Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement

I. OVERVIEW

Solitary confinement—that is the confinement of a prisoner alone in a cell for all, or nearly all, of the day with minimal environmental stimulation and minimal opportunity for social interaction—can cause severe psychiatric harm. It has indeed long been known that severe restriction of environmental and social stimulation has a profoundly deleterious effect on mental functioning; this issue has been a major concern for many groups of patients including, for example, patients in intensive care units, spinal patients immobilized by the need for prolonged traction, and patients with impairment of their sensory apparatus (such as eye-patched or hearing-impaired patients). This issue has also been a very significant concern in military situations, polar and submarine expeditions, and in preparations for space travel. The United States was actually the world leader in introducing prolonged incarceration, and solitary confinement, as a means of dealing with criminal behavior....

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Framing Homicide Narratives in Newspapers: Mediated Witness and the Construction of Virtual Victimhood

Abstract

This article identifies ways in which newspapers invite readers to identify with victims and victimhood as a route to engaging them in ‘human interest’ stories. Within this framing of homicide for readers as ‘mediated witness’, some of the authorial techniques are explored whereby newspapers engage readers in a stylized dialogue that contributes to the construction of public narratives about homicide. It is argued that researchers, as well as working at a macro level, need to research at the micro level of textual analysis when researching media (including visual media) in order to understand the framing that contributes to public narratives; hence there is analysis of techniques of (a) defamiliarization and (b) objectification of homicide victims. These are some of the means by which the reader is placed as witness, both apparently ‘experiencing’ crime for personal consumption yet, publicly, allowed to recover (unlike real victims of major crime). The recognition of a need for...

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Rib Fractures, Flail Chest, and Pulmonary Contusion

Abstract

Blunt chest trauma accounts for a significant proportion of debilitating and life-threatening injuries. Rib fractures are notoriously painful and can lead to prolonged hospitalization, contribute to the development of pneumonia and respiratory failure, and delay outpatient recuperation significantly. Flail chest, along with chest wall deformity, the most severe of chest wall injuries, is associated with significant acute morbidity and mortality. Pulmonary contusion often accompanies blunt chest wall trauma and when diffuse will result in respiratory failure regardless of other injuries. Pulmonary lacerations, pneumatoceles, and even lobar infarction can occur. In this review, we describe the development of current principles of management of rib fractures, flail chest, and pulmonary contusion. Emerging or unclarified strategies include the importance of acute pain control of rib fractures to alleviate the development of chronic pain, the role of rib fracture operative reduction/internal fixation (ORIF) in severe chest wall trauma, and the use of surfactant and dual ...

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Murder As An Attempt To Manage Self Disgust

In my earlier posts about self-loathing and relationships, I’ve written that self-loathers often endanger their relationships—or avoid them altogether because they don’t feel they’re good enough to be with other people. I’ve recommended that self-loathers learn to trust in other people’s judgment and decisions, especially regarding whom they chose to be with. Self-loathers think that they know themselves better than other people do and they can see the negative qualities that "for some reason" others don't pick up on (at least, not yet). But just how well do they know themselves anyway? In this post, we’ll turn this point around and focus not solely on how others see the self-loather but also on how the self-loather sees himself or herself and the limitations thereof. A self-loathing person, by definition, feels essentially inadequate in some way. I say “essentially” because this is a feeling that is deeply ingrained and therefore resistant to persuasion or evidence. ...

See Also: Do the Self-Loathing See the Same "Self" that Others Do?

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The Sexual Sadist

What do David Parker Ray, Robert Berdella, Lawrence Bittaker, Ian Brady, Mike DeBardeleben, Gary Heidnick, Leonard Lake, Hermann Mudgett, Gary Taylor, and Fred West have in common? They all made the list of the top ten worst sexually sadistic killers.

Sexual sadism is considered a mental disorder; it is one of several paraphilias. A paraphilia is characterized by an obsession with unusual sexual practices and/or with actual sexual activity with nonconsensual persons and animals. Pedophilia, voyeurism, and exhibitionism are additional types of paraphilias. It is estimated that sexual sadists are responsible for between seven and ten percent of all sex crimes. Sexual sadists are predominately male, however there is a prevalence of female domatrixes in sadomasochism pornography.

