ILLUSTRATIONS Andre Toma
WHAT BODY SIGNS INDICATE PSYCHOPATHY?
The metabolism of someone prone to this disorder behaves differently than that of a healthy person.
Brain: Prefrontal areas of the brain, where moral judgments roll coldly, have little activity in a normal person and a lot in psychopaths. The area responsible for guilt, the frontopolar cortex, is underactive in a murderous mind.
Face: When we lie, we contort our faces or show tics, such as blinking a lot. The psychopath keeps a “clean face” and only uses expressions to manipulate or lead the conversation.
Heart: Nervous, the normal person suffers an acceleration in the heartbeat. Already the psychopath, even under pressure, does not change his heartbeat, as he does not recognize emotional connections.
Voice: Under stress, normal people turn up the volume and argue more aggressively. Calm, the psychopath maintains his tone of voice during the conversation, without showing irritation.
Sweat: In stressful situations – when questioned, for example – we sweat and demonstrate lack of control. As he does not process feelings, the psychopath manages to remain calm and does not sweat.
Body language: Untimely itching, nervous leg, moving nonstop, and fingers drumming on the table are signs of tension for everyone – except for psychopaths, who do not receive the nerve pulses from the brain that activate these movements and remain relaxed.
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HOW DO PSYCHOLOGISTS IDENTIFY AND TREAT A PSYCHOPATH?
The process even involves analysis of people who relate to the suspect
Detection: Through interviews and examinations, psychiatric health professionals measure the risk that an individual with personality disorders will again commit violent crimes. Ex-convicts or subjects still in the prison system can enlist. If the person fits the profile, a…
Follow-up: Officials watch over the examinee as if they were probation officers. Visits and interviews are conducted with the patient and with people who interact with him socially. If the examinee starts to show suspicious behavior, a new…
Isolation: Psychopaths with brain injuries or some genetic problem are usually sent to maximum security prisons and start to serve time in individual, isolated cells. Less intense cases are referred to psychiatric hospitals and begin their…
Treatment: Specialized therapies and medications are part of rehabilitation. Periodic examinations accompany the evolution of the subject until the time comes when the specialists decide whether the subject should continue…
Arrested or released: From time to time an evaluation takes place and the criminal can be sent to an institution with a milder isolation regime or be discharged and released. The “patients” who do not show improvement remain under treatment indefinitely.
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CONSULTANCYDr. Paul Britton, clinical and forensic consultant, professor at the University of Coventry, England
SOURCES Book DSM-IV – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersAmerican Pyschiatric Association and program Dangerous People with Severe Personality Disorder