captaincliff

Once upon a time well before there was a video game called Angry Birds, there was a headless chicken named Mike. That’s right, he had no head. If you care to get technical, he did have a partial brain stem and one ear. I suppose you might want to know how Mike lost his head, something most of us believe is pretty essential and usually required for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In fact, Mike proved them all wrong and did just fine without his fine feathered head and prominent beak.

I will try to be brief even tho Mike, later dubbed “Miracle Mike the Headless Chicken” and his life story (see video link below) present us with a number of profound lessons and philosophical considerations. Mike’s owner was a nice guy chicken farmer in Colorado in the 1940’s. Just because you raise chickens and cut their heads off on a daily basis doesn’t make you a bad guy. Keep that in mind. Maybe that’s the first life lesson. Anyway, one day this chicken farmer, whose name was Lloyd Olson, cut the heads off a bunch of his chickens with an axe. Remember he did this for a living to sell the chickens parts to people who wanted to cook them for dinner, not just to be a crazy lunatic with an axe or because he held a grudge against helpless fowl. Regardless, one of the chickens got back up after losing his head and kept walking around acting relatively normal. Dont ask me what “normal” is in that situation because being beheaded is not really something most of us count as a common occurrence. You may already know that some animals can respond rather reflexively even after losing their head. Hence the term, “running around like a chicken with his head cut off”. The strange thing is that usually those chickens run around headless for a minute or two and then, realizing that life is rather limited without a head they keel over and die.  Well, good old Mike didn’t do that. He just kept walking around while trying to peck the ground and talking like a more “complete” chicken. Of course talking without a head is rather  different and sounds more like a raspy gurgle than a “cock a doodle doo”. Regardless, it  became obvious that Mike was a very unusual chicken who didnt seem to care that he lost his head.

Soon enough Lloyd decided to call his special chicken Mike the Miracle Chicken. He wanted other people to know about Mike and his unique situation. Of course back then just like today if you wanted to grab people’s attention for marketing and promotional purposes you would need to emphasize the part about Mike being devoid of a head. This was well before the advent of social media and web search engines with their various SERPs, SEMs, and SEOs for generating increased visibility and internet “traffic”. This was just a simple farmer out in the middle of nowhere Colorado with a very alert and active headless chicken. Of course he wanted to make money off of Mike. Who wouldn’t?

Can you guess what happened? Mike was sent on a grueling world wide promotional tour by Hope Wade, a very enterprising “promoter” and circus style booking agent. Mike the Miracle Chicken starred in shows from California to New York and even sailed to Europe once! Apparently even snobby French and English people were interested in seeing a chicken without a head who acted relatively normal. By this time in the story (sorry about me saying I’d be brief) most people want to know how Mike managed to feed himself or be fed since it usually helps to have a mouth. In fact, Mike actually GAINED weight on his fancy world tour and went from being a scrawny two pound chicken to weighing almost eight, which is a pretty hefty sized Butterball. It seems that Mike could be fed by using a eye dropper and pouring chicken feed down his open esophagus using certain simple tools. The technique must have been pretty successful since Mike actually got fat. Perhaps having a head slows us down from eating too much since we typically use our eyes and nose to tell our brains when we are starting to get full. Poor Mike had none of the above and his handlers pretty much saw him as the “Golden Goose” , so they often kept him “topped off”, so to speak.

Let me get to the point. Maybe you already figured out the rest of the story for yourself. For over a year they shlepped that plucky headless chicken around to sideshows, carnivals and store openings. People around Mike ( maybe somewhat like the folks around Michael Jackson) became too complacent, forgetful and lazy. One night in their motel room Mike the Miracle Chicken started to “gag”, either because he had gained too much weight or because it’s harder to breath without a head, but his handlers had forgotten the eyedropper and their other feeding equipment at the sideshow. Maybe they were too busy counting their Mike the Golden Goose chicken profits. Poor Mike choked to death which I’m almost 100% sure was NOT the origin of the phrase “to choke ones chicken”. If you dont believe this story then watch the video below or look up “Mike the Miracle Chicken” on Wikipedia.

There is much to be learned from this absolutely true story and real life parable about a unique “gift horse” (or gift chicken). We can admire Mike’s unusual lust for life and sheer tenacity. Personally, I wonder if he ever achieved the Zen Buddhist objective of “grasping emptiness with an empty mind”. No doubt he got close and losing his head may well have helped.

Sometimes I dont feel like writing. Often I become aware of a conflict between the part of me that talks way too much and another part that is highly self-conscious. I’m not self-conscious in a “shy” way but rather in a way that recognizes my egotistical need to gab, show-off, pontificate, and be noticed. I could try to believe I am merely attempting to “chronicle my thought process” and “share my personal insights”, but even I dont buy that load of horse crap. It’s narcissism  plain and simple, with a dash of theatrical genes.

