Can A Psychopath Convert To Catholicism?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Psychopathy is a huge component of the forensic psychology field and countless hours have gone into its study and research, so please don't discount it as "pop psychology." Referring to it as such is actually an insult to those of us who have a proper understanding of it. Psychopathy is not officially recognized by the DSM but ASPD, one of the two factors of psychopathy, is a clinical diagnosis. There are individuals clinically diagnosed with ASPD who share other traits that just go above and beyond this diagnosis.

 

For anyone interested in learning about the PCL-R, you can check this out.

 

 

 

Scales Factor 1: The callous, selfish, remorseless use of others Facet 1a: Interpersonal Facet 1b: Affective Factor 2: A chronically unstable and antisocial lifestyle Facet 2a: Impulsive Lifestyle Facet 2b: Antisocial Behavior

 

So if all that is a brief analysis of what psycopathic behaviour is, than what is my description of someone whom has no or have learnt to suppress all there feelings and thoughts of sympathy and empathy.

[HisChildForever]

Just a quick aside, this is what I alluded to in my previous post,

 

 

Classifications of psychopathy are not synonymous with diagnoses of conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994) but represent an extension.

 

So if all that is a brief analysis of what psycopathic behaviour is, than what is my description of someone whom has no or have learnt to suppress all there feelings and thoughts of sympathy and empathy.

 

Psychopathy is not necessarily learned but it's also not necessarily an issue in the brain. It's likely a combination of both, imo it's an issue in the brain. Basically, there's been a lot of research that targets all the possibilities. 

 

Psychopaths really don't have the ability to be empathetic in the first place so there's nothing to suppress. What you're describing sounds more like the reaction of a person who went through a trauma (although of course not everyone will respond to a trauma in exactly the same way).

 

The above quote and following quotes can be found here. 

 

Socialisation involves aversive conditioning and instrumental learning. In order to learn that hitting another is bad, this thought must be associated with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (e.g. the distress of the victim). Similarly, learning to avoid committing moral transgressions involves committing a moral transgression and then being ‘punished’ by the aversive response of the victim's distress ( Blair, 1995). Individuals with psychopathy present with severe difficulties in both aversive conditioning and instrumental learning (Patrick, 1994; Blair, 2001). Moreover, they have particular difficulties processing the fearfulness and sadness of others ( Blair, 2001).

 

[I]

t is suggested that the neural structures implicated in psychopathic pathology include the amygdala and OFC. The basic causes of the pathology remain unclear; however, there are interesting possibilities. One is that pathology in the noradrenergic system can lead to the observed amygdala dysfunction. Certainly, administration of the β-adrenergic blocker propranolol, as well as amygdala damage, blocks the improvement in episodic memory for emotionally arousing events, as well as disrupting the processing of sad facial expressions ( Harmer et al, 2001). A second possibility concerns the potential value of genetic information and mouse models. Many mouse models of aggression concentrate on a heightened reactively aggressive response to an intruder. However, a recent mouse model has been developed without a functional ‘ tailless’ protein. The gene tailless is a member of the super-family of genes that encode transcription factors of the ligand-activated nuclear receptor type, and is expressed in the invertebrate and vertebrate brain. Interestingly, mice lacking a functional tailless protein show reduced amygdaloid volume. Moreover, they show heightened aggression even to litter-mates and the females lack normal maternal instincts ( Monaghan et al, 1997). Although it is difficult currently to extrapolate from these data to an understanding of psychopathy, the study of such animals should allow a molecular approach to understanding the genetic architecture of the forebrain. These data will undoubtedly be invaluable in furthering our understanding of psychopathy.

 

If tl;dr,

 

The suggestion is that the pathology of individuals with psychopathy detrimentally affects two processes that are required for socialisation, i.e. aversive conditioning and instrumental learning. This is thought to result from amygdala dysfunction potentially compounded by OFC dysfunction. However, the reasons for this dysfunction remain unknown.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Just a quick aside, this is what I alluded to in my previous post,

 

 

 

 

 

Psychopathy is not necessarily learned but it's also not necessarily an issue in the brain. It's likely a combination of both, imo it's an issue in the brain. Basically, there's been a lot of research that targets all the possibilities. 

 

Psychopaths really don't have the ability to be empathetic in the first place so there's nothing to suppress. What you're describing sounds more like the reaction of a person who went through a trauma (although of course not everyone will respond to a trauma in exactly the same way).

 

The above quote and following quotes can be found here. 

