Hes Fuckin Crazy Again Thats Not a Personality Trait Joker

The Joker is a villain that both fascinates and terrifies u.s.a.. His origin has remained relatively mysterious, sparking questions about how a "psycho killer" is created. Using real methods and theory, clinical expert Dr. Andrea Letamendi examines several portrayals of the Clown Prince of Crime, including Jack Nicholson in 1989's Batman, Heath Ledger in The Nighttime Knight, and Mark Hamill in Batman: The Blithe Serial. Given the raised concerns causing tension to environment the new movie, Joker(2019), considerations are given to the science behind behavioral threat cess, example written report, and occurrences of real events in an attempt to responsibly inform the discourse.  The writer wishes to annotation to readers that this drove of psychological profiles includes some references and descriptions of both real and fictional portrayals of mass violence, intimate partner abuse, and suicide. Merely similar the Joker, these conceptualizations are fictional and are not meant to diagnose whatever existent person. This series is non intended every bit a substitute for the medical or mental health advice of psychiatrists or other clinical professionals.

SPOILER WARNING: Full spoilers for Jokerfollow.

The Misunderstood Loner

Arthur Fleck, played past Joaquin Phoenix in the solo origin story moving picture Joker(2019) is an impoverished, scraggy heart-aged homo who works as a party clown in the crime-riddled urban center of Gotham. Arthur is significantly underweight, his face up sunken and pallid; and although he isn't repulsive, his untidy, baroque appearance is off-putting to others. Behaviorally, likewise, Arthur is odd. He is withdrawn and anti-social, but does not seem to be inherently callous or devious. In fact, Arthur is somewhat innocent and initially well-meaning toward others, especially children. Arthur lives with his mother, Penny, who he cares about deeply, only maintains no other strong, meaningful connections. His communication skills are generally poor; he may hold his gaze likewise long at someone, use abnormal body posturing or facial expressions, or miss important interpersonal cues, which crusade others to be upset or discomforted around him. In his line of work as a cheap party clown, Arthur'southward oddities are amplified. In many ways, Arthur is a product of interactionalsocialization; his peculiarities influence others to ostracize, bully, or avert him, which in plough, lead him to isolate, abound weirder, and inevitably miss opportunities to improve his social skills.

Importantly, Phoenix's Joker does non try to exist disturbing or strange; he does not seek the thrillof upsetting or endangering others.

This Joker is non inherently provocative. In fact, when we're introduced to him, Arthur has fiddling insight in how he comes across to others. He's generally aware that he is odd, only does not quite grasp the degree to which others notice him unsettling. Quite the contrary, Arthur dreams of winning the adoration of others by condign a successful stand-up comedian. He believes his purpose in life is to instill happiness in others—his overactive fantasies depict his mother as his number one support: "you were put on this world to spread joy and laughter," he imagines her maxim to him adoringly. Arthur fantasizes of being in the spotlight, basking in the glow of show lights, blessing, and applause. At times, he even closes his eyes and slowly dances to the sound of imaginary music; picturing himself as the center of attention, a popular figure similar the famous talk-show host, Murray Franklin: visible, idolized, and respected. Every bit he pantomimes the scene, Arthur envisions himself as mannerly, masculine, and ascendant. Despite these uplifting dreams, Arthur'due south actual life as a loner is monotonous, repetitive, unrewarding, and—much like the landscape of the Gotham Urban center—hopelessly bleak.

Pathological Laughter

In his portrayal, Phoenix delivers a unique biological basis for the Joker'southward maniacal laughter. Arthur lives with a neurological condition that is described in the moving picture as spontaneous, socially inappropriate laughter. The episodes are typically precipitated past an intense feeling of nervousness, anxiety, or shame. Laughter, the external expression of joy, is therefore in misalignment with his internal state of emotions. A single episode may last longer than a infinitesimal, and increases in intensity and loudness. The fits become so uncomfortably uncontrollable for Arthur that it causes him to cry, stutter, and react with guttural chokes.

The condition chosen Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder (IEED), likewise known as pseudobulbar affect, is indeed a real neurological affliction characterized by emotional lability, and pathological laughing. This expressive disorder is characterized past uncontrollable, sudden and intense episodes of laughter (or for some patients, crying) that are exaggerated and incongruent with the underlying mood. These episodes tin be long-lasting, and are often embarrassing and socially debilitating for individuals who struggle to convey their real, experienced emotion.

The psychological outcome often includes outbursts of frustration, anger, and the evolution of depression.

IEED's crusade is unclear; but information technology is associated with traumatic brain injury, typically to the prefrontal cortex (the brain region only behind the forehead). Consequent with this theory, it is revealed in the film that Arthur was physically driveling every bit a child, and experienced a significant violent assault that caused head trauma. It is theorized that IEED is a reflection of harm to the neuronal pathways that cause emotional expression, and information technology is highly likely that Arthur'due south childhood injuries lead to the condition he has as an adult. Moreover, the beliefs observed in patients with IEED (grinning, laughing, cackling, etc.) is not interpreted as actual laughing by medical professionals but considered a arrears in the patient's power to control their facial muscles. The inclusion of pathological laughter and distorted facial gestures –a neuropsychological manifestation of the Joker'south trauma—is more than realistic if not an improvement of the existing Joker narrative. Agonizing laughter is non a event of the Joker's disfigurement, self-injury, or a tactic to unsettle others; his laughter is his disease, a part of his psychiatric makeup that ultimately leads others to stigmatize him.

"I haven't been happy all my life"

Unlike other portrayals, Phoenix'due south Joker struggles to achieve a sense of intrinsic happiness and seems unable to activate pleasurable feelings within himself.  Nicholson's Joker, for case, delights in his ostentatious, yard acts of performative terrorism; Hamill's sustains euphoric mania by increasingly pushing the boundaries of run a risk-taking; Ledger'south Joker seems to exist skilled in generating intellectual satisfaction. These Jokers certainly presented with their own idiosyncratic problems, but were able to find ways to reach feelings of pleasure. Arthur Fleck attemptsto discover joy through his stand up-upward comedy, merely cannot overcome the barriers of his disease. He is instead met with doubts, derision and even dismissive reactions from his own mother, who casually tells him, "Yous have to actually be funny to exist a comedian." Phoenix's Joker straight deals with mental illness. He gives us, in his story, clear evidence that he has biomarkersof a brain disorder. Unlike other portrayals of the Joker, it is non simply implied that he has a characterological flaw. Phoenix's Joker attends therapy, takes psychotropic medication, and follows behavioral prescriptions given by his providers. Though his exact psychiatric diagnosis is non named, Arthur makes direct reference to his meds (he is taking upward to four different kinds), hispsychotherapy (he sees a social worker for weekly counseling), and his history of severe mental illness (he has been committed to Arkham State Hospital at to the lowest degree once).  His treatments are provided at no-toll past Gotham City'south Department of Health as a land-funded service.

During one therapy session, Arthur asks his therapist, "Is it just me or is information technology getting crazier out in that location?" referring to the growing, segmented course of Gotham who are impoverished, disenfranchised and angry. "People are upset," she responds to him, calmly. "These are tough times." She isn't unhelpful, simply seems to focus on a prepare of structured steps or required, systematic checklists, rather than attune to Arthur'due south straight (and changing) mental health needs. In the same session, Arthur pulls out his journal, which he says he's using equally a "joke diary" to keep his stand-upward notes.  The journal includes some scribblings of jokes, just as well contains disturbing passages, intense drawings, and torn-out pages of pornographic magazines. His therapist does not seem to notice a glaring carmine flag: pictures of naked women with the clipping torn at the neck, or hard scribbling covering their faces. These are likely recordings of Arthur'southward subversive fantasies. Depersonalizing women by "removing" their faces allows Arthur to objectify them and even experiment with feelings of assailment or sadism toward them. Information technology remains unclear whether these are coinciding with his desires or ego-dystonic(intrusive, upsetting thoughts that are not aligned with his sense of self). In the journal, is another red flag: Arthur writes, "I hope my expiry will brand more centsthan my life." Taken together, letters of suicide, vague threats, and pornography are risk factors for targeted violence. They are known every bit "pre-offense" behaviors, due to the direct correlation betwixt these types of passages and consequent acts of violence. This is a missed opportunity in that his therapist may have been crucial in connecting with Arthur during a period of take chances, understanding his feelings of resentment and loneliness, and directing him to more constructive resources.

"Does information technology help to have someone to talk to?" his therapists asks; and Arthur replies, "I felt amend when I was locked upward in the hospital."

The flick cuts to a shot of him banging his head confronting the wall of his cell. Here, it is likely that he had access to stronger or more intensive treatments, and may have experienced reprieve from his emotional pain. To his therapist, he adds, "I just don't want to feel so bad anymore." Arthur acknowledges his depression and his inability to escape from the weight of his disease. Clinical low is a serious medical status, rooted in neurobiological causes, that is associated with symptoms such as chronic feelings of melancholy, loss of pleasure, lack of energy, difficulty in concentrating, and suicidal thoughts. Consequent feelings of irritability, physical pain, and anger are also manifestations of depression. For individuals with treatment-resistant depression—in other words, few to no symptoms are relieved by the medication—standard treatments aren't enough. In fact, upwards to thirty% of people show no or partial response to standard depression medications. Just like Arthur, people who do non seem to respond well to first-line treatments frequently take astringent despair, chronic hopelessness, frequent environmental or family conflict, maternal depression (have a female parent with clinical depression), and a history of child abuse. Once again, Arthur's therapist is a central part of his potential remission. Medication is more than constructive when coupled with talk therapy, peculiarly when the therapist addresses the underlying concerns that may be contributing to the patient'south depression. Psychotherapy is effective because it helps the states detect ways to cope with life's challenges, process by our emotional trauma, learn to manage our relationships in healthier ways, improve how we tin can reduce the furnishings of stress, and minimize addictive behaviors.

Throughout the film, Arthur is dating Sophie Dumond, a immature single female parent who lives in his building. We ultimately acquire that Sophie is real, but their relationship is completely made in Arthur's heed. His fantasy-building is then intense that he was able to create a credible romantic narrative betwixt him and Sophie, a story that supported his personal dream of being lovable, funny, and mannerly. Unlike a hallucination where Sophie would actually be projected, as if real, by Arthur's mind–or a delusion in which she would be believed to be his actual girlfriend—Arthur'southward manifestation of Sophie every bit his girlfriend is likely a production of his overactive imagination coupled with his desperate need to exist seen. To matter. Arthur's fantasy is 1 that he writes; he controls how Sophie reacts to him when he performs his stand-up comedy, when he takes her on a loving date, when he barges through her apartment door and forcefully kisses her on the lips. In his fantasy, she is passive and quiet, but she is notably supportive and consoling toward him. Sophie'south compassion fills the void, but soon, this dream is no longer sufficiently soothing to Arthur.

Arthur too momentarily becomes fixated on another source of emotional support, stemming from the idea that Thomas Wayne is his biological father. Penny had routinely written letters for Wayne, and to Arthur's cognition, the Wayne family unit only represented Penny's employer before she became ill and was put on leave. Curious, Arthur impulsively opens a letter that Penny had written to Wayne, and reads her pleas for Wayne to take care of his "son." Arthur is livid in learning the news, feeling resentment toward the Wayne family for not caring for him or his mother.

One matter to annotation is that before he engages in whatsoever violence, Arthur is particularly interested in getting better. This Joker pursues ways to integrate into society through normative, healthy channels. He is handling compliant. He utilizes his therapy session for self-test, he does his "homework," and he takes his medication regularly. When he believes his medication is not working, he asks for higher doses. Arthur also makes concerted efforts to nourish his chore regularly, despite the challenges involved. His journal reads, "The worst office about having a mental disease is that people expect yous to behave as if you don't." This belief means that Arthur is both willing to admit that he needs assist and that he is tired of request for assist. His descent into antisocial beliefs and violence is, in part, influenced past the contextual forces around him. The system fails him.