The irony is that blogging without a fan base or dedication to social media success (through marketing knowledge, self-promotion, etc.) pretty much insures that ones writing will be alot like toilet paper, used today and gone tomorrow. There is something existentially funny but bittersweet about that. Sort of like that old Voyager satellite we launched into the Cosmos many moons ago that just keeps going and going looking for intelligent life, but not knowing if anybody or anything (like a three headed, eight limbed alien) would even be interested once it was “found”.  It reminds me of when I was addicted to going to thrift shops and garage sales (ok, I still am a little tiny bit). Everybody including myself is busy sifting through the piles and piles of personal debris and half-broken utensils. Like curious apes or incredulous aliens we turn household objects upside down and all around wondering what it was, who’s it was, and whether it had any value….to someone. It probably did at one time. Todays generic flotsam was yesterdays personal treasures. Most of the time we still see it as useless junk and toss it back in the cardboard boxes underneath the various non-matching tables at the estate sale. I almost feel bad for that stuff as it didnt even make the “cut” to be displayed on fold-out card tables and way out of date formica kitchen counters. It makes me ponder peoples lives, the span of time, and all sorts of nostalgic things, including how short and precious life is. Today we are here. Tomorrow is coming, if we are lucky. I suppose we should try and remember that and not worry so much about the little things or material objects. Still, I dont regret the mint condition Baconator I found for a dollar. That was a good deal.

Editorial Correction:  Thanks to an alert reader, I was reminded that a “Baconator” is NOT a Ronco product but an especially high fat, artery clogging kind of hamburger at Wendy’s. The correct term for the useless product I bought is a “Bacon Wave”. I hope Wendy’s Corporate office and Lead Counsel will forgive the error and now remove the lawsuit and lien off my home, cars and nearly non-existent bank accounts….

I have a friend who’s birthday is today, July 31st. I also know someone, a Facebook friend  who is celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary today. Both of them deserve special recognition. However, I never considered honoring such noteworthy events by placing lit fireworks in my ass (see Australian news story below). I dont know why, it just seems to be sort of an unnecessarily dramatic as well as over theatrical gesture. Normally cards, a nice note or a personal message with a few kind words would seem to suffice.  Also, I dont like the sound or ramifications of certain phrases from the article like his “private bits”.  It seems so Humpty Dumpty-esque, but alot more painful. The Aussies need to take it down a notch and be satisfied with just saying to each other, “Good on ya mate!” and then  carry on swimming among Great White Sharks and man eating crocodiles as usual.  Dayenu!

Man Shoots Fireworks Out Of His Buttocks, Goes To Australia Hospital, July 31,2012

File Photo
In what appears to be a birthday party trick gone awry, an Australian man suffered severe burns after he put fireworks between his buttocks and set them off.

The New Zealand Herald reports that paramedics near Darwin, Australia were called to the scene on Saturday night, but the unidentified man had already taken himself to the hospital to be treated for injuries to his posterior and genital area.

“What must of (sic) seemed to be a great idea at the time has backfired, resulting in the male receiving quite severe and very painful burns to his cheeks, back and private bits,” Senior Sergeant Garry Smith said. Police believe alcohol could have been a factor in the firecracker-fueled accident.

The 23-year-old man was later taken to a specialist burns unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Smith added that there’s a lesson to be gleaned from the man’s injuries.

“Apparently [the firecrackers] are not designed for that particular placement,” Smith said, according to The Daily Mail.

The man could also face fines because fireworks are illegal in the area, except on July 1, which is Territory Day.

The story comes just a few weeks after a Michigan man blew off part of his genitals with fireworks.

The official opening of the Olympic Games in London was impressive. Honestly I thought they got off to a slow start and by the time they worked their way up to Britain’s proud heritage as an employer of soot covered children and Mary Poppins-style chimney sweeps I was ready for a small but well placed Atlanta style terrorist bombing or  American Revolution.  Dont they realize we have zero attention span over here across the pond? Who really needed (or was interested in) the whole “we used to be Hobbits” Celtic choreography followed by the annoying actor doing his Shakesperian, “we are literate and you are not” Bilbo Baggins with sideburns routine? Luckily the show segued eventually into the great music that Great Britain is known for. The breadth and scope of British talent in defining so many different genres of music and showmanship are remarkable, especially given their uniformly bad teeth and lack of oral hygiene.

