Psychopaths and mental hospitals

Belfast

Are Psychopaths insane ?

Under current law Psychopaths cannot be held in a mental hospital against their will.

sam34

generally speaking, no theyre not. psychopaths are people who have a psychopathic or dissocial personality disorder. a personality disorder is an ingrained and enduring pattern of behaviour and thinking that is outside the norm, or causing distress to self or others. however, being outside the norm does not always equate with an actual illness.

people with personality disorders can of course develop mental ilnesses, as any of us can, but most people with personality disorders do not have concurrent mental illnesses.

while psychopaths can do things that seem "mad" or "insane" or "evil" ,it is down to their beliefs and thinking patterns, not to any mental illness, usually.

sam34

meant to say also, thats why they cannot be detained in a psychiatric hospital, as to be detained you need to have a mental illness. if a psychopath developed eg schizophrenia, then they could be detained (if the other criteria were met) but a "pure/straightforward" psychopath cannot be detained

Belfast

What can be done with a Psychopath that damages everybody's life they come in contact with and is smart enough to avoid being convicted of any crime.

The psychopath has read all the books by the FBI on police methods and knows how not to leave any evidence.

For legal reasons I will not give any names or anything that might identify any person or persons.

Belfast

I think I might have posted this in the wrong forum.

eth0_

Belfast wrote: »

What can be done with a Psychopath that damages everybody's life they come in contact with and is smart enough to avoid being convicted of any crime.

NOTHING. Unless they are a clear danger to themselves or others, they cannot be sectioned and detained in a psychiatric institution.

Even if they were sectioned, if they show they have improved, they can be released.

It's very rare that any psychopath could evade the law, if they were committing crime.

Also - are you a mental health professional? Who are you to diagnose someone a "psychopath"? It is a very rare disorder. The person you believe to be a psychopath may, in fact, just be a d1ck.

sam34

eth0_ wrote: »

NOTHING. Unless they are a clear danger to themselves or others, they cannot be sectioned and detained in a psychiatric institution.

Even if they were sectioned, if they show they have improved, they can be released.

even if they are a danger to themselves or others, they cannot be detained under the mental health act unless they have a coexisting mental illness. under the 2001 mental health act there are three categories of people who cannot be detained under the act - alcohol and/or drug dependent, personality disorder and socially deviant, even if as a result of any of those conditions tehy are a danger to self/others.if someone falls into any or all of these categories then they cannot be detained unless they have coexisting mental illness.

the psychiatric services are there to treat those with mental ilness, not as a substitute/alternative to the criminal justice system

DrIndy

i really don't know where this conversation is going. If it doesn't become sensible soon, I will lock it.

Looby_Loo

Belfast wrote: »

Are Psychopaths insane ?

Not necessarily. As posted previously psychopaths view the world in a different way to most people. It is a type of personality disorder which is most often shown by a complete lack of empathy for others. In short the psychopath believes themselves to be the most important person and gives no values to the emotions of others. Some very successful people show these characteristics by not caring who they step on as they work their way to the top.

Belfast

eth0_ wrote: »

NOTHING. Unless they are a clear danger to themselves or others, they cannot be sectioned and detained in a psychiatric institution.

Even if they were sectioned, if they show they have improved, they can be released.

It's very rare that any psychopath could evade the law, if they were committing crime.

Also - are you a mental health professional? Who are you to diagnose someone a "psychopath"? It is a very rare disorder. The person you believe to be a psychopath may, in fact, just be a d1ck.

It may be rare.

No I am not a mental heath professional.

I did not diagnose the condition. The person was diagnosed by a mental heath professional when they were 18 teen.

The person is a danger to the public and themselves.

The person involved has been questioned by the Gardaí many times over the years but never gone to Jail.

The person involved has read many books on police procedure and forensics
and knows how not to to get caught.

I do not think there is any thing that can be done.

In the mean time the person involved will continue to damage every body they come in contact with and risk their lives and that of many others.

