A question on mental illness

Since you guys are all mentally ill, I thought this would be a good place to ask:

I worked with this guy who threw temper tantrums like a 5-year old. Basically, I asked him to move a cart to the end of the work table. There were two other tables, so the first time I asked, he moved it to another table. Then I said "no, I ment this one" so he put it at the wrong end of the table, so I said "no no no, I meant the other end of the table" in a whiney sort of "why can't I make myself clear" sort of voice. Well, he was at the end of his patience and left. Now, I figured he just left to calm down, but he actually went to the forman CRYING about me saying something nasty that hurt his feelings. The forman isn't allowed to discuss it. The HR manager has to do an investigation before I can get any details of WHAT HE SAID.

Now, before he left (actually quiting his job), he'd told me that he never got into college because he was sitting in jail awaiting trial on a charge he was later aquited on. It turns out that in an outburst, he broke a guy's neck. The guy lived, and he was able to beat the charge at trial by claiming the guy was physically harassing his girlfriend and he was just trying to stop him, accentally breaking the guy's neck while pulling him away.

OK, now I've seen this behavior from only ONE OTHER person in my entire life. A 17-year-old in the family has a bad habbit of going into extremely short burst of rage and then feeling so bad about it he has a crying fit. If he does something wrong absent-mindedly, no matter how nice you are about pointing it out (so he'll stop doing it), he starts crying. If you see him crying for logical reason, he'll make up a story about someone hurting his feelings.

So I've seen this behavior before. It appears to be quite rare. I'd like your take on what physchological condition could be the root of this behavior. Feel free to ask questions, I'd like to put a label on the pathology.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

Some people just have a hard time in life. There are forces that make an individual act like this. Probably possessed a real abusive childhood.

That's why I said "feel free to ask questions"!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

Initially I would have said he was intimidated by you, seeing your mysterious pic in album, along with your posts, you could be quite intimidating, but I scratched that idea when you said this guy breaks necks and gets away with it...

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

You described a long time friend and computer tech that works for The Southern Company that I know. His name is Chip, the computer guy.

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

I'm friendly with everyone, but don't make ties to anyone who's likely to get me in trouble with their exhagerations/lies/excuses.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

Have you observed him watching closely what other people do or listening carefully to other people's conversations? Does he seem to be very self-centred (not in a selfish or egotistical way), like his version of the world is all he sees?

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

I'm building up a picture here - bear in mind I am used to doing this in my clinical psychology practice, so work with me on this one. Can you answer the previous questions for me?

Does he have a consistent work history? Is he married, or has he had a history of stable relationships? I realise you may not know the answers to these questions.


Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

A bit slow, but expected!

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

He's definitely what.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

Indeed he is. A terrible and incurable condition.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

Interesting pathology. Most likely to be a borderline personality disorder with manic features. Likely to have has either very demanding or critical parents (especially mother) resulting in observable approval-seeking behaviour and/or strong self-doubt. This is not a highly decisive individual. His interactions with the world are likely to be very purposeful, i.e. they ultimately serve some need or purpose for himself. You may observe that he quickly forgets things he's been told, even things he's said himself. He may also trail off during sentences, as if he's listening to himself. He's unlikely to be paranoid, more likely to be clinically hypervigilant. He's listening and watching all right, probably more than you know. He likes taking orders and being controlled, but he hates the feeling that people have control over him. A contradiction I know, but that's the nature of internal conflict. He's likely therefore to become quite defensive or possibly aggressive on occassions.

Watch out for this type of character. He's emotionally very immature, but can be very smart. Also, don't buy into the dramatics. He's very unlikely to empathise with people, and professed emotions are for show. The crying is a learned behaviour designed to manipulate people. Any psychologist worth their salt will tell you this. There's unlikely to be a lot going on inside him, i.e. he probably lacks the ability to rationalise clearly, so you'll see him reacting (and often over-reacting) to situations as opposed to intellectually and emotionally grasping what is going on. And don't rely on this guy having a well-defined conscience or sense of right or wrong. This type of personality disorder can also manifest sociopathic or psychopathic features, so I'd be cautious about any stories about him feeling bad or guilty about doing things. They may be true, but if they're not then this guy is the type of punch you'll never see coming. He'll never self-harm but if he ever loses control then I'd advise a quick exit.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

BTW, how you discribed him in the "Interesting pathology" is EXACTLY the behavior I observed.

