Anderson Cooper, if you weren’t gay, and I wasn’t married, I’d think you were trying to win my heart. For the second time in two weeks you have broadcast an outstanding report that has life-changing implications. (See my December 21 post, “Fear of Death—The Antidote, Part 2” for the previous one.)
The latest one is “Professor learns he has the brain of a psychopath” broadcast on Jan 10, on AC360 (Anderson Cooper, CNN).
I have a story that ties in with this AC360 broadcast and it started last week. I received a text from the distraught mother of a new teenage client. She called me to talk about her family doctor’s recent assessment of her son. Having just recently been informed of the seriousness of the teen’s problems, (e.g., some violent acting out, secretive behaviors, hearing voices) the doctor then made the preposterous prediction that the son should be permanently institutionalized and was likely to become a serial killer. Keep in mind, this was at the beginning of my treatment with him (2 sessions to be exact), and before we got him referred to a psychiatrist as well.
I assured mom that it was way too soon to give up hope on her son. Yes, he did show some signs of serious disorders, but that’s what therapy and psychiatric treatment are for. Despite these signs, I saw signs of remorse, and an establishment of rapport, both evidence of successful outcomes.
Fast forward a few days. My husband and I had returned from dinner at Whole Foods armed with some delicious desserts. We sat on the couch to munch on our desserts and see what was on TV.
AC360 was on. I nearly choked on my vegan doughnut, as I heard the tail end of an interview Anderson was doing with James Fallon, author of “The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist’s Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain” (2013, Current Hardcover)
Turns out, in this story was shocking new evidence of the role of nurture vs. nature. It proved that I was right. There was hope for my client’s son, and for all people whose brains show signs of abnormalities associated with psychopathic traits.
I had to stay up late to catch the repeat of the interview, so I could hear the full story. Here it is: .James Fallon was studying brain scans of people who scored high on psychopathic traits (lack of empathy; especially of others’ pain; lack of remorse; cunning; manipulative; narcissistic; lack of normal emotions). He noticed one that looked especially bad. Turned out, it was his own.
And yet, James was not a psychopath. He is a psychiatrist and a researcher and by his own admission has never killed anyone! But it turns out, there are murderers in his family history. He had inherited the genetic tendency, the brain, of a psychopath.
He claims it was the love of his mother that turned him away from the dark side, and his mother also admitted to him recently that she saw him turning toward the dark side when he was young, only to see him emerge on the other side of it later. (He does admit, however, that he lacks emotional empathy – he says, “I’m hard to get close to.”)
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For him, it was a revolutionary idea. And it should be for all of us in the medical and mental health fields. Note to my teenage client’s family doctor – and this means you!
I’ve ordered James’ book, and I will review it for you after I read it. There is apparently a good bit in the book about how normal leadership traits become skewed in the psychopathic brain; that’s why people with these brain types often end up in positions of leadership and as heads of corporations. Sounds like a good read, eh? A way to better understand your boss?
That reminds me—I haven’t forgotten that I promised you a review of “Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work.” Sounds like a good tie in.
If that wasn’t enough — a bonus! Anderson directed us to a link on his website (AC360.blogs.CNN.com), where we can all take a test to rank our psychopathic traits. He shared that everyone on his staff had taken it.
My husband and I took the test, and I don’t want to brag, but I am a very lucky woman to be married to my very unpsychopathic husband, and he’s not doing too badly with me either. We were both way below the norm for psychopathic traits.
Of course, that’s not as good as it sounds. Those who score low have the challenge of learning how to not be taken advantage of by those who score higher (the test creators explain that everyone has some of the traits).
To my client, her son, and to everyone who has inherited negative tendencies from their family tree — there is hope. Sounds like love is the key that can unlock the door.
In the meantime, for today: I love my husband, Whole Foods, brain studies, and Anderson Cooper. How about you?
Sanity now!
