In the movie “Silence of the Lambs”, the secondary antagonist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, was interrogated by FBI trainee Clarice Starling on the whereabouts of the main antagonist nicknamed Buffalo Bill. Starling asked Lecter for his help on solving the case because he is a brilliant psychiatrist and psychopath, currently incarcerated at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Buffalo Bill was kidnapping young women and skinning them in order to make a “woman suit” for him to wear, being a deranged transvestite. Starling asked for Lecter’s expertise because of his medical background and experience with his own personal disorder. Lecter was presently imprisoned because he is a ruthless cannibalistic serial killer. Before the audience actually meets Lecter, they are told he is dangerous, manipulative and an outright monster, calling him a “most prized asset”. Upon meeting him, Lecter appears to be subdued within his cell, a combined mixture of oddness and genuine care in his body language and facial features. When Starling introduces herself, Lecter listens intently, seemingly approachable and friendly for advice. Although the tone of his voice gives off a rather disturbing persona, he can easily be categorized as a disciplined, cultural and polite individual at first glance. In the 16 minutes total that Lecter appears in the movie, his presence automatically commandeers the flow of the conversation and mood of the environment that he is placed in.
Without thought, Dr. Hannibal Lecter displays the general three P’s of personality disorders: persistent, pervasive and pathological. Specifically, Lecter appears to consistently exhibit the symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is found in Cluster B of personali...
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.... Medications like antidepressants, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics would also be beneficial for Lecter. However, starting CBTs and prescribing medications will not be so easy in Lecter’s case. Despite an obvious distortion in his thinking patterns and behaviors, Lecter is an otherwise intelligent human being. He may be conniving and manipulative with his actions and behavior, but he can clearly maintain a regular life if he chooses to. Convincing him to change his old lifestyle and inner workings could take a tremendous amount of time and effort. Likewise, finding the right person who will treat him with equal respect and be able to maintain a solid rapport would be the most difficult part of simply starting his treatment. Assuming his mind and body responds to the therapy and medication positively, Lecter will most likely benefit from this type of treatment.
Simons, C. (2001). Antisocial personality disorder in serial killers: The thrill of the kill. The Justice Professional, 14(4), 345-356.
Moran, P. "The epidemiology of antisocial personality disorder ." Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 34.5 (1999): 231-242. Print.
“We had been foolish virgins in the war right at the end of childhood” Slaughterhouse Five-Kurt Vonnegut “The children’s crusade started in 1213 when two monks got the idea of raising armies of children in France and Germany, and selling them in North Africa as slaves. Thirty thousand children volunteered thinking they were going to Palestine. (p.16) The Children’s Crusade and the World Wars are similar because of the drafting of the innocent to do the duties of a nation.
Billy Pilgrim is born in 1922 and grows up in Ilium, New York. A funny-looking, weak youth, he does well in high school, then he enrolls in night classes at the Ilium School of Optometry, and is soon drafted into the army. He serves as a chaplain's assistant, is sent into the Battle of the Bulge, and almost gets taken prisoner by the Germans. Just before being captured he first becomes unstuck in time. He sees the entirety of his life in one sweep. Billy is transported with other privates to the beautiful city of Dresden. There the prisoners are made to work for their keep. They are kept in a former slaughterhouse. Billy and his fellow POWs survive in an airtight meat locker. They emerge to find a moonscape of destruction. Several days’ later Russian forces capture the city and the war is over. Billy returns to Ilium and finishes optometry school. He gets engaged to the daughter of the founder of the school. His wealthy father-in-law sets him up in the optometry business. Billy and his wife raise two children and become wealthy.
His overwhelming sense of entitlement and hypocrisy, is proven when he refers to himself as ‘royalty.’ Hannibal’s occasional nice gestures are undermined when he is consumed with his cannibalistic urges. Some may say, he is only psychotic because of his early exposure to PTSD, but this theory is proven wrong. He showed severe symptoms earlier in his life, and the trauma only exaggerated the effects. His cunning and manipulative ways are far from unintentional; he manipulates people’s truth to discover their behavior and actions, so when he kills them it is more pleasurable. Hannibal’s unquestionable parasitic lifestyle is verified when he discusses the ‘finer things in life’. He discusses his interest in - dinner parties, fine arts, and fine dining. Authenticating his strange sense of
Every few years there are disturbing, yet fascinating headlines: “BTK killer: Hiding in plain sight” or “Police discover at least 10 victims at Anthony Sowell's home”; but what would allow an individual to commit the crimes they did? In cases like these there is usually a common link: Antisocial Personality disorder. It is an unknown disorder to most of the population which is why there are so many questions to be answered, the main ones being what is antisocial personality disorder and how does it effect patient and society as a whole? To answer these questions one needs an accurate background picture of the disorder.