 

 

 

 

t is suggested that the neural structures implicated in psychopathic pathology include the amygdala and OFC. The basic causes of the pathology remain unclear; however, there are interesting possibilities. One is that pathology in the noradrenergic system can lead to the observed amygdala dysfunction. Certainly, administration of the β-adrenergic blocker propranolol, as well as amygdala damage, blocks the improvement in episodic memory for emotionally arousing events, as well as disrupting the processing of sad facial expressions ( Harmer et al, 2001). A second possibility concerns the potential value of genetic information and mouse models. Many mouse models of aggression concentrate on a heightened reactively aggressive response to an intruder. However, a recent mouse model has been developed without a functional ‘ tailless’ protein. The gene tailless is a member of the super-family of genes that encode transcription factors of the ligand-activated nuclear receptor type, and is expressed in the invertebrate and vertebrate brain. Interestingly, mice lacking a functional tailless protein show reduced amygdaloid volume. Moreover, they show heightened aggression even to litter-mates and the females lack normal maternal instincts ( Monaghan et al, 1997). Although it is difficult currently to extrapolate from these data to an understanding of psychopathy, the study of such animals should allow a molecular approach to understanding the genetic architecture of the forebrain. These data will undoubtedly be invaluable in furthering our understanding of psychopathy.

 

If tl;dr,

 

 

The suggestion is that the pathology of individuals with psychopathy detrimentally affects two processes that are required for socialisation, i.e. aversive conditioning and instrumental learning. This is thought to result from amygdala dysfunction potentially compounded by OFC dysfunction. However, the reasons for this dysfunction remain unknown.

 

awesome. So after reading all that i think there may be a drug that cures this condition some time in the future to do with brain chemistry. :)

 

 

[EmilyAnn]

Psychopathy is a huge component of the forensic psychology field and countless hours have gone into its study and research, so please don't discount it as "pop psychology." Referring to it as such is actually an insult to those of us who have a proper understanding of it. Psychopathy is not officially recognized by the DSM but ASPD, one of the two factors of psychopathy, is a clinical diagnosis. There are individuals clinically diagnosed with ASPD who share other traits that just go above and beyond this diagnosis.

 

For anyone interested in learning about the PCL-R, you can check this out.

 

 

 

Scales Factor 1: The callous, selfish, remorseless use of others Facet 1a: Interpersonal Facet 1b: Affective Factor 2: A chronically unstable and antisocial lifestyle Facet 2a: Impulsive Lifestyle Facet 2b: Antisocial Behavior

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was saying that the term has a lot of pop psychology associated with it, so to the layman it's not a helpful term and so can be somewhat misleading. ASPD is a clinical diagnosis, but it is not completely congruent with the term psychopathy. I feel very strongly that these are not terms that should be thrown around casually or misused - as the OP was doing. 

[HisChildForever]

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was saying that the term has a lot of pop psychology associated with it, so to the layman it's not a helpful term and so can be somewhat misleading. ASPD is a clinical diagnosis, but it is not completely congruent with the term psychopathy. I feel very strongly that these are not terms that should be thrown around casually or misused - as the OP was doing. 

 

Ohh, gotcha. Yeah. Another common mistake is "that's schizophrenic thinking!" in which "schizophrenia" is defined as "two polar extremes" - which would be bipolar disorder lol.

[HisChildForever]

amesome. So after reading all that i think there may be a drug that cures this condition some time in the future to do with brain chemistry. :)

 

 

 

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[MIKolbe]

agreed!

 

it's hard to breathe that way.....

[Papist]

Psychopathy isn't a diagnosis according to either the DSM or the ICD. If you work in a hospital or unit that uses this as a diagnosis, what clinical measures are they using?

 

The requirement that people be over eighteen before receiving a diagnosis is the same requirement as for personality disorder, at least in this country - I have seen some instances of children being diagnosed with BPD/EUPD in the US, which I can't agree with.

ICD 10 is driving me crazy!!!!!

[HisChildForever]

agreed!

 

it's hard to breathe that way.....

 

This man knows what he's talking about.

[Adrestia]

[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hon3AzMO6vs[/spoiler]

 
That video is completely wrong.  Even the first sentence was wrong.  Wow.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Adrestia

[T-fish]

Psychopath is not in God's vocabulary book.

There's just good or bad. Only Jesus was perfect.

Scientologists believe in psychopaths, but Catholics do not.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Feelings aside, The chatechism of the holy catholic church clearly states the holy bible has the power to save but should never fully replace the holy sacrements (for a catholic i assume.) So feelings aside, i believe if the psychopath can believe in the word of God and the holy sacrements than truely he can be a christian, even if it's all on an interlectual level and not a feelings level.

 

 

Onward christian souls.

God is good,

Edited April 29, 2013 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye