Research- The Psychopathic Mind

I’m beginning a book by J. Reid Meloy titled “The Psychopathic Mind: Origins, Dynamics, and Treatment.” It’s heavy, deep, tangled with terminology I don’t know, and extremely informative.

I’m hoping the effect on my writing is beneficial and outweighs the bleakness settling down from reading about such desperate, different, and ultimately destructive people. When things reach the clinical level, it is certainly very bad.

So I’d like to say, maybe we shouldn’t overuse terms like “crazy” and “psycho.” Casual usage can detract from the unfortunate reality that these problems do exist, and they require a lifetime of rehabilitation to be manageable, and extreme cases may or may not even be treatable.

Wow.

I read “The Black Book of Communism” when I was still a teenager, and it was quite a depressing read. Communism began to thaw, releasing its grip on many of the records that had previously been inaccessible. Suddenly, researchers and investigators had a wealth of information. Sad information.

It got me down. Made me tired. Killed my cheer.

I’ll try not to get that way again. Perhaps when I’m done, I’ll read Dr. Seuss to make me feel better.

So if simply dipping my toe into the shadow of these issues can affect me so much, imagine living it!

I’m not a doctor, but I prescribe more compassion and patience and mostly, awareness.