A sexual sadist has intense fantasies and/or performs acts because he desires complete sexual, physical, emotional or psychological domination over another person. Sexual sadism

What do David Parker Ray, Robert Berdella, Lawrence Bittaker, Ian Brady, .

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Sexual Sadism

Sexual Sadism

By Dr. Christopher L. Heffner Dr. Christopher L. Heffner August 20, 2014 Sexual Sadism2014-08-30T13:34:43+00:00

Etiology

There are different theories related to sexual sadism, many stemming from the psychoanalytic camp. They suggest that childhood trauma (e.g., sexual abuse) or significant childhood experiences can manifest itself in exhibitionistic behavior.Domestic violence

Symptoms

Sexually sadistic behaviors are typically evident by early adulthood, and often start with masochistic or sadistic play in childhood. The disorder is characterized by either intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors in which the individual is sexually aroused by causing humiliation or physical suffering of another person.

Treatment

Treatment typically involves psychotherapy aimed at uncovering and working through the underlying cause of the behavior.

Prognosis

Prognosis is good although often there are other issues which may surface once the behaviors are extinguished. If this is the case, these issues must be worked through as well.

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Psychosexual Characteristics Of Sexual Offenders And The Relationship To Sexual Reconviction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI) could be used to predict sexual reconviction. The MSI was administered to 119 convicted male sex offenders. Reconviction data were analysed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) over 2-, 5- and 10-year follow-up periods. The MSI scales Sexual Obsession and Paraphilia (Atypical Sexual Outlet) obtained good accuracy in predicting sexual reconviction over 2- and 5-year follow-up periods. A confirmatory factor analysis of the MSI scales yielded a four-factor solution: Sexual Deviance, Sexual Desirability, Dysfunctional/Justification, and Normal. The Sexual Deviance factor demonstrated good accuracy in predicting sexual reconviction at 2-year follow-up while the Normal factor was a poor predictor of sexual reconviction. Compared against an actuarial risk assessment measure for sexual offenders, the Sexual Obsession, Sexual/Social Desirability, and Sexual Dysfunction scales, and Sexual Deviance factor made a statistically significant contribution independent of the...

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A Harvard Psychiatrist Explains Zombie Neurobiology

In Night of the Living Dead, zombies are brought back from the dead by a "mysterious force" that allows their brains to continue functioning. But how exactly does a zombie brain function? Finally, a Harvard psychiatrist has the answers.

 Through education Dr. Steven C. Schlozman is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a lecturer at the Harvard School of Education. He is also an avid sci-fi and horror fan - and, apparently, the world's leading authority on the neurobiology of the living dead. He has even drafted a fake medical journal article on the zombie plague, which he calls Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome, or ANSD (the article has five authors: one living, three "deceased" and one "humanoid infected").

 Schlozman's foray into necro-diagnostics began when he volunteered to give a talk for the "Science on Screen" lecture series at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA....

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Jodi Sue Huisentruit | Missing Person: Legally Declared Dead

State Representative Speaks Out About Resistance to Solving Huisentruit Case

Iowa State Rep. John Kooiker considered it a privilege to fill in the ninth term of his good friend, Dwayne Alons, who passed away shortly after winning the November 2014 election. But, as a member of the House Public Safety Committee, he found himself appalled at the number of cold cases in the state and the current lack of a cohesive effort to solve them.

In 2015, prior to the 20th anniversary of Jodi Huisentruit’s unsolved disappearance, he saw an opportunity to augment the work being done by the Northwest Iowa Review — one of approximately 200 newspapers participating in the Iowa Newspaper Association‘s statewide GONE COLD project. With the assistance of other legislators, Kooiker drafted a letter addressed to the city of Mason City, asking them to recognize Jodi’s upcoming anniversary and soliciting their help in solving the case....

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The Role Of Deviant Sexual Fantasy In The Etiopathogenesis Of Sexual Homicide: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Much research examining the etiopathogenesis of sexual homicide has focused on the role of deviant sexual fantasy. However, there are fundamental questions as to the nature of the relationship between deviant fantasy and sexual homicide that remain unanswered. Given that most people are likely to entertain deviant fantasies without really desiring to put them into practice, it is important to understand how and why some people develop deviant sexual fantasies and act on them. To understand the mechanisms that promote development and acting out of deviant fantasy in sexual murders, this paper addresses the available scientific evidence on the topic, by providing a systematic review of the studies that have investigated the role of fantasy in the etiopathogenesis of sexual homicide. Five databases were searched, supplemented with hand-search of reference lists from retrieved papers. The author and a psychiatrist independently evaluated eligibility of all studies identified, abstracted data, and assessed study quality....