Be honest with me, when you think of the Royal family and people like Prince Charles, do you first think of polo ponies or an entire race of human beings who LOOK like horses and dress like Austin Powers?  Speaking of sex symbols, I was disappointed that one of my old favorites, 72 year old Welsh singer Tom Jones was unable to perform in London due to an apparent overdose of botox injections and face-lifts. Before he could launch into his medley of hit songs including “What’s New Pussycat” (see below) and “It’s Not Unusual”, his face retracted into a fixed grimace that barely allowed him to breath let alone gyrate his pelvis. Middle aged fans who remember the sexy singer from their childhood were horrified to see him carried off in a semi- rigor mortis position on a 1940’s era hospital gurney by faux nurses and male dancers dressed like Dickens characters who periodically stopped administering CPR to do the Funky Chicken and the Twist. That part was disturbing to me on many levels, not the least of which was my fear they would then bring out the embalmed bodies of John Lennon and Winston Churchill and make them do somersaults over a holographic image of Princess Diana.

Finally things calmed down and they started the flag bearing procession of participating countries and their athletes which lasted, as I calculated it, several days. Anyway, the next thing you know I fell asleep and missed the whole part involving Muhammed Ali  punching out the Queen and the lighting of the Olympic torch by a bare-chested David Beckham using his wife Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) as kindling and Mr. Bean as starter fluid. Maybe it was all just a weird Freudian dream I had when I was asleep. I just wanted to see some swimming,  ping-pong and really tall chicks who can spike volleyballs. At least there were no obnoxious Kardashians in sight and Justin Bieber didn’t descend from the clouds holding an umbrella or  strapped to a hang glider. I’m grateful for that. That will have to wait for the next time the Summer Games return to American soil. I’m thinking Boca Raton 2020!! Look for a new grueling Olympic event by then, Skeet Shooting while insulting people in front of you in line at Publix Pharmacy while talking in a thick New York accent. Very competitive.

Tom Jones:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBdSqk78nHw

Chim-Chiminy:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCmVDl46rY

For those few people who continue to wonder, obsess and theorize how James Holmes “became” the murderous Joker, and how the University system failed to notice a violent human storm brewing in their midst, I offer this last bit of speculation, even tho the supposed “facts” keep changing, ie. now they say the package he sent to his psychiatrist (with his diary and plans to kill) were received on Monday and did not sit unopened in a University mailroom, etc……..

I believe (my educated guess) that one of four practicing psychiatrists on the faculty of University of Colorado, Denver’s Medical Psychiatry program saw and/or evaluated James Holmes and was the recipient of the package containing his detailed plan to shoot people. Dr. Feinstein is the most senior psychiatrist in the group but most to all of them have expertise in both teaching and treating patients with psychotic mania, personality disorders and forms of bipolar illness. I believe that people in his Neuroscience program saw that he was under-performing academically and showing signs of difficulty concentrating, sleeping, etc. and that he “knew” after being referred to a clinical psychiatrist that his “days were numbered” in the Ph.D. program.  Failing the first year Prelim Oral exam was the last straw, and unlike his poorly organized oral presentation at age 18, he probably got direct and quite critical feedback from faculty as to his academic deficiencies. His mailing of the written plans and illustrations of his violent crime to the psychiatrist was a way of saying, “See you people dont know everything. By the time you get this it will be too late. Fuck you and your  5-7 year doctoral program”…..and yes, I think he has a psychotic mania and a schizoid/schizotypal personality disorder. He’s not the Joker. He’s a killer and a “sick in the head” criminal. He needs help and treatment, but his victims need help even more. James Holmes frustration and self-hatred (for failing academically) fueled a psychotic break that may have lasted for months and finally spilled out in an act of pure hatred and revenge upon a movie theater full of innocent people.

James Holmes, the Colorado shooter says he wants to know “how the film ends”. No, he really doesn’t. He is mocking the University, the police, and the public for socially rejecting him and for judging him as inadequate (in his academic performance, conduct and sexuality). He knows how the “movie” ends because he wrote the script of what was going to happen in that movie theater and nobody noticed or appeared to care (see below). By now it’s all a sick “joke” to him. That’s why he is the “Joker”. He wants to play on others pain and suffering and drive other people crazy….like he is. He is both demented, tormented and very very ANGRY. If you want to understand the “genesis” of the Joker, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Killing_Joke

From the News July 25: The man accused of killing a dozen people at a midnight screening of the ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ sent a journal detailing the rampage to a University of Colorado psychiatrist prior to the attack, only for it to go untouched in a campus mailroom since July 12, according to a Fox News report. The notebook, intended for a psychiatrist who also teaches at the university, reveals haunting sketches with stick-figure assailants carrying out the attack. There were drawings of what he was going to do in it — drawings and illustrations of the massacre,” police told Fox News.

