Getting in the head of a psychopath

Godlover · #1 07-05-2015, 10:04 AM

I have mentioned this before on here but I shall mention it again: I have a character named Henry. He is very creepy.

I was watching a show a few days ago where a guy had a woman dressed in an ugly housecoat locked in his home. She was dusting, nervously glancing his way as he watched her from behind the newspaper he was reading. She lost it and ran to the door and tried to unlock it with no success. The camera then fades to black and you see her dead body hanging from the ceiling fan. Later in the show it is explained that he had brought this fantasy to life and she did something to break it so that is why he killed her.

That is what I am going for with Henry.

So my question is: what goes on in the mind of a psychopath like Henry?

Are psychopaths capable of feeling real affection towards whoever they are trying to control?
If so what is their mental capacity for feeling genuine love towards another person?

That's all I have so far...there may be more to come.

Thanks! :-)

Nick Pierce · #2 07-05-2015, 10:16 AM

Read up on the antics of John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Research is your friend.

Oh yeah, also check out the Boston Strangler, the Son of Sam and there was team that worked Southern California a few years back called the Hillside Strangler.

daes13 · #3 07-05-2015, 10:23 AM

Sociopath-- psychopath is used more as a popular decree, one being a psychosis and the other social upbringing-- a true sociopath will have no feelings and only seek their own advantage without being encumbered by their superego. A rational sociopath will understand the rules of society whereas a disorganized one will not and each will act accordingly. If a man abuses a woman he loves it's more of an obsessive attachment issue. Research different abnormal psychologies, personality disorders, and psychosis. Diagnose your character and then go from there.

Hope that helps

Sirk1970 · #4 02-10-2016, 06:12 AM

I have a number of schizophrenics as clients. Until recently the DSM-4 broke this dx into categories, the DSM-5 does not. As an aside, if anybody is needs information about mental illness I would suggest getting a copy of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). I personally liked that categories. The easiest way I can think to explain what it is like is that they interpret reality differently than we do. They may imagine things or people that aren't there, usually voices or visual hallucinations. Those who struggle with paranoid type will have delusions about people such as they are out to harm them in some way and can act out if challenged by them. Not sure that this would fit with your character.