Batman Begins (2005). A must see.

 

American Beauty - A film about suffocating conformity to social roles, and how people sometimes need to break free of them.
 

Castaway - Survival, Loneliness, Social Isolation; and a ball more loyal than most friends. WILSON!!!!

Helen - Major Depressive Disorder. A powerful depiction of woman going through the throes of Clinical Depression.

Monster- Psychopathy. Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos. It earned Charlize Theron an Academy Award for best Actress; it could have got one for the similarity alone (right). 

 

Changeling - Capgras Syndrome: A disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor.

 

Catfish - The internet and online personas. Great documentary style film showing just how false the online world can be. It can also shed light on the often predatory world of online behaviour.

 

Hotel Rwanda - Prejudice and discrimination. The film is also relevant to the discussion of pro-social and altruistic behaviours. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 77th Academy Awards, with Don Cheadle also being nominated for Best Actor.

 

Crash - An incredibly powerful and sophisticated 2004 Paul Haggis film about cultural diversity.

 

Devil's Advocate - Persuasion and attitude change. ''Vanity, definitely my favourite sin.''

 

The Savages - Dementia and family conflict amongst others. Starring Laura Linney and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

 

< Me, Myself & Irene - Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID); previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

or Fight Club (right) if you fancy less laughs.

Boyhood - Growing up and the elusive experience of youth. Amazingly it was shot just over 39 days spanning 12 years.

 

12 Angry Men - An incredibly powerful portrayal of social influence and decision-making processes within a jury. It's in black and white, but things aren't as black and white as they may seem. Puns...

Fatal Attraction - Erotomania. The top grossing movie of 1987. Nominated for several Academy Awards; the movie was the cause of much discussion around the topic of marital infidelity.

Bully - Bullying. A 2011 documentary; the film follows the lives of five students in U.S. schools who face bullying on a daily basis.

127 Hours - Resilience. Produced by Danny Boyle; a true story based on mountain climber Aron Ralston.

Racism and Prejudice; the list here is endless, but notable mentions go to American History X, A Time to Kill , Gran Torino , and This is England.

 

Antichrist - Delusions, Sadomasochism, Depression, Femininity and the rest. To be honest, this one is completely out there; make of it what you will. Directed by Lars von Trier, some have dubbed it a grotesque masterpiece. I thought it was top class; even though I didn't get my head around it.

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"It's funny how the colours of the real world only seem really real when you watch them on a screen."
                                                                                                                                   ~ Anthony Burgess

Christmas Carol Favourites - The Therapist and his Client

Schizophrenia ~ Do You Hear What I Hear?

Depressed ~ Driving Off A Cliff For Christmas...

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ~ Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer...

Compulsive Gambler ~ Run Rudolph Run!!!

Passive Aggressive ~ All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names...

Agoraphobia ~ Hiding Behind The Christmas Tree, At The Christmas Party Hop...

Multiple Personality Disorder ~ We Three Queens Disoriented Are...

Alcoholic ~ All I Want For Christmas Is........To Get Sh*t-Faced!

Dementia ~ I Think I'll Be Home For Christmas...

Pyromaniac ~ Later on...we'll conspire...as we dream by the fire...

Tourette's ~ Jingle F**K! Jingle B****CKS!

Morbidly Obese ~ It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Diabetes !

Narcissistic ~ Hark The Herald Angels Sing About Me...

Body Dysmorphic ~ All I Want for Christmas.......is 6% Body-Fat And A Nose Job

Paranoid ~ Santa Claus Is Coming To.....Get Me !

Hypochondriac ~ He's making a complaint, He's checking it twice, He's not very happy with his doctor's advice...

Erotomania ~ The Twelve Dicks of Christmas...

Sadistic ~ Jingle Bells, Baseball Bats With Holes, The Safety Word is Sleigh...

Masochistic ~ Rudolph the Red-Arsed Reindeer...

Antisocial Personality Disorder ~ Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, the very next day you called me a scumbag, a maggot...

Social Phobia ~ Here Comes Santa Claus...Hide!

Borderline Personality Disorder ~ Thoughts Of Roasting On An Open Fire...

Personality Disorder ~ You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why...

Insomniac ~ I'm.....Dreaming About....Sh*t All...

Manic ~ Deck The Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Offices....

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ~ Jingle Bells One, Jingle Bells Two, Jingle Bells Three, Jingle Bells Four, Jingle Bells Five, Jingle Bells Six, Jingle Bells Eight...Sh*t!...Jingle Bells One...

ADHD ~ He's Making A List, And Checking It Twice, Gonna Find Out...Do I Want Chicken Curry And Rice?

Exhibitionist ~ All I Want For Christmas...Is A Full Frontal !
 

 

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 ''The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live''                                                                                                                ~ George Carlin

Hunting the successful psychopath

Put aside the dramatic Hollywood portrayals. Suited, married, high achieving, some of them walk among us. No, not vampires or super-heroes but 'successful psychopaths'. Like their criminally violent cousins - the standard psychopaths - these people are ruthless, callous, fearless and arrogant. But thanks to their superior self-control and conscientiousness, rather than landing in prison, they end up as company chief executives, university chancellors and Queen's Council barristers. Well, that's the idea anyway. But it's an idea that's proven difficult for psychologists to investigate. After all, if you advertise for volunteers for a study of successful people who are psychopathic, you're not likely to get many responses.

Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt and her collaborators tried a different tack. They surveyed hundreds of members of the American Psychological Association's Division 41 (psychology and law), criminal attorneys and professors of clinical psychology about whether they'd ever known personally an individual who was successful in their endeavours and who also matched Hare's definition of a psychopath (see below): 'social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life ... completely lacking in conscience and feeling for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.'

Of the 118 APA members, 31 attorneys and 58 psychology professors who replied, 81, 25 and 41, respectively, said they'd previously known a successful psycho. The examples given were predominantly male and included current or former students, colleagues, clients, and friends (sample descriptions here). The survey respondents were asked to rate the personality of the successful psychopath they'd known and to complete a psychopathy measure of that person. These ratings were then compared with the typical profile for a standard (unsuccessful) psychopath.

The key difference between successful and standard psychopaths seemed to be in conscientiousness. Providing some rare, concrete support for the 'successful psychopath' concept, the individuals described by the survey respondents were the same as prototypical psychopaths in all regards except they lacked the irresponsibility, impulsivity and negligence and instead scored highly on competence, order, achievement striving and self-discipline.

'The current study used informant descriptions to provide information about successful psychopaths,' the researchers concluded. 'Such persons have been described in papers and texts on psychopathy but only anecdotally. This was the first study to conduct a systematic, quantitative analysis of such persons.'

 

Mullins-Sweatt, S., Glover, N., Derefinko, K., Miller, J., & Widiger, T. (2010). The search for the successful psychopath. Journal of Research in Personality, 44 (4), 554-558 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.05.010

 

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Robert Hare's Checklist (1991)

1. GLIB and SUPERFICIAL CHARM -- the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick, and verbally facile. Psychopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A psychopath never gets tongue-tied. They have freed themselves from the social conventions about taking turns in talking, for example. >

 

2. GRANDIOSE SELF-WORTH -- a grossly inflated view of one's abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart. Psychopaths are arrogant people who believe they are superior human beings.

 

3. NEED FOR STIMULATION or PRONENESS TO BOREDOM -- an excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky. Psychopaths often have a low self-discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they get bored easily. They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine. 

 

4. PATHOLOGICAL LYING -- can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative, and dishonest.

 

5. CONNING AND MANIPULATIVENESS- the use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims.

 

6. LACK OF REMORSE OR GUILT -- a lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, cold hearted, and unempathic. This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims.

 

7. SHALLOW AFFECT -- emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness. 

 

8. CALLOUSNESS and LACK OF EMPATHY -- a lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless.

 

9. PARASITIC LIFESTYLE -- an intentional, manipulative, selfish, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline, and inability to begin or complete responsibilities.

 

It was a quiet day for his inbox

10. POOR BEHAVIORAL CONTROLS -- expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper; acting hastily.

 

11. PROMISCUOUS SEXUAL BEHAVIOR -- a variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits or conquests.

 

12. EARLY BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS -- a variety of behaviours prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism, bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use, and running away from home.

 

13. LACK OF REALISTIC, LONG-TERM GOALS -- an inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals; a nomadic existence, aimless, lacking direction in life.

 

14. IMPULSIVITY -- the occurrence of behaviours that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations, and urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic, and reckless.

 

15. IRRESPONSIBILITY -- repeated failure to fulfil or honour obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honour contractual agreements.

 

16. FAILURE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR OWN ACTIONS -- a failure to accept responsibility for one's actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.

 

17. MANY SHORT-TERM MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS -- a lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including marital.

 

18. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY -- behaviour problems between the ages of 13-18; mostly behaviours that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.

 

19. REVOCATION OF CONDITION RELEASE -- a revocation of probation or other conditional release due to technical violations, such as carelessness, low deliberation, or failing to appear.

 

20. CRIMINAL VERSATILITY -- a diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes.   

 

Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.     

  

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Less scientific and just for the craic of it, I hasten to add: read the following question, come up with an answer and then scroll down to the bottom for the result. This is not a trick question, it is as it reads.

 

A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a man who she did not know. She thought he was 'amazing.' She believed him to be her dream partner so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.

Question: What was her motive for killing her sister?

 

Give it some thought before you look.

See answer below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 













Answer: She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again.

This is often claimed to be a test by a famous American Psychologist to see if one has the same mentality as a killer, however I have never found any citation or reference to its source. Anyhow, if you answered this correctly - you have the mentality of a psychopath....a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behaviour without empathy or remorse.  If you couldn't answer the question correctly, then good for you pal.

Also if interested, check out Psychologist Kevin Dutton presenting the classic psychological test known as "the trolley problem" with a variation. View Clip

 

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''Psychopaths...people who know the differences between right and wrong, but don't give a shit...''
                                                                                                                                                ~ Elmore Leonard