Ok I know it was hard enough to lose Bobby and Sil in 20 short minutes let alone think about the possibility that talk therapy may not help psychopaths or anyone, but it’s an issue that needs to be addressed. I have to admit it has taken me a couple of days to even start processing what happened Sunday night and there’s a lot that happened, but I am only going to focus on Tony being a psychopath. It seems there has been enough outrage about his therapist Dr. Melfi Leaving him, and the unethical leaking of who she was treating at a therapists’ dinner by an even more disturbed therapist, so I’ll leave that alone.For the past couple of episodes Tony’s therapist has been hearing from another therapist that studies show talk therapy doesn’t help psychopaths and that it indeed will only give them an opportunity to test their manipulative skills on someone else and in some ways reinforce their psychopathic behavior. Now we have to keep in mind that the Sopranos aren’t real people. However, a quick Google search did turn up that the study that is quoted on the show is real, which leads to an interesting question.
Anyone who watches the Sopranos for a couple of episodes can clearly see that Tony is emotional both in and out of therapy. The aspects that he identifies in therapy are things that he talks about outside of therapy and becomes more aware of. I would never say becoming aware of them leads to him making efforts to change anything that happened to him, but that isn’t different from a large majority of people who go to therapists. In my opinion a psychopath and I think I have only met one (and I hope she doesn’t remember me or isn’t reading this) doesn’t necessarily go through all of the effort to cry and talk and go to a therapist to locate where these thoughts come from only to test out more of their psychopathic side. I mean it’s definitely possible for some people to do, but I don’t see the psychopathic qualities in Tony. I may be just like the rest of millions of people in this country, especially guys, who have fallen into the trap of glorifying gangsters and viewing what they do more as a job that’s part of a disturbed side of life rather than psychopaths, but to be honest Tony has done more work in therapy than most people I know! He shows regret, he feels pain, he expresses concern for others and when he isn’t in the mob job mode does breakdown, which to me isn’t “normal” psychopathic behavior. If we examine Tony’s past for a brief second he isn’t much different from a kid raised by a father who is in a gang and doesn’t know a way to get out, so he constantly fights, and possibly kills as a part of the nurture/nature problem. Can that lead to being a psychopath? Sure. But again it’s the feelings Tony shows that lead me to believe this may be more of a “job” and other environmental factors like power contributing to making his behavior acceptable rather than him simply being a psychopath. Maybe he has manipulated me!
My whole problem with his therapist deciding to no longer see him based on a study that said talk therapy may only reinforce psychopathic behavior is that I am not convinced he is one. And I don’t think his therapist necessarily was either. When anyone hears their therapist is refusing to see them it can lead to further isolation and result in even more dire circumstances. I think that is what was going on in his therapist’s mind when she closed the door on Tony. The fear that cutting him off would cause him to do more drastic things and the larger fear that maybe the years of all the talking and her hard work didn’t do anything were written all over her face. So I am sure everyone had thoughts as they were watching his therapist close the door on him after all of these years and I want to know do you think Tony is a psychopath and if you do what are your thoughts on all of his talk therapy and his therapist leaving him?
10 comments:
I think Melfi came across as so insecure--so vulnerable to the opinions of her peers. We can't possibly decide that a group of people are beyond help---it's like deciding to use the death sentence. I don't have enough faith in our justice system or in mental health care providers to establish guidelines to determine who is and who is not a psychopath. If a psychopath broke his arm we'd still provide him with a orthopedic surgeon, wouldn't we?
Hi-
I don't watch the Sopranos unfortunately. But your blogging certainly has kept me informed and made me feel like I am following the show! :)
Also- I went web surfing after your comments to remind myself of the DSM definition of psychopath. Who knew there was so much issues with every DSM version over this very topic. It seems that defining the similarities and/or differences between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder have led to great diagnostic confusion over the years. Definitions of psychopathy I found on the web range from "any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention" to "a person having no concerns for the feelings of others and a complete disregard for any sense of social obligation. They seem egocentric and lack insight of any sense of responsibility or consequence. Their emotions are thought to be superficial and shallow, if they exist at all. They are considered callous, manipulative, and incapable of forming lasting relationships, let alone showing any kind of meaningful love. They typically never perform any action unless they determine it can be beneficial for themselves."
Interesting.
I was mutilated and deformed by a plastic surgeon who, I found out flase advertises. This "doctor" Dr. Richard Ellenogen from the TV show Dr. 90210 buys himself fame by hiring publicists and advertisers. Please check this site out: http://richardellenbogenruinedmynose.blogspot.com/
This way you can see photos and read stories of other victims harmed by this psychopath doctor.
The correct term is sociopath. Just my two cents.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view
It is useful to try everything in practise anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)
It is useful to try everything in practice anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)
How you find ideas for articles, I am always lack of new ideas for articles. Some tips would be great
Is Tony Soprano a psychopath? Well, that's dependent upon the definition of one, behaviourally he exhibits enough of the traits to be scored as one on the PCL-R for example. He's glib, superficially charming, criminally versatile, unfaithful to his wife, treats people as objects, shows no apparent remorse etc
And to Lizzie Simon, psychopaths are untreatable, I'm afraid that's the truth of it. They are not mentally disordered, they are a different type of human being, a different taxon. Possibly they are a subspecies of humankind, who knows.
We would provide a psychopath with an orthopedic surgeon if he/she broke their arm, whether we should or not is another question.
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