Sadism and masochism represent mental health issues and cries for help

Fifty Shades of Grey documents the world of sadism and masochism and will soon be a film

While moviegoers anticipate Fifty Shades of Grey, the film version of the popular book series, mental health experts tell us sadism and masochism practices are not the thrill depicted in the pages of a book but are serious mental health problems. While a rich lover with unusual sexual interests may sound exciting, and even enticing, far to often death occurs from serious practices that are really cries for help.

In the book Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James the main character, Anastasia Steele, a college student, interviews Chrstian Grey, whose hobby is sadism-masochism.  She is drawn into this world by his romantic maneuvers and learns the sexual tricks he enjoys and that she finds seductive as well.  At the same time, throughout the ongoing sex games, that form the bulk of the reading in all three books of the series, there is an underlying threat of danger.

Experts tell us that adolescent deaths from what is called auto-erotic asphyxia represent 6.5% of all deaths in teenage years. This self-hanging, sexual gratification practice, for a thrill is often that reaching out for something, often undefinable, that includes the gratification but far more, we are told.

 The actor David Carradine, who died in June 2009, may have practiced auto-erotic asphyxia for a long time. This dangerous sexual practice may have been responsible for Carradine's death, and if so, his mental health was impaired for years, as experts observe. He was found dead in a hotel room closet in Thailand a year ago in an intricate web of ropes. One was around his neck, another around his genitals; and the two were tied together according to the Thai authorities who discovered him. Sex experts referred to in the ABC news article maintain that Carradine's advanced age indicates that he may have practiced auto erotic asphyxia for a long time, indicating a pattern of self abuse would have been seen by mental health professionals as a cry for help.

The practice of auto-erotic asphyxia is also increasing, with 71% of those who die under the age of 30. Several thousand deaths are said to occur annually.

Divorce documents from Carradine's last marriage were put online by The Smoking Gun. In those documents the ex-wife Marina Anderson maintained Carradine practiced "deviant sexual behavior" which was potentially deadly." Some experts consider auto erotic asphyxia as that behavior. If this is true, one wonders if there is anything in the records indicating a mental health professional to have been recommended to Carradine and if not, why not.

Stephen J. Hucker, forensic psychiatrist, describes auto erotic asphyxia as "a sub-category of sexual masochism. Also known by terms such as asphyxiophilia, autoerotic or sexual asphyxia, this potentially lethal sexual practice refers to sexual arousal that is produced while reducing the oxygen supply to the brain. The condition is described in the DSM IV, which is the diagnostic manual of mental conditions. It is described as " behaviour that results from intense and recurring fantasies or sexual urges over at least six months must be causing significant clinical stress and/or impairment (social, occupational, other)."

The condition of auto erotic asphyxia has been known to medical science for about a hundred years, according to Hucker, who has studied the practice extensively. He writes, " There is no evidence that hypoxyphilia is a form of disguised suicide. In most cases hypoxyphilic deaths are a complete surprise to family and friends as the deceased was typically in a good mood and giving every indication that they were looking forward to the future."

Some of the sexually aberrant conditions described in the DSM V describe those who hurt themselves, while other definitions incorporate sexually sadistic acts directed towards hurting others.

Evelyn Nesbitt, a famous model - show girl, was one of the most famous, publicly described cases early on of sadistic behavior. Nesbitt, the original' "Gibson Girl" model of the late Meiji-era, and the darling of photographers in the early 1900's, was sexually involved with the famous architect Stanford White who liked to photograph women naked and enjoyed sex games. She, like Carradine, lived a life of thrill-seeking that was said to possess a sexuality which could drive men mad with lust. She became the central figure in the trial of her husband, Harry Kendall Thaw killed White in a jealous rage after Nesbitt described White's sexual proclivities and her involvement with them.

Hucker says of these types of risky sex games: "In the experience of the author, living practitioners of hypoxyphilia tend to be articulate and willing to discuss their thoughts, fantasies and motivations in great detail. Surprisingly, perhaps, half of them describe sadistic fantasies. They report that their activities are part of a more elaborate, usually masochistic, fantasy in which they are forced into painful, uncomfortable or humiliating situations. Some individuals have cross gender fantasies and some clearly describe being sexually aroused by being in physical danger and of struggling against physical restraints."

Sex games can be risky in many ways, it seems, when they lead to murder or to accidental death, But as experts point out, the element of the thrill and the fantasy are clues to potential problems family members and others must be alert to in order to encourage an individual who practices these games to seek treatment before serious consequences occur.  While the public has been fascinated by sadism and masochism as described in Fifty Shades of Grey, the actual games played by many of the people involved in these activities turn out to have lasting consequences, signaling that cry for help mental health experts describe.

