foolshcme

November 3: Who was important to your muse--positive or negative effects.

Animals have always been important to Rhys. He has never felt significantly close to another human being (he will state Gabriel is important, but this is a survival/Stockholm perspective) but has always shared an immediate bond with animals when they cross his path. Prior to his kidnapping, it was very common for him to spend some free time at the dog park or a cat cafe.

After his kidnapping, he formed a close bond to the mice that were living in the basement with him. There were other boys present in the basement with him too, initially, but all of them were hellbent on simply living, not really forming friendships. Gabriel liked to try and pit their emotions against eachother. The mice were something that couldn't be swayed by Gabriel. They enjoyed Rhys kindness in feeding them and he in turn enjoyed their company.

Perhaps, without the mice, he wouldn't have stayed alive as long as he did. It became his daily relief from stress. Feed the mice, talk to the mice, play with the mice. It was a distraction that he became very fond of. Upon gaining Gabriel's favor, he was allowed to keep a mouse as a pet because of the joy that it brought him. Unfortunately though, it is now used as a tool. If he misbehaves or Gabriel is unhappy, his mice are often taken away or killed. Rhys is very quick to panic when his behavior is seen as unacceptable because he is afraid of the fate of his mice.

Part of Stockholm Syndrome is learned helplessness. It is a reaction to multiple, stressful/traumatic occurrences. The patient begins to feel that certain actions are out of their control or inevitable, therefore they take no action to change it, even when the option for action is available.

This is undoubtedly Rhys' situation with Gabriel. The emotional abuse and physical abuse seem to come no matter what. He cannot change how Gabriel treats him. While placations were originally tried, he does not any longer. He simply accepts what happens to him (to a certain degree, as we have seen that he tries to run away if he feels that his life is truly in danger; an extreme that shouldn't be his only call to action).

He also believes escaping is pointless, so he always returns to Gabriel. His successes are self-sabotaged, as he also anticipates people to reject or kick him out, as his parents did when he tried to return to them.

La Belle Indifference takes effect in more than Rhys' stutter. It is associated with conversion disorders, which we have discussed before. The summary is that Rhys has trouble finding concern in his symptoms. He is aware of their presence, but as said in our last post, there is a lack of distress over them.

This is due to mental distress and trauma overloading the brain, and the medical neglect he's received all his life also plays a large part in it. However, he often becomes confused if people bring up his symptoms as a concern. He will be oddly nonchalant about them.

Conversion disorders cause the manifestation of symptoms without a physiologically found reason. It is a reduced function or abnormality of the brain--it is observable under MRIs. Symptoms of conversion disorder for Rhys chronic fatigue, tremors, dizziness, and a heightened sensation of pain.

However, La Belle Indifference will also cause indifference to symptoms that have a physiological source. He has a limp as a result of broken legs that he is unconcerned about. His stutter is not a concern to him. He is neglectful of injuries and their pain after they initially happened. And he is very dismissive of illness.

If Rhys returned to his family for a short period of time, why wasn't Gabriel arrested?

The simple answer is that Rhys never identified him as his kidnapper. Actually, he painted Gabriel in a completely different light when discussing it with law enforcement and his family. Gabriel is his boyfriend. He's the one that saved him. Just as he was told to do--just as he would have done regardless of Gabriel's instructions.

Rhys sees Gabriel as a constant in his life. He almost reveres him as a God of sorts. He's the person that can both give and take away everything that Rhys has. Gabriel has created a dependence on him; its why he was cocky enough to allow Rhys to leave in the first place, to prove that he cannot live without him.

Rhys can't maintain a job, he doesn't have any money saved, and his family didn't want to take him back with his psychological problems. If he loses Gabriel, he loses food, shelter, and more, even if they are dangled above his head constantly. Some is better than none.

Then there is the matter of Rhys believing he is in love with Gabriel. He wholeheartedly believes that they are in a relationship and Gabriel is the only one who would desire him in such a way. They're intimate, Gabriel "takes care of him", and Gabriel wanted him. He is empathized to Gabriel and will often soften the abuse that he's endured when asked or flat out deny it in hopes of painting Gabriel in a good light.

As mentioned before, Rhys has a psychogenic stutter. This is a stutter without physical cause; rather, it often comes from mental illness/mental trauma.