Holmes is now behind bars at the Arapahoe County Detention Center, where he has reportedly spat on jail guards and requested a summary of HOW THE FILM ENDS.

Jokerkillingjoke.png

I believe if they ever can get James Holmes the Colorado shooter talking and/or communicating semi-coherently, they should ask him about his taste in MOVIES. Such an underwhelming idea is not just based on his recent act of unimaginable violence or fanatical and possibly delusional interest in Batman. True, he called himself the Joker, Batman’s arch enemy, but in his bomb-rigged apartment the police also found a solitary Batman mask. I believe there are signs and suggestions that James Holmes became obsessed with various cinematic “themes” taken from certain movies and, in particular films directed by Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight Rises.

With the screenwriting assistance of his brother Jonathan, Chris Nolan has either written or directed a string of hit movies that include Momento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, and finally, The Dark Knight Rises. I think James Holmes at some level identified with Nolan’s convoluted but consistent cinematic themes. Such themes include secrecy, fear, duality (good versus evil, etc.), mirrored-reality, violent fiction, altered states of mind, and chronological inconsistency.… all played out in a generally dark, revenge -laden or dark criminal -noir like setting.  Nolan’s movies typically describe the meticulous planning and execution of “capers” whether they are in real-life, or some one elses dreams or fantasies. His main characters are almost always highly intelligent, sarcastic, athletic, but plagued by contradictory “inner demons” and self-doubt, but nevertheless are doggedly convinced of their own “special destiny”, even to the point of their own death (or ultimate martyrdom).

Holmes special interest in Neuroscience,  the mind, and “subjective” reality is especially emphasized in the 2010 sci-fi thriller Inception with Leo DeCaprio. The notion of being able to create subjective “illusions” in time and space and in so doing accomplish something visually and technically remarkable and unforgettable is branded upon many of Christopher Nolan’s previous work.  The Dark Knight Rises was meant to be a “final chapter” in his well-received Batman trilogy. Nolan himself made the following statement about it, “Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story… I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters. My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is ultimately useful.”

Personally, I dont think, in his increasingly psychotic and delusional state, James Hughes wanted “it” (the Trilogy) to end. He wanted to keep the excitement and the complex dialectic between good and evil going, and he was going to step out of the shadows of the theater (sort of like John Wilkes Booth did at the Ford Theater) and play his own indelible part no matter what…..and no matter who died.

James Holmes probably found out he wasn’t intellectually, psychologically or academically equipped to handle the rigors of a highly challenging Neuroscience Ph.D. program. In his deteriorating mental state and perceived failure/rejection by others, he was going to claim some fame and notoriety nonetheless. In that respect he bears some resemblance to John Hinckley, who in 1981 tried to kill President Ronald Reagan, all for the love of actress Jodie Foster and the dubious “fame” his high profile crime  brought him. Ironically Hinckley grew up about 30 miles away from the now “infamous” movie theater in Aurora Colorado. The addition of a revenge motive, however, made Holmes an even more likely candidate for carrying out mass murder.

I believe James Holmes, the shooter in the Batman/Aurora Colorado theater tragedy will be found to be suffering from a severe mental illness with a violent homicidal psychosis. Specifically, I think he will be diagnosed as having Paranoid Schizophrenia with an underlying Schizotypal (S) or Antisocial personality disorder (APD). While rare, this combination of conditions (see Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of the Tucson shooting spree crime and the cluster of symptoms displayed by Robert DeNiro’s quirky character Travis Bickle in the movie Taxi Driver) can result in an identifiable spiral into “violent psychosis” or controlled (as opposed to impulsive) homicidal behavior when ideas of reference transition over time and under stress into “delusions of reference” (see below) as it did for John Hinkley in his delusional obsession with the actress Jodie Foster in the movie Taxi Driver, by coincidence. In fact Hinckley watched the movie 15 times in a row…….creepy much?

Taxi Driver clip:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQkpes3dgzg

I suspect that it will be revealed that James Holmes, while quite bright intellectually , was struggling to keep up academically in his Ph.D. program in Neuroscience at the University of Colorado. As a result of growing cognitive problems, ongoing sleep difficulties, and increasing symptoms of severe mental illness (psychosis including ideas of reference) he was either asked or pressured (or voluntarily elected) to withdraw from his academic program which then became a trigger to his worsening psychiatric condition and disturbed behavior. Lacking self esteem and security in his self perceived academic/intellectual identity (against a consistent background of prior high achievement) he was also about to be forced out/evicted from his graduate student-only housing. I believe these multiple stressors and perceived rejections precipitated his rapid descent into madness/violence. On a reality level there was “no going back” in his life (and current predicament) which ironically was a philosophical and scientific subject of interest he explored earlier in his life at science camp in San Diego (see video) where he studied “Temporal Illusions” or as he said it, “I’ve been working with a temporal illusion. It’s an illusion that allows you to change the past.”