Learn the issues of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the DSM V

Sam Vaknin — The DSM V re-defines personality disorders thus: The essential features of a personality disorder are impairments in personality (self and interpersonal) functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits.

According to the June 2011 text of the DSM V, the following criteria must be met to diagnose Narcissistic Personality Disorder (in parentheses my comments):

Significant impairments in personality functioning in either identity, or self-direction (should be: in both.)

Identity

The narcissist keeps referring to others excessively in order to regulate his self-esteem (really, sense of self-worth) and for “self-definition” (to define his identity.) His self-appraisal is exaggerated, whether it is inflated, deflated, or fluctuating between these two poles and his emotional regulation reflects these vacillations. (Finally, the DSM V accepted what I have been saying for decades: that narcissists can have an “inferiority complex” and feel worthless and bad; that they go through cycles of ups and downs in their self-evaluation; and that this cycling influences their mood and affect.)

Self-direction

The narcissist sets goals in order to gain approval from others (narcissistic supply; the DSM V ignores the fact that the narcissist finds disapproval equally rewarding as long as it places him firmly in the limelight.) The narcissist lacks self-awareness as far as his motivation goes (and as far as everything else besides.)

The narcissist's personal standards and benchmarks are either too high (which supports his grandiosity), or too low (buttresses his sense of entitlement, which is incommensurate with his real-life performance.)

Impairments in interpersonal functioning in either empathy or intimacy (should be: in both.)

Empathy

The narcissist finds it difficult to identify with the emotions and needs of others, but is very attuned to their reactions when they are relevant to himself (cold empathy.) Consequently, he overestimates the effect he has on others or underestimates it (the classic narcissist never underestimates the effect he has on others – but the inverted narcissist does.)

Intimacy

The narcissist's relationships are self-serving and, therefore shallow and superficial. They are centered around and geared at the regulation of his self-esteem (obtaining narcissistic supply for the regulation of his labile sense of self-worth.)

The narcissist is not “genuinely” interested in his intimate partner's experiences (implying that he does fake such interest convincingly.) The narcissist emphasizes his need for personal gain (by using the word “need”, the DSM V acknowledges the compulsive and addictive nature of narcissistic supply). These twin fixtures of the narcissist's relationships render them one-sided: no mutuality or reciprocity (no intimacy).

Pathological personality traits

Antagonism characterized by grandiosity and attention-seeking…

Grandiosity

The aforementioned feeling of entitlement. The DSM V adds that it can be either overt or covert (which corresponds to my taxonomy of classic and inverted narcissist.)

Grandiosity is characterized by self-centeredness; a firmly-held conviction of superiority (arrogance or haughtiness); and condescending or patronizing attitudes.

Attention-seeking

The narcissist puts inordinate effort, time, and resources into attracting others (sources of narcissistic supply) and placing himself at the focus and centre of attention. He seeks admiration (the DSM V gets it completely wrong here: the narcissist does prefer to be admired and adulated, but, failing that, any kind of attention would do, even if it is negative.)

The diagnostic criteria end with disclaimers and differential diagnoses, which reflect years of accumulated research and newly-gained knowledge:

The above enumerated impairments should be “stable across time and consistent across situations ... not better understood as normative for the individual’s developmental stage or socio-cultural environment ... are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., severe head trauma).”

Abolish Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) in DSM V? – Click HERE to Watch the Video

DSM V proposed diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder available HERE.

Read more about the shortcomings of the DSM IV and how they are tackled in the DSM V – click HERE.

Bibliography

Goldman, Howard H., Review of General Psychiatry, fourth edition,1995. Prentice-HallInternational, London.

Gelder, Michael, Gath, Dennis, Mayou, Richard, Cowen, Philip (eds.), Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, third edition, 1996, reprinted 2000. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Vaknin, Sam, Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited, eighth revised impression, 1999-2006. Narcissus Publications, Prague and Skopje.

Westen, Drew et al. Refining the Construct of Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic Criteria and Subtypes (Posted at http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/pap.dtl)



About the Author

Sam Vaknin (http://samvak.tripod.com) is the author of Malignant Self-Love: Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain – How the West Lost the East, as well as many other books and ebooks about topics in psychology, relationships, philosophy, economics, and international affairs. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Global Politician and served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, eBookWeb, and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He was the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101. Visit Sam’s Web site at http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com. 

The 'bad seed’ diagnosis and the Casey Anthony case

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Carol Forsloff - Years ago a famous movie called The Bad Seed depicted a girl seemingly without conscience whose  bad behavior pervaded her relationships, including those with her family, the kind that Casey Anthony is compared to now; but is there such a thing as “a bad seed" in a legal case involving the killing of a child?