What Happens When Protectors are Removed

Mental health "protectors" are the social, environmental, and personal factors that help us manage large changes in our lives, push through stress or emotional hurting, and fifty-fifty safeguard us from developing mental illness. Arthur's mother, for instance, is a protective gene for him because she is the source of a loving bond and a purpose in life. Arthur buys her groceries, provides her meals, and bathes her every night—and he genuinely cares for her. They enjoy watching the Murray Franklin show together, equally a bonding family ritual. Arthur, of course, holds a fantasy of appearing on the Murray Show. In this fantasy, Murray Franklin welcomes him onto the stage and tells him, in front end of the cameras, "I'd give information technology up in a heartbeat to accept a kid like you." In a way, his parasocial, unharmful relationship with Murray Franklin is a protective factor. Arthur seeks fatherly love, a sense of belonging and acceptance, and he feels somewhat fulfilled from this fictional relationship he'due south created with Murray. Murray and Penny are his family.

Simply things have a turn for Arthur, and we begin to see significant changes in his behavior that align with the removal of his protective factors. Offset, his supervisor punishes him for being physically assaulted on the task; he directs Arthur to return the sign that his assailants used to substantially beat him. Arthur protests, just is met with consummate disregard. Unable to limited his anger and growing resentment, Arthur smiles awkwardly at his unempathetic dominate, and afterward finds himself aggressively kicking numberless of trash in the alley. Seems harmless at first, only this outward display of rage is Arthur'due south "tryout," for futurity violence. Novel aggression, or the experimentation of new forms of violence, may appear as an early on alarm sign of future, more astringent and lethal forms of behavior for individuals who may be a safety threat to lodge. Feeling sorry for him, Arthur'due south co-worker hands him a pistol one twenty-four hours at his workplace. "I'm not supposed to accept a gun," Arthur says charily (and, again, in compliance with his treatment plan). He is hesitant to take it, simply agrees to keep the gun as self-protection.

While he's performing at the children'southward infirmary, Arthur is sloppy. The newly acquired gun drops out of his clown pants and hits the ground in plain sight and is immediately fired. Following his termination is a chain of negative events creating pregnant loss and disruption in Arthur's life.

Meanwhile, Arthur becomes fixated on his new weapon. He interprets the concept of a gun as an extension of his emerging identity.

To him, the gun is an emblem of importance; like a badge, a microphone, a spotlight. In search of power and command, he begins to daydream with the loaded gun in paw. His baroque, slow dancing is unsettling to watch, merely for Arthur, the weapon represents a physical manifestation of his deeply cherished dream, a symbol of his desire to control the attention and praise of others. He is mesmerized by his new toy and the idea that it can bring him the devotion he craves. Over the course of time, the concept of harnessing a meaningful office in the dreary city begins to accept shape: "I hope my expiry will make more than cents than my life." Arthur grows more comfortable with the weapon. In one case, while fantasizing that he's being interviewed on the Murray Franklin show, Arthur places the empty butt of the gun under his chin, pulls the trigger, and throws his caput back. Imagining an audience witness his suicide is exhilarating and uniquely satisfying – finally, momentary relief from his pain and suffering. Although he'due south not even so sure where to directly information technology, Arthur begins to connect public violence with feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Soon later on being fired, Arthur witnesses three Wayne Enterprises businessmen brainstorm to harass a woman on the subway. Feeling uncomfortable and vicariously shameful, Arthur's neurological condition is triggered, and he starts laughing uncontrollably. The men turn their attention toward him and brainstorm to ridicule him. Once they begin to beat him, Arthur instinctively, pulls out his gun and shoots one of them to expiry. The other ii men, even so, he shoots at close range. During his third killing, Arthur is not impulsive or acting in a defensive manner. He is deliberate. At-home. Confident. He identifies equally a killer.