I believe like the movie character Travis Bickle, James Holmes instead began to construct an “alternate reality” and pseudo identity for himself as “The Joker” to cope with his growing psychiatric problems, feelings of alienation and pre-existing social anxiety. Based on his relatively isolated loner type personality, he needed to see himself both as a coherent and powerful character (such as the Joker in Batman, see description below) as well as someone who could “successfully” act out his violent delusional fantasies. In his case (again quite rare) the boundary line between video game killing, movie violence, and gaming/computer generated alter-egos/actual violence became progressively blurred. Such a personality is then capable of focusing themselves into highly organized and well orchestrated plans to commit mass violence. Such a plan included the construction of home-made bombs in his residence purchased from materials bought off the internet for a period of many months. Whether or not James Holmes had a history of being bullied in school or harassed for being different or “weird” earlier in life will turn out to be less relevant than his progressive loss of reality testing and developing psychotic obsessions/violent fantasies/delusions. Whether such a diagnosis will ultimately reflect on or impacted his ability to tell “right from wrong”, a necessary feature of an “insanity” defense, is not debated here. It will, without a doubt, be debated in court.  Such a defense, while difficult at best can be used properly but unsuccessfully as well as improperly but successfully (see John Hinckley and/or the Unibomber case and Ted Kaczynski).  This behavioral profile and diagnosis is made based on early and rather spotty news reports, videos, and biographical information as well as logical deduction utilizing basic forensic principles and crime analysis.

Additional Notes:  Notice the irony of the violent ad shown before the video of James Holmes at science camp:    http://www.heavy.com/news/2012/07/18-year-old-james-holmes-talks-temporal-illusions-in-video/

The Joker:  Throughout his comic book appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a master criminal whose characterization has varied. The original and currently dominant image is of a highly intelligent psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, while other writers have portrayed him as an eccentric prankster. He has been repeatedly analyzed by critics as the perfect adversary for Batman; their long, dynamic relationship often parallels the concept of yin and yang. As one of the most iconic and recognized villains in popular media, The Joker was ranked #1 on Wizard’s list of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time.[3]   James Holmes was the kind of person who wanted to be “the best”, so he picked the very “best” villain to be. His focus on high achievement thus carried over to his psychotic delusions.

Ideas of reference and delusions of reference:

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This article is about a mental illness.
Ideas of reference and delusions of reference involve people having a belief or perception that irrelevant, unrelated phenomena in the world refer to them directly or have special personal significance: ‘the notion that everything one perceives in the world relates to one’s own personal destiny’.[1]

In psychiatry, delusions of reference form part of the diagnostic criteria for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia,[2] delusional disorder, or bipolar disorder during the elevated stages of mania. To a lesser extent, it can be a hallmark of paranoid personality disorder. Such symptoms can also be caused by intoxication, especially with hallucinogens or stimulants like methamphetamine.

[edit] Delusions of reference:

‘Ideas of reference must be distinguished from delusions of reference which may be similar in content but are held with greater conviction’.[11] With the former, but not the latter, the person holding them may have ‘the feeling that strangers are talking about him/her, but if challenged, acknowledges that the people may be talking about something else’.[12]

At the same time, there may be ‘transitions…to delusions’ from ideas of reference: whereas ‘abortive ideas of reference, in the beginning of their development or, in Schizotypal personalities, continuously, may remain subject to the patient’s criticism…under adverse circumstances, by minimal economic shifts, however, reality testing may be lost and daydreams of this kind turn into delusions’.[13]

It has been noted that the character ‘rigidly controlled by his superego…readily forms sensitive ideas of reference. A key experience may occur in his life circumstances and quite suddenly these ideas become structured as delusions of reference’.[14] Within the ‘focus of paranoia…that man crossing his legs, that woman wearing that blouse – it can’t just be accidental. It has a particular meaning, is intended to convey something’.[15]

Persons with ideas of reference may experience:

Believing that ‘somehow everyone on a passing city bus is talking about them, yet they may be able to acknowledge this is unlikely’.[16]
A feeling that people on television or radio are talking about or talking directly to them
Believing that headlines or stories in newspapers are written especially for them
Believing that events (even world events) have been deliberately contrived for them, or have special personal significance for them
Believing that the lyrics of a song are specifically about them
Seeing objects or events as being set up deliberately to convey a special or particular meaning to themselves
Thinking ‘that the slightest careless movement on the part of another person had great personal meaning…increased significance’.[17]