The storyline of the film, The Bad Seed, is this, according to the description provided by the creators of the film: “Christine Penmark seems to have it all: a lovely home, a loving husband and the most "perfect" daughter in the world. But since childhood, Christine has suffered from the most terrible recurring nightmare. And her "perfect" daughter's accomplishments include lying, theft and possibly much, much worse. Only Christine knows the truth about her daughter and only Christine's father  knows the truth about her nightmare.”  The film was made in 1956.

Today Casey Anthony is on trial, accused by the prosecution in a death penalty trial in Florida, of killing her two-year-old daughter, Caylee.  Numerous talking heads from law, psychology and the media analyze the elements of the case as it has unfolded in the trial and point to details that mirror the Bad Seed movie script.

But Casey Anthony’s trial is not a movie script, although the screaming “fans” were shown fighting for position to get into the courtroom where the drama of the trial took place.

Cindy Anthony, mother of Casey, is accused of lying to protect her daughter.  Both the defense and the prosecution also point to deceitful ways of Casey’s father, George, as part of the family problems.   Experts from various fields have looked at patterns within the family and report on its dysfunction.  Furthermore the defense in the case maintains that only Casey’s father, outside of Casey herself, knows the truth about what really happened to Caylee.  The details replicate much of the movie’s outline, so what is the nature of “bad seeds” and are there people with inherent tendencies that produce the type of behavior that would lead to killing a child?

The notion that some children are inherently bad is one some mental health professionals support, while others strenuously disagree and maintain dysfunction occurs because of specific types of behaviors a child models in the environment and the constellation of the family.

Amy Webb, Ph.D., examines Dr. Richard Friedman’s contention that some children are badly behaved “because everyday character traits, like all human behavior have hard-wired and genetic components that cannot be molded entirely by the best environment.”  Dr. Friedman is a professor of psychiatry who was interviewed by the New York Times in 2010 to discuss whether or not there is such a thing as a “bad seed.”  He uses the example to show how all other children in a family can be well-behaved but one may stand out as “bad.”

Webb takes exception to Friedman’s argument and says, “I strongly disagree with this idea and I think much of the child development research does too. Yes, children have genetic predispositions towards a lot of characteristics, both physical and psychological. However, this is just a predisposition, not fate. Much of what determines how a predisposition is expressed depends on how parents, teachers, and others in the environment react to the child.”

One of the most prevalent explanations for the type of behavior that leads to  a“bad seed” is one advanced by Dr. David Lykken.  He maintains that psychopaths are distinctly different than other people beginning in childhood and don't respond with normal inhibition.  He also says that most antisocial behaviors where the child seemingly has no conscience and exhibits antisocial behavior is actually caused by poor parenting, absentee fathers and inadequate mothers as a usual pattern.

Parents with poor child-rearing abilities will respond inadequately or inappropriately during the time the child is being socialized.  Lykken suggests the child often irritates them, and the child then acts out.   Although there have been research studies using twins to assess criminality,  Lykken acknowledges that it is true twins raised separately  may each have a criminal-type behavior, showing aggression and sensation seeking, but that these behaviors can be channeled into doing good or bad things.  It is up to the parents to guide the child in making the right choices.

In addition to the psychological and psychiatric debates, neurologists point to brain activities that suggest psychopaths have brain activities that are abnormal.  Consequently those afflicted with this neurological pattern end up doing things that excite the nervous system, thus becoming involved in thrill-seeking activities.

Bad seed theories examine  the various mechanisms that are intertwined in creating violent behavior.   A cogent explanation on how a Gary Gilmore or a Dennis Nilsen, both serial killers, can become seriously violent is through a process that seems to most promote antisocial behavior is advanced by Psychologist Lonnie Athen.  She tells us that such a person,"is a victim of violence and feels powerless to avoid it. Then he is taught how and when to become violent and to profit from it. Then he acts on that. If a person from a violent environment does not become violent, it is because some part of the process is missing.”

The Anthony family has been outlined by experts following the trial as having serious dysfunction and patterns of deception, while the defense maintains the father, George Anthony, molested his daughter throughout her childhood, a type of violent behavior that is conducive to developing antisocial  behavior.   The lack of coherent testimony about various details related to the death of two-year-old Caylee reflects the differences within the family core.

Experts differ on the specifics of how antisocial behavior develops and the bad seed theories that proliferate in cases like that of Casey Anthony, but they all agree that there is such a thing as an antisocial person seemingly without conscience who can have an outwardly normal appearance and a family the face of propriety that can lead to violence and murder.  The clinical enumeration of those “bad seed” behaviors can be found here, in a summary of the traits defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the text used for diagnosing and classification of mental disorders.