I just hope they never cross your path.

eth0_

Well unfortunately you cannot be detained in a mental hospital for having a personality disorder (thank god).

HOW are they a danger to the public and themselves? What is it that they are doing?

sam34

Belfast wrote: »

The person is a danger to the public and themselves.

The person involved has been questioned by the Gardaí many times over the years but never gone to Jail.

The person involved has read many books on police procedure and forensics
and knows how not to to get caught.


In the mean time the person involved will continue to damage every body they come in contact with and risk their lives and that of many others.

that all sounds a bit csi miami-ish, tbh. noone is invincible and infallible, and if this person is repeatedly involved in serious crime, the likelihood is that the will be caught at some stage. (whether they get prosecuted and jailed after being caught is a separate discussion)

what do you mean by saying they "damage everyone they come in contact with"? how does someone do that? perhaps you mean he/she is manipulative and devious (common traits in psychopaths) but being that way is not indicative of either a crime or mental illness.

how is this person risking their life and others lives?

Belfast

sam34 wrote: »

that all sounds a bit csi miami-ish, tbh. noone is invincible and infallible, and if this person is repeatedly involved in serious crime, the likelihood is that the will be caught at some stage. (whether they get prosecuted and jailed after being caught is a separate discussion)

He is 46 years approx and it has not happen yet.

sam34 wrote: »

what do you mean by saying they "damage everyone they come in contact with"?

He/she makes friend with some and seems like a very nice person. once he/she has got their trust he will break in to their house and vandalise it cut power lines in side and out block drains and sometimes start fires. Steal their mail do id fraud and phone their friends and relatives and start fights amount they my tell lies about them.
He/she likes to poision their pets.

sam34 wrote: »

How does someone do that? perhaps you mean he/she is manipulative and devious (common traits in psychopaths) but being that way is not indicative of either a crime or mental illness.

How does someone do that? psychopaths view the world in a different way to the rest of the world. I what he likes/she to do.
You are correct on their own this in not enought to say someone is a psychopath.
He/she was diagnosed at the age of 18 by a mental health professional as being a psychopath.

sam34 wrote: »

How is this person risking their life and others lives?

He/she steal and use dangerous chemicals like Hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), mercury, Paraquat, Bleach, Ammonia, Nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, Sleepy Crow and other dangerous chemical.

He\she kill and torture animals for fun and has done so from a early age.

Thankfully he never got a round to using the Hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid).
But he liked to kick it around and let the dogs chew on the container.

He/she has poisoned him/her self with some of these chemical though careless handling.

His/her house is infected with rats and fleas and he and his dogs use the whole house a toilet, so the house stinks of human and animal waste.

He/she has vandalised hi/her own house and ripped out electrical writing leaving it exposed.

He/she also has also stolen hand guns, shot guns, hear hunting refiles, catapults that are used to kill rat with ball bearings.

He/she has set fire to building with people in them.

He/she like driving on the road late at night on the wrong side (playing chicken) forcing people to swerve to avoid him
He has stolen night vision equipment to help him with breakins at night.

This is only a small part of what he/she gets up to.

I doubt you will believe this.

most people he/she has targeted are living in fear of him\her

No one ever believes until they have been targeted by him/her.

sam34

hard to believe that someone who has set fire to buildings with people in them and engages in such dangerous driving has not been prosecuted. are the victims of this id fraud/theft/animal cruelty (the animal owners)/ reporting these crimes nad then following up and pressing charges? if they are living in fear, as you say, and dont cooperate with the guards, then the guards are limited in what they can do.


your original questiom was whether psychopaths are insane. from what you have outlined above, there is little to suggest any mental illness in this individual.

eth0_

I'm not sure whether I believe any of that, but why don't the neighbours install CCTV or get together in a group, as witnesses, and go to the police?

Do they own their own house or is it council or rented? Either way you could get the council to take a serious look at this guy and his antisocial behaviour.

tallaght01

Now that sam34 has kindly answered the question about who can be sectioned, this thread is no longer about biology/medicine issues.