Robert DeNiro/Travis Bickle emerging symptoms of Violent Schizophrenia and Schizotypal  Personality Disorder in the movie Taxi Driver: A Psychiatric Cinematic Analysis (see below) 

Movie Scene
Taxi Driver :Content Description and Various Symptoms

Introduction

Schizophrenia spectrum; Negative and cognitive symptoms; Prevalence; Odd cluster; Introduction of  Schizctypal Personality Disorder to DSM

Scene 1: Start

Scene 2: Travis Bickle

Vocational issues; Peculiar ideas; Schizotypal Personality Disorder and the military; Useful psychological testing; Vague descriptions; Childhood symptoms; Biosocial formulation; Functional impairment; Psychiatric rehabilitation; Tangential digression; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(4) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Verbal deficits and speech; The challenge of interpersonal relationships
Scene 3: Tom & Betsy

Stalking; Dangerousness; Frontal confrontation
Scene 4: Wizard’s Court

DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(6) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Affective style; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(5) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Suspiciousness and paranoid ideation; Cognitive-behavioral formulation; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(1) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Ideas of reference

Scene 5: A New Volunteer    Unusual language; Idiosyncratic phrasing and construction; Impaired reality testing; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(2) forSchizctypal Personality Disorder: Telepathic, paranormal and superstitious communication; Bizarre fantasies; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(7) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Odd behavior and appearance; Ruminative cognitive style; Another look at speech patterns
Scene 6: Charles Palantine

Bizarre thinking, behavior and speech; Empathetic and understanding interviewing
Scene 7: Aborted Fare

Ideas of reference
Scene 8: A Date with Betsy

DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A for Schizctypal Personality Disorder; Social and interpersonal deficits; inattentiveness to social conventions; DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(3) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Impaired reality testing; Transient psychotic episodes
Scene 9: Confrontation

Unkempt appearance; A trigger: Close interpersonal relationships; Obsession…enmity; Therapeutic relationships; Internal/external rage; On being an object of an obsession; Unusual words or concepts; Psychodynamic formulation of Schizctypal Personality Disorder

Scene 10:Curbside Cuckold

Dangerous absence of insight; Ideas or reference
Scene 11: A Word with Wizard    DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterion A(8) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Lack of close personal relationships; Inability to reach out to mental health professionals
Scene 12: Running into Iris

A psychologically variant theme; Diminished desire for intimate contact; Biosocial formulation; Impaired reality testing
Scene 13: Easy Andy

Psychdynamics of a stalker

Scene 14: Henry Krinkle

Sinking lower into derangement; Odd appearance; Social skills deficits; Cumulative effect of ideas of reference

Scene 15: You Talking To Me?

Out of his mind
Scene 16: Market Robbery

Metaphors become different characters; Permission for violence

Scene 17: Late for the Sky

Last bit of reality

Scene 18: Dear Father and Mother

Those most vulnerable to stalking; Idiosyncratic phrasing; and construction; Impaied reality testing; Familially of Schizctypal Personality Disorder – psychodynamic, biosocial, interpersonal

Scene 19: TV Critic

Intensity of the stalker’s emotions

Scene 20: Looking for Action

Affective style of a person with Schizctypal Personality Disorder;  Inattentiveness to social conventions

Scene 21: A $10 Room

Diminished desire for intimate contacts; Inability to deal with sexuality
Scene 22: Breakfast with Iris

Impaired reality testing; Ideas of reference; Fearful and dismissing attachment style; Verbal episodic memory deficits
Scene 23: Dancing with Sport

Imagining his rival with Iris; Danger when reality conflicts with distortions

Scene 24: The Palantine Rally

Odd, eccentric and peculiar appearance; Pharmacology for Schizctypal Personality Disorder

Scene 25: Suck on This

Schizctypal Personality Disorder: Stability vs. psychosis

Scene 26: Shooting Gallery

Psychotic violence

Scene 27: Bang, Bang, Bang

Schizotypal Personality Disorder: Most are not dangerous

Scene 28: Dear Mr. Bickle

Madman vs. sane man; Normalcy does not last; Insight-oriented psychotherapy; Supportive psychotherapy; Cognitive-behavioral therapy; Family and group therapies; Introducing medication

Diagnostic Note

Travis demonstrates DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for Schizctypal Personality Disorder

References

Excerpt from Scene 2: Travis Bickle
The main character, Travis Bickle, is introduced as he walks into the office of a New York City taxi cab company and inquires about a job as a driver.
It is not surprising that Travis is applying for this type of job because people with Schizctypal Personality Disorder gravitate toward jobs that demand little interaction with others (Sperry, 2003, p. 242).