Since I've observed IDENTICAL behavior in TWO individuals (and ONLY two, of the THOUSANDS I've known over my lifetime), I thought there might be a defined psychological condition associated with it.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

I don't know the clinical term for it but that type of behavior sounds exactly like my ex-stepson, I had never seen that type behavior before him. He would get mad go into a rage and do physical damage then afterward calm down but always after the damage was done.

His car quit on him so we had it towed to the house, he opted to fix it himself instead of a mechanic, wouldn't let anyone help him, I heard a bunch of racket outside and went to see what was going on, he was sitting down next to the car in a sad and sobby state, and there were dents on the fender and hood of the car.

He got frustrated at not being able to fix the thing and kicked and punched dents in the car, that was my first impression of him having something seriously wrong with him.

His grandfather was a welder and had a really nice shop behind his home, we were over there and my stepson was doing something in his grandfathers shop that didn't go as planned, we heard loud noises and he had gone bezerk in his grandfathers shop throwing steel at the walls and denting the walls of his grandfathers shop.

I told him if he was going to tear something up tear up his own stuff not his grandfathers, he wasn't quite calmed down yet and stuck his finger in my face and informed me I was the last person on earth to tell him what to do in his grandfathers shop.

My wife talked to him and told me to leave him alone but a line had been crossed so I went back to him to have a talk with him, I told him no lectures from me son, but a warning! If you're going to treat me like anybody off the streets then the next time you stick your finger in my face, brace yourself, cause you and I are going at it. But by then he was in his apologetic state, kinda like Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde, there were no problems from him for two weeks.

Then the biggie happened, [Short version of the story] my wife and I got into an arguement, wasn't even a major arguement no screaming or yelling just I had questions she had no answers for, it didn't have a thing to do with him, but he decided to get into it, he was sitting in a chair and made a move like he was going to come for me, so I stepped toward him in anticipation of a confrontation with him and he settled back into the chair, I then said the wrong thing! [Something along the lines of, I thought so, you're just a 20yr old punk living off your mother.]

I thought things were pretty much over and turned toward the end of the house to where the bedroom was, there were no exits where I was heading, I heard a comotion and looked back as I rounded the corner to the bedroom to see my wife trying to stop him, he had grabbed a baseball bat from the coat closet and was coming for me, I saw him literally throw his own mother across the room and she landed on the couch, and continue coming for the bedroom.

Everything started happening in slow motion my mind was racing trying to think of what the heck in the bedroom could I protect myself with against a baseball bat, perfume bottles? clothes hangers? I knew from seeing his past rages that I was in serious trouble he always did physical damage before he calmed down, and it wasn't a car or shop this time, then the thought of my protection came to mind, and it was far greater than I wanted to go, but I had to defend myself.

Maybe it was a breakthrough for him because of all the rage fits I'd seen him throw, when he rounded the corner of the bedroom door, I saw the anger literally drain from his body, without him commiting a physical act of rage, theres something real calming about looking down the barrell of a loaded shotgun, needless to say that pretty much was the beginning of the end for my first marriage, but thank God no one got hurt other than feelings.

One of my best friends sons also had the same type attitude, but a truck wreck that almost killed him seemed to completely change his attitude, no explanations for that!






<A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=2541&st=0#entry20385" target="_new">My Puter</A>

Very unlikely. Not impossible, but you'd be more likely to see a person believing they're right and everyone else is wrong if that were the case. The characteristics of this type of condition are well defined and are clearly in evidence in this case.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

Alas, I try to remain professional when it comes to my area of work. Sorry

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

Bummer. Now can I come to you with all my problems?


Here's to alcohol: The source of, and answer to, all of life's problems. -- Homer Simpson

It seems like you were at fault, changing where he put the stuff three times....your'e temperamental at best...

<font color=red>GO BUCKEYES!</font color=red>

LOL, all I asked him to do was put the empty cart at the end of the table after we had taken the full one away...sorry.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

ME, ME, WHAT ABOUT ME? I WANT A PSYCHOANALYSIS TOO!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

I'm outa town for the next few days (leaving now actually), but when I come back I'll shrink you real good.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, couldn't resist. So, when does she throw you out then?

<font color=blue>"Why are you so fat, Brandes?" - Glen McGrath to Eddo Brandes.
"Because every time I shag your wife, she gives me a biscuit" - Eddo Brandes' reply</font color=blue>

His fee is much cheaper and painless if the $400 per hour is just paid...

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

Ding Dong! The Wingding is gone. Which old Wingding? The Wicked Wingding!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Wingding is gone.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Wingding is gone. He's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Wingding is Gone!


<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>