There were two serial killers portrayed in the movie- Dr Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill. As far as diagnosis is concerned, they both have an antisocial personality disorder, and many similar characteristics, however each has his own array of psychological issues.
Personality disorders and mental illnesses are viewed by the general public as similar attributes that are equally harmful. However, when one delves into the diagnostics and patterns of the individual disorders and illnesses, it can be seen that there are major differences between each one. There are many levels of severity of the effects each disorder or illness has on society as a whole. They range from affecting only the individual on a solely personal basis to affecting a large amount of people on a highly violent level. Generally, it is found that mental illnesses have an influence on an individual level while personality disorders have an influence on a widespread level. As in every medical topic, there are outliers, or cases that are far outside the expected outcome, but for the most part, illnesses have less far reaching effects than disorders. On the spectrum of the societal effects of personality disorders and mental illnesses, the obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is actually a mental illness, is on the lowest level in terms of widespread consequences; just above this illness is schizophrenia which has the ability to affect more than the individual unless treated; the narcissistic disorder has farther reaching effects in society, such as in bureaucratic situations, than the two previously mentioned illnesses, placing it higher on the spectrum, and last, but not least, the schizoid personality disorder has proven to have the most wide spread consequences in the form of both emotional trauma and violence allocating it the highest level.
It is important to know this rectification can come in two forms for Lecter. Lecter can either punish the individual, such as in Chilton’s case; for their direct discourtesy to him or another, or he can help an individual who has received such a discourtesy in his presence. Lecter would only feel this obligation, however, in the unique case that he is unable to prevent such a direct discourtesy from happening to another as it occurred in front of him, as in Clarice’s case. From my examination this is the first type of direct rectification. The earliest example of this is when Lecter makes Miggs go insane for disrespecting Clarice, as Crawford explains: “Miggs has been murdered… The orderly heard Lecter whispering to him, all afternoon, and Miggs crying. They found him at bed check. He’d swallowed his own tongue…” (Tally). Lecter again demonstrates his superior social prowess and manipulative skills as he punishes Miggs for his discourteous imposition of will and violation of
...and Elias Abdalla-Filho. "Personality disorders, psychopathy, and serial killers Transtornos de personalidade, psicopatia e serial killers." Rev Bras Psiquiatr 28.Supl II (2006): S74-9.
Ogloff, J. R. (2006). Psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder conundrum. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, (40), 519-528.
The character I choose to do my clinical diagnosis is Dr. Hannibal Lecter, from the movie The Silences of the Lambs, which is played by Anthony Hopkins. Dr. Hannibal is a psychopath serial killer who uses charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control his victims and others to satisfy his own selfish needs. Because he lacks a conscience and feelings for others, he cold-bloodily takes what he wants and does what he pleases, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sin of remorse, guilt, or regret. Also Dr. Lecter suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which explains some of his other actions as psychopath serial killer.
Dr. Hannibal Lector, one of the main characters of the story is a psychiatrist, but also happens to be a cannibalistic serial killer. Dr. Lector is introduced into the NBC series as a psychiatrist who occasionally helps the FBI with their murder cases. Whereas in Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Lector was being held in prison until he eventually broke loose. It is made clear to the audiences the Hannibal is definitely the killer, there is no mystery to that, which can make things interesting for this character in the Hannibal series of whether or not he’ll be caught.
There is still a game of Hannibal Lecter . Its a kind of innocence contrasts with the murderous instinct . Aristocratic manners manners have become psychopathic esthete that beauty and art are treated as part of the filling every bit of human life . Sophistication is the medium in an intellectual sense Lecetera . Why do people eat ? This magnum opus of aesthetics. Beauty can be created , but let's create a beautiful man ! Let the art is the human body itself , which is subjected to artistic treatment . Man becomes work , and for Hannibal this seems to be the fulfillment of artistic emploi . Aestheticism pervades everything, everywhere , has created a master piece ..
...ably never recover from his violent, cannibalistic tendencies. Dr. Lecter is far too sophisticated and may outsmart any psychiatrist assigned to work with him. However, if treatment were pursued, I would begin with a psychotherapeutic approach. Dr. Lecter has few individuals he trusts/opens up to. He needs an established therapeutic rapport for therapy to continue successfully. He trusts no one. To help him cope with night terrors, intrusive thoughts, avoidance issues, and many of his antisocial behaviors, I would suggest Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), prolonged exposure, and possibly mood stabilizers. These treatments may help reduce symptoms/reminders of his trauma, that cause outbursts of anger/violence. Though these treatments may help reduce symptoms, it is unlikely that Dr. Hannibal Lecter will ever function safely/non destructively within society.