He tells the interviewer that he wants to drive a cab because he cannot sleep nights and that going to all night porno movies has not been a helpful alternative. When the interviewer asks Travis what he does now, while most people would offer a response about their employment or vocational activities, Travis follows the conversation thread he had begun and responds:

Now? Ride around nights mostly. Subways, buses. [I] figure, you know, [if] I’m gonna do that, I might as well get paid for it.

Interviewing people with Schizctypal Personality Disorder usually elicits surprising statements and peculiar ideas (Sperry, 2003, p. 249).

Travis is a 26 year old US Marine veteran of the Vietnam War. He seems to identify with that role as he wears a Marine jacket with a patch from his King Kong Company and displays a Vietnamese flag in his impoverished, messy apartment. Travis’ success at becoming a Marine leads to speculation that Travis was able to meet high standards. However, other than the fact that he was a Marine no real information about Travis’ military career is revealed to support such speculation.

In addition to observation, the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III), and the Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test can be useful in diagnosing Schizctypal Personality Disorder. On the MMPI-2 a 2-7-8 (depression-psychasthenia-schizophrenia) code is likely. Scales F (frequency) and O (social introversion) are also likely to be elevated. On the MCMI-III, elevations on S (schizotypal), 2 (avoidant), 7 (obsessive-compulsive), and 8A (passive-aggressive) can be expected. On the Rorschach, these individuals have records that are more similar to schizophrenics and borderline personality-disorded individuals than to schizoid individuals (Sperry, 2003, p. 250). The Multidimentional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) has been found to be a powerful measure of personality that has been used in research. It is a paper-and-pencil true/false test that has used to identify personality correlates of violence and crime across cultures, countries race and gender (Nestor, 2002, p. 1977).

In contrast to the impressive record inferred by having been a Marine, Travis offered a very unimpressive response to the question about his education:

Travis: Some, Here, there, you know.

People with Schizctypal Personality Disorder are prone to vague descriptions. Perhaps, also related to this response is the fact that the symptoms of Schizctypal Personality Disorder may begin in childhood or adolescence showing as a tendency toward solitary pursuit of activities, poor peer relationships, pronounced social anxiety, and underachievement in school. Other symptoms that may be present during the developmental years are hypersensitivity to criticism or correction, unusual use of language, odd thoughts, or bizarre fantasies. Children with these tendencies appear socially out-of-step with peers and often become the object of malicious teasing by their peers, which increases the feelings of isolation and social ineptness they feel (Gilles, 2003).

Travis leads a dark, lonely and isolated life where he seems to be confined to his depressing apartment, the dreary taxi cab he drives or a shady movie house showing pornographic films.
This is consistent with the biosocial formulation reported by Sperry (2003, p. 246) which is that Schizctypal Personality Disorder is self-perpetuated by social isolation, overprotection and self-insulation. While social isolation has immediate benefits, in the long run they are counterproductive as they deprive these individuals of opportunities to develop social skills and they foster dependency. Furthermore, the individual’s tendency toward self-insulation further perpetuates the spiral of cognitive and social deterioration that typifies Schizctypal Personality Disorder.

Travis fills his body with junk food, drugs and alcohol, the latter two which he carries with him when he is out of his apartment. He lacks the interpersonal skills to make acceptable conversation as exemplified in the work environment with the boss and in the social environment of the movie house where he tries to make social conversation with the woman working at the snack counter. In both examples he forces the other person to threaten him in some way in order to get him to stop.
This exemplifies the initial results from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study, one of the first studies to document and quantify the extent of functional impairment in patients with an Axis II disorder in contrast to patients having an impairing Axis I disorder. Patients with Schizctypal Personality Disorder were found to have significantly more impairment at work, in social relations, and in leisure activities than patients with Axis I obsessive-compulsive or major depressive disorder…These results not only underscore the misconceptions that clinicians have been known to have of the extent of psychiatric morbidity attendant to Axis II disorders but also suggest the importance of utilizing integrative treatment interventions that emphasize psychosocial rehabilitation to mitigate the pernicious effects of personality disorders on functioning (Sperry, 2003, pp. 18-19).

Another important note here is that the comment that agitated the boss, the comment about Travis’ conscience being clear, was a tangential digression, another symptom to which people with  are prone (Gilles, 2003).

Travis’ only uneventful verbal communication occurs in his living environment where he is alone and writes in his diary.

When Travis is asked if the taxi driver job would be “moonlighting” for him, Travis does not know what the term “moonlighting” means.

