Edwin Eldred Narcissist, Psychopath or Sociopath

In the Call of the Takahe Edwin is the bad guy. Using the terminology of his time he would probably have been described as evil, malicious, wicked or a villain but now he would probably be classed as a narcissist, psychopath or sociopath. These are terms that are often used interchangeably yet they reflect quite different underlying psychological difficulties. This artifice will flesh out what these terms mean and how we might distinguish them before returning to Edwin and discussing which most closely applies to him

Narcissists

The underlying psychological issue that drives the behaviour of a narcissist is poor self-esteem. This produces behaviour that to the outsider can appear to be quite the opposite as they strive to hide their own insecurity and lack of self-confidence from the outside world as well as from themself. This is not an active conscious process but driven by subconscious avoidance of the bad feelings that arise though poor self-esteem.

We all show some degree of narcissism, but for most of us it’s a minor part of who we are. Unfortunately, for some people these traits are the most dominant of their personality and can cause a lot of distress to those around them and in some cases to themselves.

Characteristic behaviours of narcissists:

• Talking about themselves too much with a strong focus on their superiority, achievements, appearance and so on, with a tendency to exaggerate the positive

• They like to be the centre of attention so are usually quite skilled in conversation and tend to dominate when with others

• The are usually very competitive

• They often fantasise about greatness in order to fend off inner feelings of emptiness and shame

• They disparage others in order to compare themselves favourably and enhance their own status

• They require lots of praise on order to bolster their emotional fragility

• They are easily bored so seek constant entertainment

• They are often envious of others

• They have a strong sense of entitlement

• They react badly to criticism

• They lack empathy or ability to understand another person’s point of view or experience

• They dislike their own company

• They crave excitement

• They keep busy to ward of experiencing their own inner feelings of inadequacy

• Their attachment to others is usually quite shallow and short lived and they can be very disloyal to their partners and friends

• Substance misuse is common in order to dampen their unpleasant thoughts and feelings

The development of narcissistic traits is thought to be largely a result of early life experiences such as exposure to neglect, emotional trauma and certain parenting styles but genetic influences might also play a part.

While the characteristics of narcissism most typically include those listed above it is now recognised that some people with narcissism who are more introverted (shy and reticent) will display different behaviours to those who are by nature more sociable and outgoing.

Psychopaths

It is generally accepted that psychopaths are born rather than made. In other words their difficulties arise from neurobiological differences that are genetic rather than due to early childhood experiences. However, many of those who are born with these brain differences will have one or more parents with the same issues and that results in the double whammy of problematic nature and nurture.

The main problem affecting psychopaths is an inability to process emotional experiences. Hence, their interpretation of what is happening around them at an emotional level and their ability to react to the emotions of others will frequently be abnormal and unhelpful. They experience less emotion than others, so events that most of us would find anxiety-provoking or upsetting will not produce much of a reaction in psychopaths, if at all. As our emotions are often a useful means of guiding our behaviour, particularly in social situations, they are greatly disadvantaged in respect of learning from their mistakes because they don’t get those unpleasant feelings that tell us we’ve upset or embarrassed someone. It is often our emotional reactions and ability to recognise the emotional reactions of others than helps us to develop socially appropriate and moral behaviour.

Some psychopaths learn to imitate important social behaviours if it is to their advantage to do so, such as being able to manipulate others more easily, but they will not feel the emotions that lie behind those social behaviours.

Emotional blandness is not pleasant. So psychopaths often seek out thrills and extreme sensations simply to provoke feelings but gradually they will adapt and require an even more challenging sensation to produce an inner reaction. This is what lies behind the fact that many serial killers need to make their crimes more and more bizarre and extreme over time in order to achieve the same thrill or sensation.

Psychopaths will show almost all the characteristic behaviours of a narcissist, although the underlying reason for those behaviours is rather different being poor self-esteem in the case of the narcissist and subtle biological difference in the processing of emotions in the case of psychopaths.

In addition to the traits associated with narcissism the psychopath will also have some of the following characteristics:

• Their emotional reactions are shallow or absent but they often have superficial charm

• They usually have normal intellect and memory

• They often disregard the rights of others in pursuit of self-serving goals

• They are very manipulative

• They will usually plan carefully in order to meet their needs with contingencies in place for every eventuality

• They are intolerant of rules and like to get away with doing things that are outside the bounds of normality

• They like to play the role of victim

• They usually fail to accept responsibility for what they have done

• They experience no remorse

Some people argue that narcissism and psychopathy lie on a continuum with narcissism being at the less disordered end of the spectrum. However, while this seems to be the case if one looks solely at the superficial behaviours it does not apply if one considers the underlying reasons for them, with poor self-esteem underlying narcissism and impaired emotion processing in the case of psychopathy.

Not all psychopaths become criminals. Many of those with high intelligence will do well in certain roles in society where the ability to use their intellect with minimal concern for the feelings of others is rewarded. Hence, it is not unknown for psychopaths to become leaders in industry or politics.

Sociopaths

Sociopaths are made not born. They do not have the underlying biological abnormalities that effect emotion processing in psychopaths but learn antisocial behaviour due to early life experience. Like narcissists they have often been exposed to trauma, neglect, chaotic parenting or environments that do not enable them to learn social and moral behaviours.

Sociopaths will generally show many of the behaviours that are characteristic of narcissists and psychopaths. However, they tend to be more emotional than psychopaths and more prone to overt anger, violence and emotional outbursts. They are aware that their behaviour is wrong but might rationalise it to relieve themselves of experiencing guilt. Unlike psychopaths they may feel guilt or remorse or regret but perhaps not to the same extent that most people. Overall, they are more erratic, impulsive and live in a more chaotic social world than psychopaths or narcissists.

Males are overrepresented among narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths and all three have a higher rate of substance abuse than the general population. Sociopaths and psychopaths are also more likely to be found in the prison population.

The importance of distinguishing between these disorders is to guide the type of treatment needed. Historically, psychopaths and sociopaths have been treated solely by punishments such as prison and withdrawal of rights, but these have not proved effective in preventing further antisocial behaviour. Greater understanding of the underlying reasons for psychopathy is now leading to experimental approaches to intervening early in life in the hpe that the deficits in emotional progressing might be amenable to intervention. Narcissism is already known to be responsive to psychological treatment although the challenge is in persuading those affected to accept treatment because many fail to see that there is anything wrong with them or finds their behaviour works to their advantage.

What of Edwin?

Edwin certainly ticks many of the boxes for narcissism but his crimes push him, beyonds that and into the realm of the psychopath or sociopath. On the basis of what is in the book it’s impossible to know for sure which of these applies. One would need to know a great deal more about his early childhood, his family history and the way he views the world. The outbursts, cruelty and violence that were aimed at Madeleine may have been the impulsive, emotion-driven and chaotic behaviour of a sociopath but it could have been the planned and controlling behaviour of a cold and calculating psychopath. One clue might be the care with which he ensured his violence towards Madeleine was hidden beneath her clothing, but you might have formed your own view. For those of you in book clubs it makes for an interesting topic for discussion, along with the ethical issues of how should we treat psychopathy if it is a biological disorder and not just bad character.