Later, Arthur is grappling with the upsetting news that he was adopted past Penny, neglected, and beaten as a child. He discovers that Penny was admitted to Arkham State Hospital for serious mental health problems besides every bit child endangerment, and that Thomas Wayne is not his father. Overwhelmed with disappointment, Arthur drags all the food out of his refrigerator, climbs into it, and shuts the door behind him. Somewhat similar the earlier pantomime of suicide by gunshot, Arthur's wish to suffocate himself is a new sign of self-destruction. He is challenging his threshold of corporal hurting. Notably, Arthur is already at high risk of dying from suicide, due to his pre-existing lack of social connections as well as his sense of "perceived burdensomeness." This term refers to a deep, genuine experience of feeling unwanted and undervalued past gild. Learning that he was adopted triggered significant beliefs that he had no real belonging in this world, no known origin bated from abandonment and corruption. According to the interpersonal theory of suicide, completed suicides are strongly associated with two things: i) a strong desire to die, and two) the capabilityof killing oneself. The want to die is normally associated with thwarted belongingness. Many of usa have had this feeling at to the lowest degree one time in our lives. The second stride, nevertheless, refers to a threshold that few of usa cantankerous. This threshold protects usa from interim seriously on thoughts of cocky-impairment. That is, we all typically accept a strong sense of self-preservation, the resilient instinct to keep ourselves alive. Acquired capabilitymeans that a person has crossedthat protective threshold—they've overcome the normal inhibitions against harming oneself. Similar with Arthur, this usually occurs when due to habituationof corporal hurting and suffering. Arthur is susceptible, at this point, to take chances factors, and then goes on to experience numerous boosted ecology chance factors for suicide: disruption or loss of social relationships (his mother), financial distress (loss of a job), and intense humiliation (child abandonment and abuse).

"All I accept are negative thoughts," Arthur admits to his therapist. In a crucial session, he begins to leak his homicidal ideation.

In an effort to explain that he is beginning to experience different and that perhaps he'southward found a sense of purpose that he's uncertain of, one that scares him, Arthur adds, "even Ididn't know if I actually existed." This may have been his confession, or perhaps a fleeting last asking for help. His therapist, however, is distracted. She tells him that all funding for Public Health Services are cut and that she will no longer exist able to meet with him. This is their last therapy session. Seeing his disappointment, Arthur's therapist discloses her behavior nigh the government, "they don't give a s**t almost people like y'all, Arthur…" she says, sternly. Then she adds, solemnly, "they don't really requite a s**t about people like me."  Like to Arthur, mental health providers are dismissed, rejected, and abandoned in a city like Gotham. The result of this dynamic is dismal: If the people who are responsible for caring for others are not cared about, how tin can there be whatever hope of meaningful healing or recovery for anyone?

In rapid succession, Arthur's many protective nets are pulled from underneath him. He loses his job, his therapist, his access to medication, and his human relationship with his mother, who represented the single most supportive source of social support for Arthur. At the time he receives the phone call from the Murray Franklin testify to announced as a guest, he has already killed four people, including his mother.

Public Targets

Emerging findings in the targeted violence literature back up the belief that and then-called "warning behaviors" volition often include a fixation toward a public figure (east.g., personal cause, violent fantasies, grandiose delusions), and that though the relationship may non exist existent, such signs should be treated seriously. For Arthur, the intensity of his efforts to further the Murray Franklin quest increases following his kickoff few murders. As said before, he'southward "practiced" enough to build internal confidence that he tin pull it off with his identified target.

Arthur'south appearance on the Murray Franklin show is filled with uncomfortable tension. As he sits on the very couch he used to daydream about, Arthur'south guard is actually down. He speaks his mind freely and openly. Arthur tells Murray, quite smugly, "It's been a rough few weeks since I killed those iii guys." When it becomes clear that Arthur is non joking, his smiles take on a completely unlike meaning, and the tension intensifies and fills the studio in the form of hundreds of held breaths. Murray, though, attempts to harness his own calmness and engages in the conversation, which continues to air to Gotham's viewers, urban center-wide. Arthur then goes on to essentially evangelize his verbal manifesto, starting with, "Everyone is awful these days…" Murray, now more irritated, tells Arthur that there is indeed chaos in the city, and that one reason the people of Gotham are existence terrorized is considering of Arthur's murders, his attack on the rich and privileged.  At the peak of his spoken communication, Arthur asks Murray direct, in a raised and threatening voice, "What do you get when you cantankerous a mentally ill loner with a guild that abandons him and treats him like trash?" Murray, now fearful, commands his team to phone call the cops, but Arthur continues, at present fully escalating: "I'll tell y'all what you get – you go what yous fucking deserve!" He so pulls out his gun shoots Murray in the brow, killing him instantly.