This may be due to verbal episodic memory deficits, a well-established feature of the schizophrenia spectrum that has been found in individuals with Schizctypal Personality Disorder. In an NIMH Grant supported study comparing individuals with Schizctypal Personality Disorder to individuals with other personality disorders and a group of healthy volunteers those with Schizctypal Personality Disorder learned verbal and visual-spatial information at a reduced rate and recalled fewer words and objects after a long delay (McClure, et. al., 2006). Another explanation may be that people with Schizctypal Personality Disorder may have speech patterns that appear strange in their structure and phrasing…and some may verbalize their responses by being overly concrete. Thus, Travis may use such a term to mean “lighting the moon” (Gilles, 2003).
Travis, however, does get the job. One may speculate that it was not because of his interview behavior but, rather, because the interviewer appears to feel some comradery with a fellow marine and because Travis is willing to do what the interviewer needs, i.e., someone who is willing to drive on Jewish holidays and to drive nights and work uptown, South Bronx and Harlem.
Travis sees the world as dirty and “venal”:

Thank God for the rain, which has washed away the garbage and the trash off the sidewalks…All the animals come out at night. Whores, skunk-pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies. Sick, venal. Someday a real rain’ll come and wash all this scum off the streets…
The DSM-IV-TR criterion A(4) for Schizctypal Personality Disorder, which is placed on Axis II (see next paragraph), asserts that metaphorical speech is often found in people with Schizctypal Personality Disorder. Other speech patterns that may emerge include overelaborate, circumstantial, stereotyped, and as mentioned earlier, vague (APA, 2000, p. 701; Sperry, 2003, p. 244).

As a Westerner, how do I begin to describe a Shanghai Xiaolongbao dumpling that one does not just gulp down (or drown in chili oil and shoyu) but instead allows to dance on ones palate before it explodes into distinct flavors of pork, chicken and rich savory broth? How can I explain the difference between a run-of-the-mill Hong Kong style noodle house or dim sum palace, whether in SF’s Chinatown or along Atlanta’s Buford Highway and the holy shrine to dumplings known as Din Tai Fung? This is a place where practically every dish arrives looking simple, even coy, but then when eaten proceeds to transform into the dim sum equivalent of a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi ?

There is a matter-of-factness about the smiling servers and seating hostesses that borders on almost cavalier, right up until the actual food arrives. The moment you bite into a mound of steaming fresh garlic green beans or shrimp topped pork shu mai there is a palpable culinary awakening. I nearly dropped my chopsticks on the floor and was tempted to bow down in reverence while facing the large glass enclosed prep kitchen. Inside, a dozen identically masked and aproned chefs work deftly to cut, roll, shape and stuff the sacred XLB dumplings. Like Santa’s helpers in December they can barely keep up with consumer demand. I kid you not. The juicy pork dumplings are that good. Also good is the chicken fried rice with fresh green onion and dry fried pork chop over rice. Multiple orders of everything is the norm here rather then the exception. A Zagat rating of 26 amid literal miles of competing Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean restaurants in the celebrity-obsessed cultural wasteland known as metropolitan Los Angeles does not lie.  It’s also obvious by the wait for seating that diners are more then willing to drive, fly, surf and parasail to Din Tai Fung for the privilege of eating there. I would bet it’s the same deal in their other location in Seattle and the single outpost in Sydney Australia where I am told foodies brave jellyfish and shark infested waters to eat Shanghai dumplings. Again, it is the simplicity of the dishes which belie their ineffable richness and fullness of flavor. THAT is what made me surrender to Din Tai Fung’s charm, and now, alas, I am hooked like a forlorn suitor with a serious dumpling addiction. Only the peanut oil deep fried egg rolls from Chan’s Tea House in Highland Park, Illinois (a now distant culinary memory of my childhood) comes even close. As I fly home to Atlanta I can only close my misty eyes, savor the experience, and hope we shall meet….and eat again.

Now that Sandusky is in jail and Romney is “retroactively retired”, I’m not sure which HuffPost article to read first. I used to watch the Sunday Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Then, if time allowed …The Wonderful World of Disney. These two programs seemed to describe two very different worlds and views of reality. I suspected somebody was either lying or exaggerating the truth. All the main players I just mentioned are gone, except for Romney, who I kind of wish WAS gone because he is still talking made-up in the moment shit on every TV channel (not counting the reality TV shows).  Plus, nowadays everyone gets their news online. I dont know, what sounds more interesting, “10 Things Not To Say to Someone with Fibromyalgia” or “Woman Attacked By Raccoons”?  I also see that a White Buffalo was born on a farm in Connecticut which is a very sacred and life changing event to Native Americans, but maybe not as big a deal in Hartford. I just hope they keep the baby bison calf safe from poachers, thieves….and raccoons. Those suckers can be nasty. I learned that from watching “Turtle Man”. Live Action!!