Tulpas and diving into the mind of a psychopath

[Millie]

I've read a few things saying that some psychopaths were shown to have the ability to empathize when prompted to, and suggesting that the typical empathy-free mindset of a psychopath was more of a default than a sole state, so perhaps it could (theoretically) be possible for a psychopath to create a mentally normal tulpa. But I'd like to stress that this is a very uninformed opinion based on vague memories of internet articles, and should not be taken to heart

I'd love to offer better insight into the subject, but seeing as my diagnosis as psychopathic comes from bullies using it as an insult, and my tulpa is both incomplete and seems to have the intentions of being quite thoughtless, I don't think I could.

However, I do think it's completely possible for a tulpa to coax their host out of their disorders (as suggested by Discord), primarily on the basis that even my so primitive tulpa is (successfully) frequently persuading me into improving my awful eating habits, and the accounts of others--whether or not something like that would be successful enough to 'cure' psychopathy is still unknown to me, but perhaps it could be worth looking into. It's a shame that the field of psychology would probably never consider something like tulpae to be a legitimate treatment for a personality disorder, even if it had a few successes.

[OCDHost]

I'm not a psychopath but I always felt like I have less emotions than most people, my social skills are very good but there are many things that just don't come natural to me, like I "learned" things that other people don't need to and when talking with someone I don't know well I just guide myself by this learned behaviors because I know they are the social acceptable ones, saying it like this does kind of makes me seem like a psychopath but I can assure you that I am in therapy and have been with different therapists most of my life and not one of them thought I could be one although one did kind-of-diagnosed me with a undefined personality disorder (or is unclassified? I don't remember very well).

 

I decided to make Esmeralda because there have been many years since I have been able to love someone, I did before, in my own way but I did, but this last 4 years I haven't been able to love anyone new and lost most of the friends that I already loved, this was very frustrating to me since when I don't love someone I mean it, I really don't feel anything for the person, it's pure indifference and that obviously make maintaining a relationship very difficult and pointless, but I do love Esmeralda, I really do, the moment I saw her and realized that I truly loved her was so intense for me that I started crying, I had lost all hope of ever meeting anyone else I could love, for now this hasn't changed my feelings for others yet and may not ever I can't know that, but is a really important thing for me.

 

So there you have it, I doubt you'll get any real psychopath in this thread (seeing that they are rare and probably won't care about sharing their experience) but maybe my case is of some interest to you.

 

Edit: Totally didn't realize that the thread is old and OP hasn't been online since April, but well maybe someone else cares.

[Raechill]

From Pleeb: One trait of personality disorders that make them difficult to treat is that they're, well, persistent, long-standing, they're core of a personality.

 

My response: I'm not certain that's quite an accurate statement. The disorder disrupts the core of the personality, I don't think it IS the personality.

 

From Pleeb: From the comments in this thread, it looks like people are seeing things like antisocial personality disorder, etc. as a problem with brain function. I really don't think this is the case. Yes, some disorders have biological correlations, even genetics, but it's not the sole factor.

 

My response: Biology, unless we're looking at a developmental dis-ease, is almost never the sole factor. In the case of Antisocial Personality Disorder, there appears to be an epigenetic correlation. Studies have found a genetic component to the disorder, but the gene doesn't seem to influence behavior and personality unless an environmental trigger exists, such as rampant abuse. The thing is that the disorder does cause an impairment in actual brain function, and in the case of ASPD, the cortex is impaired, reducing the afflicted's ability to make decisions. Psychopathy, with its definition of having little to no regard of other people's well-being, may be a response to this disorder, a survival mechanism, if you will. This last statement is my own musing, and not based on any actual research.

 

From Pleeb: The personality disorders seem to have developmental and sociocultural components in them.

 

My response: From the works I've seen, most, if not all, mental disorders have a strong sociocultural component to them. Anxiety disorders are more prevalent in cultures that hail individualism. Depression is recognized in some cultures and appears to be missing completely from others. Symptoms of the same disorder may be completely different among people of varying ethnicities. It's definitely not limited to personality disorders, but I do get the impression that they tend to exhibit greater variance among different cultures than the other disorders do. Although schizophrenia seems to be recognized pretty much everywhere, and bipolar disorder follows a close suit.

 

From Pleeb: Don't get me wrong, personality disorders are very difficult to treat, especially since they're so deeply integrated into the person't identity. But that doesn't make the cause of the disorder a faulty brain, there's more to the psyche than that, otherwise things like psychotherapy, CBT, etc, wouldn't work.

 

My response: I could be wrong on this, but most cases of true personality disorders don't work with psychology therapies alone and require a chemical intervention, at least in the beginning. For ASPD, last time I really dug through the annuls of academia, therapy was more about managing the behavior than it was about completely resolving the issues. Also, for most personality disorders, I've been under the impression that psychotherapy just doesn't work. It requires too much introspection on the behalf of the client and a lot of separating one's sense of self from the emotions they feel. It can be great for some issues, but usually not for things like ASPD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other disorders like it.

 

Where does this leave us regarding the original question? I have a feeling that they may assist with many disorders, up to and including most personality disorders. In consideration of the what we know of ASPD, and the related psychopathy, I think that if the tulpa was created specifically for helping manage behavioral issues, it may work even better than most methods of therapy. Having a separate consciousness from the host, yet still being a part of the host, a tulpa would be able to assist with many of the decision-making issues that are problematic for those with the disorder, and thus nullify many of the extreme behaviors seen in those diagnosed with it. While it's possible that a tulpa can teach a psychopath empathy, I would imagine that the tulpa would need to have the required characteristics built in at the time of creation, and would only work after trust is fully established, which can be rather hard for a psychopath to do. The only way I can see a tulpa having the required characteristics for teaching empathy is if s/he had a link to at least some parts of host's core personality undamaged by the disorder.

 

Once this is done, it is completely possible that the psychopath would feel empathy torwards the tulpa in general, but not humanity. It is at this point the psychopath may benefit from therapy and/or guidance from the tulpa. But if the disorder is under control, I'm not sure that someone diagnosed with ASPD or psychopathy would desire the emotional connections made by having empathy for those around him or her.