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Missing Person | Michelle Parker Video at KFC

UPDATE 3/2/15 – Orlando police went back to the same wooded area and pond near her ex’s home where her cell phone was found two weeks later. UPDATE 11/18/13 – Police have released another video from two years ago showing Michelle’s Hummer. The truck was caught on camera without the decals on the back. It’s unclear who is driving the truck at that time. The 30-second video, taken at a red light the day she went missing and near where her Humvee was later recovered

It was found abandoned about a mile from where the video was taken. Police later found her iPhone.

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Autopsy On Missing Woman Shows No Obvious Signs Of Trauma, Coroner Says

An autopsy performed on a Laguna Hills woman, whose body was found Monday in the Cleveland National Forest, showed no obvious signs of trauma, officials said.

Erica Alonso, 27 at the time, was last seen Feb. 15 after leaving her boyfriend's home in Irvine, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Her body was found about 10:30 p.m. Monday by biologists working for the California Department of Transportation.

The Orange County coroner's office completed its autopsy but has not been able to determine a cause of death, sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said. Results for toxicology tests could take six to eight weeks.

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Depraved-Heart Murder

Depraved-heart murder is the form of murder that establishes that the willful doing of a dangerous and reckless act with wanton indifference to the consequences and perils involved, is just as blameworthy, and just as worthy of punishment, when the harmful result ensues, as is the express intent to kill itself. This highly blameworthy state of mind is not one of mere negligence. ... It is not merely one even of gross criminal negligence. ... It involves rather the deliberate perpetration of a knowingly dangerous act with reckless and wanton unconcern and indifference as to whether anyone is harmed or not. The common law treats such a state of mind as just as blameworthy, just as anti-social and, therefore, just as truly murderous as the specific intents to kill and to harm...

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Police Give Update On Search For Woman Missing For Nearly 10 Years

ORLANDO, Fla.

It's been nearly a decade since an Orlando woman disappeared, but police and her family haven't given up hope of finding her. Police offered an investigation update recently and her parents made yet another plea for help from the public.

Jennifer Kesse left her Conroy Road apartment in January 2006 and hasn't been heard from since. Investigators released new information in hopes of finding her.

Kesse's family continues to show strength in the face of anguish. She was only 24 years old when she did not show up for work in January 2006. Kesse's parents believe somebody knows what happened that morning and all they want is information that will lead them to her.

Many searches have been conducted over the years with no results. Authorities searched an area of South Florida last month, based on a tip.

Police said tips are still coming in 10 years...

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Buying Drugs in Nightclubs by Anonymous

Let’s be honest here – buying drugs is a risky business as the best of times. If you don’t get arrested whilst trying to do it, you still have the risk of being ripped off by an unscrupulous drug dealer. Being sold short, or low quality is just one of the risks that you have to accept for as long as substance use remains against the law. But there is a way to take that risk to a new, more dangerous level – by buying drugs in nightclubs.

Drug dealers the world over all work on one basic premise. Profit. Dealers cover a broad spectrum of people, and are not necessarily the “scum of the earth” type of character that the anti-drug propaganda would have you believe. But they are all in the drug selling game for one reason, and that is to make money. And just like any other, more legitimate, business out there, they are...

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Measuring the Concentration of GHB

What a lot of people do to test the concentration of their gear is take 1-2ml to start off with, then wait 1.5-2 hours to see what happens. If they don't reach the desired effects, they take another dose 1ml higher than their last, wait 1.5-2 hours... And you get the idea.

If you've got 1,4-B, watch out because it doesn't mix entirely with water, and tends to sink to the bottom of the bottle if left to sit for a while. So when you're testing for concentration, you might find that the stuff at the top of the bottle is quite weak and assume the whole batch is... But as you near the bottom of the bottle, it will get stonger and stronger. So it's a good idea to give it a shake before you do anything with it.

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