Untangling Violence and Mental Health

Incidents of senseless, unforgivable acts of atrocities by alone gunmen have become a part of our cultural andpsychological landscape. The film Jokerraises reasonable concerns about how entertainment media influences our electric current climate as it relates to unpredictable violence, merely because we have besides few ways to predict such incidents and we cannot afford to be anything but hyper-vigilant. When exploring the traits of violent beliefs, even if fictional, information technology'due south imperative to clarify the overlap between trigger-happy crime and mental health. The following facts may help usa capeesh the complexities:

1) There isn't a single psychiatric diagnosis that maps onto "homicidal killer." An interest in targeted violence alone doesn't trace to any particular mental health problem. Despite its common usage, the term psychopathis not a clinical diagnosis, merely refers to an extreme characterological condition with features of manipulation, selfishness, extreme callousness, violation of social norms and the need for stimulation. It is mostly associated with criminal behavior; non mental illness.

2)  Mental wellness disorders are brain-related atmospheric condition that are quite common. One out of every four of u.s.a. are affected by mental or neurological disorders at some betoken in our lives. Amongst violent killers, less than one-half have an actual known history of a mental disorder. Despite the largely held public notion that mental disorders account for gun violence, that factor only play i part in a more than circuitous picture.

iii) People with mental health bug are more likely to exist the victims of vehement crime than the perpetrators. As such, it is recommended that persons with mental wellness disorders are detected early and given access to constructive interventions and reliable resources.

4) Having a psychiatric diagnosis is neither necessary nor sufficient every bit a risk cistron for committing an act of mass violence. Similar to Arthur Chip'south path to destruction, the triggering event for about targeted violence is the conquering of a lethal weapon, coupled by a meaning social, occupational, or personal loss.

Phoenix'south Joker may currently exist received as the nigh frightening manifestation of a modern comic-book villain. He is horrific because he represents today'southward fears: What could exist more threatening to u.s.a. right now than a single, white male person loner with an untreated mental illness and a loaded gun?

Moreover, Jokerwas devoid of whatsoever fantastical, supernatural comic-book themes that might otherwise pull us out of our discomfort or assistance us detach from the horror of Phoenix's realistic Joker. In that location is piffling resembling fiction to hold us in safety—no toxic waste product dumps, tumbling Batmobiles, or absurd trolley games to dissever united states from the realness of the story. No, the most chilling line in the film is maybe the most simple and directly accusation, and it is told in therapy: "You don't ever hearme." With this assertion, Arthur is asking his counselor to exist vulnerable with him past giving him the infinite to safely share his feelings of hopelessness, despair, self-hatred and nihilism.

We take a comfy distance in asking of killers, "what is wrongwith them?" when we should be exploring the question "what happenedto them?"

Similar professor and researcher Brené Brown has said, to be empathetic—to truly offer up a sense of agreement for another person when they're in pain—we must admission something deep within ourselves that is similarly painful. Information technology is piece of cake for us to dismiss Phoenix's Joker equally a maniacal psycho who acts in unpredictable, senseless ways. But the truth is that we tin can trace about every step of his descent into destruction. This is how origin stories go: The Joker is shaped past his traumas, haunted by the void of compassion, and discarded by a failing system. Undoubtedly, employing our empathy for him feels irresponsible and unsafe, and information technology makes us sense our ain fragility, shortcomings and weaknesses. Relating to the Joker is at present more than subversive than ever. And the truth is, it is unlikely that each of united states,at the individual level, can harness enough man pity to go on everyone effectually us protected from damage—but nosotros are equally guilty by actively ignoring each other's pleas to be heard. The hardest aspect to acknowledge in Jokeris the viewer'due south participation in Arthur's failed search for connectedness. Ultimately, Jokeris hard to shake off because intrinsic to the storytelling is the straight alert that nosotros may each exist contributing to our civilisation's mass destruction.

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Source: https://www.fandom.com/articles/psychology-joker-2019-joaquin-phoenix

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