Psychopaths – A type of villain we all love to hate

A villain – if you have one – can make or break a book. When we attempt to understand their motivations we often bump into some kind of mental illness or condition that is not neurotypical. In the following weeks I will try to cover the most popular mental conditions of the villains, starting with the most common yet most misunderstood one: the psychopaths.

When we read the story of a serial killer, we can go on shrugging and saying he was a psychopath like this term explain everything. The most important thing that I want to nail down, that yes, many serial killers were psychopaths but not all of them, and not all psychopaths become murderers.

The common trait of a psychopath and their most prominent feature is the lack of empathy. Everything else is the consequence of this –  if they want something, they will get it and they won’t think of the feelings and needs of others for a moment. If it is their best interest, they can be charming, they manipulate or get rid of anyone in their way without the shred of doubt. Pathological lying can also occur, and they feel no remorse or regret ever. They can’t feel a real emotional connection to anyone as they are biologically incapable of that.

How do we know this?

Scientists measured the volume and activity of different brain regions in psychopaths – they found candidates for this among inmates unaware of their conditions – and compared it to neurotypical (aka. normal) people.

They found that those who showed psychopathic features, like impairment in moral judgment, manipulating and lying seemed to have increased white matter and decreased grey matter volume a certain brain area we call ventromedial prefrontal cortex, just behind the middle of your forehead. Interestingly, patients who suffer damage to this region due to an accident or infection can develop psychopathic features, depending on how old they were. Those who suffer damage under the age of 16 are more likely to show psychopathic and criminalistic behavior than those who were adults, although the damage can’t entirely replicate the disorder of psychopathy. This phenomenon is another indication that true psychopathy is developed – or rather undeveloped – very early, most likely during the time the parts of the brain responsible for affection and morals form the first time. Which means psychopaths are born.

They also found impairment in a little but very important nucleus in the middle-lower part of the brain called the amygdala. This region is responsible for controlling many things related to emotions – developing fear responses, rewarding yourself, and the process of learning through these effects. Without these, psychopaths don’t usually fear punishment and have a much milder reaction to stress. For example, you should never play poker or gamble with a psychopath as their heart-rate stays calmer than most people and they tend to take risks, stripping you of every bit of money quickly. They also have enhanced sensitivity for rewards, so they never step back until they are winning.

Having said that, most psychopaths can decide to imitate emotions, forcing themselves to fancy or take care of someone. This is a cold, rational decision without real feelings and attachment behind it, so they can cut their relationships just as easily as they formed them. They can just as easily show emotions through intelligence, shaming every Oscar-winning actor if that suits them. I seriously wonder if some awards for lead characters were handed out to psychopaths – only the main roles though, they would never accept anything less, don’t even dream of that.

What causes the neurodevelopmental impairment that leads to psychopathy is still a mystery but in conditions such as this, starting during early life and unfolding as the patient ages, the cause is most often the genetics. Yes, those pesky genes again. They do a lot, don’t they? Which one of those little cuties is responsible for this and how exactly, we are still unsure, but scientists all over the world are working hard to find out. There is a growing literature about psychopathy, if you want to read further from a neurobiological perspective, I suggest you start with the article “The Neurobiology of Psychopathy: A Neurodevelopmental Perspective”. It is free to read, and although not easy to read if you’re not used to scientific language, there are a lot of interesting little tidbits the readers could consider and learn from.

 

The most common misunderstanding about this condition is that some trauma or a tragic backstory can lead to psychopathy, thus justifying the actions of our cruel and vicious, yet somehow charming mass murderer, making him sympathetic and understandable. As we discussed before, this is a myth. Childhood experiences can create a sociopath, a narcissist, but not a psychopath. It is a condition people are born with, a dysfunction in the brain.

From the point of books and writing, I want you to consider this: this is a condition which is caused by biology. You don’t need to have shitty parents and traumatic childhood to be a psychopath.

The other very important thing is, you can’t treat psychopathy. They don’t react to pills or therapy, nothing. This is their nature and they can’t change, even those who may understand their condition and are willing to try (a rare case, but not impossible) are doomed to fail. There is no redemption for them, no one will come to change their life. They can however act as if they have changed of course, but it would remain what it is: an act. Their true nature will come forward eventually, and that will sting like nothing else. Now that I think of it, this may be an interesting plot we should get on writing… Hmmm… But back to the topic…

As for representation, there are two main types. A successful psychopath blends in with society, manipulates, lies his way through life without detection, and ends up being the head of a bank or a huge company.

The unsuccessful psychopath is more impulsive, more criminalistic, and most probably ends up in jail.

My favorite portrayal is a bit of both – the infamous Hannibal Lecter, especially the Hannibal from the series because Mads Mikkelsen shows perfectly just how manipulative yet charming can a psychopath be. Dar’s favorite example is the villain/evil king from the book Graceling by Kristin Cashore, which is also a perfect portrayal beginning with him being a cruel and uncaring little kid torturing animals.

That’s all for today, my children, next time we will move onto narcissists and sociopaths, what is the difference between psychopaths and them, which are the individual traits and how they develop. Stay tuned!

Lory