The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 19 June 2009

Writer's Digest, August 2006, pages 62 to 65, has an article by Charles Atkins with the title, "Killer Personalities." Charles Atkins is a psychiatrist and author of thrillers. In this article, he provides a short guide to some real personality disorders to go with character motivation for criminal behavior. So here's a short guide to the dark side of human nature.

Narcissism. The world revolves around me. Many people have a healthy dose of self-interest and self admiration. However, criticism and rejection, opposition, slights can make narcissists frustrated, angry, sarcastic, or vengeful. Insults may fester and turn into vengeance and retaliation. When confronted, narcissists often lie and deny any guilt or wrongdoing. Narcissists make great villains for revenge plots.

Add in a bit of sadism, taking pleasure from inflicting pain, and you've got the elements for a malignant narcissism. The malignant narcissist stomps everyone. Bullying sheriffs, ruthless corporate climbers, abusive spouses -- malignant narcissism can provide the drive.

Antisocial personality disorder (a.k.a. sociopathy). There are warning signs, steps in the moral development of this problem. Losses, traumas and separations in early life -- abuse, divorce, frequent moves. Empathy develops at an early age, and if it is missed or disrupted, we have people who have no real concern for the well-being of others. That's the main problem for sociopaths. Sociopaths do not see themselves bound by rules of society. Remorse or regret are not part of the sociopath's thoughts.

Borderline personality disorder. This is the flip side of antisocial personality disorder. Instead of acting out with violence, this person directs the violence at themselves. It's often a result of similar traumas, along with a high incidence of sexual abuse. "People with borderline personality disorder have chaotic lives that spin out of control in the setting of real -- or imagined -- rejection and abandonment." These people overdose or engage in other risky behavior to try and hold on to people. The person with borderline personality disorder says if you leave me, I'll kill myself, while the malignant narcissist or sociopath says I'll kill you. The world of the borderline is black and white, with good people and bad people, people who are for you or evil opposition. Substance abuse, self-mutilation, eating disorders all fit into the borderline personality disorder bucket. For writers, such people can make catalysts for action, acting first on their emotions, and often making bad situations worse.

Paranoid personality. They're out to get you. And paranoids often turn violent in self-defense. Everything and everyone is interpreted through the lens of suspicion. Obsessing over hidden meanings and underlying motivations is normal. Most paranoids believe the rest of the world has a problem, and don't understand why everyone conspires against them. Solitary, violent towards perceived persecution, and often with elaborate explanations. Some important strains of paranoia include:
-- shared paranoia, seen in cults
-- drug-induced paranoia, common to certain stimulants
-- paranoid jealousy, with the fixed false belief that the beloved person is cheating on you

Atkins reminds us that there are number of personality types, and that we all have bits and pieces of various ones. The question is where it crosses over into something that can be diagnosed or is dangerous, the obsessions. Readers want to understand what's going on in killer personalities. So you can use that existing interest as part of your characterization.

If you really want to know a lot about this, check out the DSM -- here's a link to the wikipedia article about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders

And remember, you may be paranoid, but that doesn't mean they aren't out to get you...