I have a bone to pick.
I have seen an alarming amount of novels featuring titles, or blurb descriptions that throw the word ‘psychopath’ around withe the same cavalier attitude I say the word, “fluffernutter.”
It’s alarming for a plethora of reasons. The first being watering down/romanticizing a mental illness (particularly in the romance genre). The second being misrepresenting what the mental illness is and further propagating harmful stereotypes. Thirdly, it’s incredibly ableist.
“Isn’t it just a description?” you may ask. “It’s just a word!” you might protest. “What’s the big deal?”
Let’s dive right into it, shall we?
We can’t go anywhere, unless you really understand what “psychopathy” means.
Psychopathy, according to the DSM-5 (the manual of diagnostics mental health professionals follow https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm), is not a clinical diagnosis. It is, instead, a symptom, and a recognized mental condition. Just like “narcissist” isn’t a formal diagnosis, but narcissism is a trait of other diagnoses. Following so far?
Here’s the definition of psychopathy, according to Nathaniel E. Andersen and Kent A. Kiehl.
Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.
Psychopathy: Developmental Perspectives and their Implications for Treatment:
Psychopathy is a trait often found in those with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), or Conduct Disorder (CD).
Now, I understand that Hot Guy With A Six Pack and His Raging Antisocial Personality Disorder isn’t as catchy a title as Psychopath, but it would be more accurate. I know, I know. I’m sucking out all the fun.
Why Understanding Matters
In all seriousness, we’ve allowed many mental health disorders to become a part of our cultural lexicon. Think about how often you’ve heard people refer to people who are “picky” about their towel arrangement to “be OCD.” Or how many easily distracted people have been accused of being “ADHD.” Or people so nonchalantly joking about having “Multiple Personalities” (a since defunct diagnosis, for the record—it is now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID) because they’re “not themselves when they’re hungry.”
In no world are people (generally) being deliberately malicious. It comes down to a lack of education and proper understanding of what these disorders are. And let’s be honest, people aren’t typically keen to research subjects that don’t directly affect them. If Auntie Mildred said, “OCD is when people really like to make sure their rug tassels are all perfectly straight,” not many people are going to be inspired to slip on the spectacles and do a deep-dive. Most people will accept this information at face-value and, at the end, we have a game of “mental health telephone.” In short, we water down complexities, severities, its meaning.
It’s damaging in a few ways. Some people will self-diagnose (never advisable, please speak with a licensed mental health professional), or, worse we normalize these tendencies preventing people from seeking help. And lastly, it hurts those who do live with these disorders. Something they live with, that impacts their lives in a very real way is the butt of other peoples jokes. Worse, when they try to explain how their disorders affect them, people don’t understand. For the most part, people have a fully fleshed out idea of what these mental health conditions look like. These beliefs and opinions often supersede peoples lived in experiences.
Did I Mention That It’s Ableist?
“Psychopath” has been widely-used insult for quite some time. Far longer than I’ve been around. At a glance, most people will probably go, “yeah, sure, what’s the big deal?”
The big deal is that it is weaponizing mental health. It also vilifies whole diagnoses—not that it hasn’t been vilified already with Hollywood’s obsession with sensationalizing and bastardizing mental health disorders (here’s looking at you American Psycho and Identity).
When You Live With Otherness You Become an Educator
I can speak firsthand about how exhausting it is to have to explain how my sexuality works and how it doesn’t make me different from “everyone else.” Little things that may seem innocuous to people outside of the LGBTQIA+ community are thunderous to me. I’m constantly stuck in a purgatory of action or inaction. Do I educate at the cost of my own emotional well-being and mental health? Or do I stay silent and complicit?
It’s not fair to constantly put the onus of education on people with the lived in experience. We as allies (and consumers) are culpable, too.
So, In Short.
Find another descriptor. You’re a writer. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.
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Ivy Whitaker 