This is a type of conversion disorder, which is where there are neurological symptoms without a neurological source, yet it is still the brain causing said symptoms. They are still real, valid symptoms, however.

There are other symptoms of a conversion disorder that Rhys presents as well, such a tense muscles, tremors, and chronic fatigue.

While Adelio has never killed another person, he has allowed others to die. Meaning, he provided no intervention to the what was happening. This occurred on a couple of occasions.

One was in his teenage years. He and another student were bridge jumping, the two of them having some comradery in being adrenaline junkies. Where they jumped was shallow and the other struck their head on a rock. They were not unconscious, but obvious disoriented, actively drowning. Adelio provided no assistance, merely treading water and watching them drown. He played the distressed friend when police questioned on the matter, staying at the site and calling the police himself.

Psychopaths being capable of love is, unfortunately, given meager amounts of scientific research. Those that are speaking on it are often tabloids and dating websites that are a) using a very social term of psychopath, not the diagnosable one b) discussing secondary psychopathy, not primary, which functions differently in terms of brain patterns c) using outdated or biased data that encompasses the same issues.

Looking into resources of those diagnosed with primary psychopathy, however, there seems to be a general answer of 'no'. This is later paired with an explanation of what their equivalent of 'love' is. For Adelio's answer, we follow those that personally experience psychopathy.

Adelio is not capable of the conventional definition of love. He does not have a deep affection for another person, he does not carry a selfless empathy for another, he doesn't have uncontrollable feelings of care. None of these are possible for him, nor would he desire to have them as feelings.

This does not mean that he is incapable of having some form of care for another person, however. Adelio has positive feelings towards people and things, even obsession. This can be from a shared perspective on life, a served purpose, or someone that sees through his created facades, so a realization of true self. He is capable of having positive feelings about people, and they can be beyond fleeting.

Back on the subject of violent tendencies. Aggression runs high in many neuropsychological conditions such as psychopathy. Psychopaths are known for repeat actions of aggression and violent behaviors. This has been related to paralimbic dysfunction of psychopathic patients, meaning abnormal function of the brain in the amygdala (and other parts, but research is variable), which controls anxiety, aggression, fear conditioning, emotional memory, and social cognition. Aggression is classically high.

Adelio is no different, having a long history of aggression and violent behaviors. It started with animals. He also acted out in preschool, hitting others or speaking threateningly. His father taught him to hunt in hopes of curbing the violent tendencies, giving it the purpose of providing resources to the family in hopes of "training" him. It did very little though, as Adelio continued to be quite violent, repeated suspensions after fighting with a loose purpose.

America is very poor at handling such conduct, however, and it was never addressed with punishments such a juvenile detention--especially as Adelio started to learn how to talk his way out of punishments.

He understood that adult actions were much more serious however. Offenses as a kid were overlooked, while actions of violence and aggression as an adult had the risk of jail sentences. He has no desire to go to jail. Therefore, he grew more keen on when and where he acted out.

There is a lot of controversy on whether or not psychopaths are capable of "feeling emotions". Many will state they are devoid of them, that they are only concerned about getting what they want. Or, they go to the opposite side and think their crazed and giddy. Adelio will not take the time to correct them--its not worth his time--but he personally believes that he is capable of feeling. Though, he understands that it is not the same as the average person.

Emotion is a spectrum for psychopaths. The range they feel varies. Generally though, they are known for a shallow affect. This simply means they do not have the same emotional response as others. It comes across as dulled or non-existent unless they are bluffing. Yes, he feels he is capable of sadness, happiness, and anger. However, he doesn't react intensely and he is quickly over the emotion. It doesn't linger. This correlates to his proclivity to boredom.

There are emotions that he feels he is without though. He does not feel empathy; there is no "putting himself in another's shoes". While he can conceptualize it, there is no emotional stirring from it. It is merely fact in his head. He does not feel remorse or guilt either. Never has he felt ashamed of something he'd done--actually, he is prone to repeat it despite how aggravating or dangerous it was.

As mentioned before, psychopathy blurs lines with narcissistic personalities to a degree. His emotions are also very self-centered. If it were to occur to another person, there is likely no reaction. To himself though, he would have some form of reaction. If it restricts him in any way or interrupts his desired lifestyle, it is seen as a nuisance.