psycopathy

On this week’s episode of the podcast, I interview...quite a few people! We are covering Ted Bundy, America’s most infamous serial killer, and since the world has been fascinated by him lately, I figured I’d get a group of mental health professionals in a room to talk about him. His horrific acts made the news and have scared people for decades now, and rightfully so. Did media and pornography cause this? What was his diagnosis and was it correct? We have so many questions...

As my special guests and panel of experts, I invited Dr. Tony Angelo, who is head of services for a local prison and in charge of prisoners transitioning into normal life. I also invited Dr. Randy Stinnett, a clinical psychologist who co-manages an outpatient behavioral health department in a local community health clinic. Also with me is Nathan Hoyt and Adam Borecky, 4th year medical students who will be going into psychiatry.

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In this episode, Dr. Cummings and I discuss psychopathy: the fearless, empathyless people, who see others as objects, and have the inability to attach within relationships. Dr. Michael Cummings recently contributed to a book called “Violence in Psychiatry,” detailing the biological aspects of psychopathy, edited by Stephen Stahl. Dr. Cummings works at Patton State Hospital, one of the biggest forensic hospitals in the world. He is the Yoda of the psychiatric world, with many other psychiatrists bringing him their most complex and difficult cases.   

In this episode we cover:

History of psychopathy

Influence of early life traumas

Prosocial careers of psychopaths

Biological components in psychopathy

The emotion psychopaths fail to see

BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)

Prefrontal area (the parent of the brain that warns us “that is not a good idea”)

Amygdala

Why psychopathy has not been bred out of existence

Advice when you are in a relationship with a psychopath

What drugs make someone look psychopathic

Effect of alcohol andmethamphetamines on the brain

Influence of cocaine on the brain

Why more men are violent psychopaths

And treatment of this group of people (clozapine’s influence on glutamate)

The Story of Phineas Gage

We also wrestle with how to increase the percentage of psychopaths that end up helping society vs percentage that become criminals.

Warburton, K and Stahl S (Editors).  Violence in Psychiatry.  The Neurobiology of Psychopathy. Cambridge University Press 2016), pp. 200-05

CV of Dr. Michael A. Cummings     

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Editor: Trent Jones

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