Reading: "Manifest the Antithetic" from COVEAL OF THE HEDONIC (A.Glass 2025)

 

“Jenny. So, good to see you again. Please come in,” a man says in his late fifties, opening the door of his office, as Jenny Willis a Fourth Year practicing psychiatrist smiles at the man in standing in front of her
“Likewise Scott. It’s good to see you too...” Willis replies, as her mentor Scott Milne, who was also her teacher when she studied at Colombia University as a student of Psychiatry. Milne in a polite manner points to a large armchair, as Willis smiles appreciatively and sits. “...Thank you for seeing me,” she says, placing her bag down between her feet.
“I’m happy that you called to meet. Actually being thinking about you lately, I saw your interview on a podcast…” walking towards his office door way. “...Coffee?”
“Yes, please, flat white, no sugar.” She watches Milne walk to the front of the small practice, he quickly returns, closing the door behind him. Sitting opposite Willis, in a similar styled chair.
“The benefits of having a post graduate for a secretary. She makes the coffees.”
Willis chuckles, as she reaches down to her bag, lifting out a plastic folder, which she places across her knees. “So, I hope I made sense on that podcast.”
“Absolutely, a very good interview. And a very important discussion. I cannot stress enough how Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder can be, and is on numerous occasions, misdiagnosed purely on a patient’s mood swings,” Milne replies, as his secretary enters with a knock on the door, carrying two cups of coffee.
“Thank you Kate,” he says, as she hands Willis her coffee first, placing Milne’s onto a waiting coaster, on the desk behind him. She then leaves the office, closing the door.
Willis sips the coffee, setting down onto the small table in front of her.
“Self harm from depressive mood swings in Borderline Personality Disorder patients are more prolific, than a person with Bipolar and the duration for Bipolar mania lasts significantly longer than someone who has BPD.”
“Yes, I agree...” Milne also sips, holding up the cup of coffee. “...Finally, we got a cappuccino machine…” He places the cup down onto its coaster. “...And, I still make a lousy coffee.”
“I hear it’s an art form,” Willis replies smiling, opening the folder
“So they say. And what would you like to see me about my former student.”
“A study,” Willis replies, looking down at the sheets of paper in front of her.
“For a paper?” Milne asks, as he leans back into his chair.
“I am considering, hence the specific topic and case study.”
Milne nods in a conciliatory manner.
“I would expect that you, after Four years of practice, you would begin to write a paper. And the topic?”
“Psychopathy,” Willis replies, as Milne nods again.
“Then we best be specific. Was it of a client?”
“Yes, from a year ago. It was assigned to me when I was working for the Courts, I did the initial assessment and then refereed the person onto a psychologist…” Willis begins looking over the case notes. “...It was a Female, unmarried, no children, with both parents deceased. Aged Thirty Five, although…” She looks at her mentor. “...We believe that was incorrect…”
“She was lying?” Milne asks.
“...Yes, and there was a lot of issues of her lying for the sake of exaggeration, with the interactions she had between her and the psychologist. More so, was her lying about her age. And it appeared on most of her submitted documentation, except for a copy of an old passport. That I will get to later, because the courts had her on a weapon charge, this was after an incident in a New York Subway. It all became quite messy initially, due to her evasiveness.”
“It can get like that, especially like you said, if the client is deceptively evasive. Also, note that a characteristic in playing down age in psychopathy, if they are older, is to be relatable, with dress outfits, mannerisms, etc. Was it an assault charge?”
“Yes, it was pleaded as self defense. The assailant was injured, almost critically by her and she was very lucky that it was argued by her Council as self defense. And I am being speculative here of what, so don’t scold me…”
Milne smiles, aware of what Willis is about to say.
“...Because of the recent amount of assaults on women in and around the subways and streets.”
“An acceptable assumption,” Milne replies.
Willis leans back into her chair.
“After three months of this woman seeing the psychologist, then conferring with me, overall it was very difficulty to determine a clear psychological profile of her.”
Milne, leans across to his desk, lifting up his cup of coffee, having a sip. “But, what was the overall assessment to the Courts?”
“No evidence of her being a danger to our greater society.”
In a cynical manner, Milne shakes his head “Why do they bother referring a case like that for psychological assessment, when the Judge would have known this anyway. It is all about ensuing that so called duel diligence is occurring which is covering its responsibilities. It puts enormous pressure on our profession to assess complexities, without any bias. And so the difficulty you had with the profile for that case, the courts would never know.”
“That is correct. Beyond the summarized profile of her, which we submitted to the courts. It was from a more extensive process...” Willis, lifts out another piece of paper, looking down at it, she then looks at her senior colleague and mentor. “...The type of manipulation that I witnessed, when she was with me, and also what was reported by the psychologist, was something that I haven’t seen before.”
“They’re not easy to deal with, and on a whole you’ll rarely come into contact with one of them unless they are incarcerated or, like you have experienced, end up in the courts. I have had experience with them, when I first began my practice in the early Nineteen Eighties. The Department of Corrections would have us follow up evaluations of certain inmates that were classified with Psychopathy traits. There is not doubt some are very good at manipulation, from altering interactions, particularly with words and assessing the physical and psychological reactions. This can occur even with clinical professionals,” Milne replies.
“She was subtle, very clever and also aware of her actions and dialogue. So, there was no detection of overlaps and this is what I found initially intriguing is that I, and the psychologist also detected this, psychological elements that could, if necessary be the base of a diagnoses. Were not there. Does psychopathy always have to have an overlap as the diagnoses?”
“Well, as you know psychopathy is not diagnoses per se. Was there any compulsive traits that you may have detected?”
Willis smiles, shaking her head from side to side. “No. Very astute, however there was an indication of...” She looks down at some of her own handwritten notes. “...Possible hyper sexuality.”
“Not uncommon with Psychopathy. On what basis?” Milne asks, curious at his younger colleague’s assertion in relation to her clients sexuality.
“She read the psychologist very well, attempting to lead the discussion, changing dialogue. Mixing wordplay, in an attempt at controlling attributes. Trying to ascertain marital status.”
“Was it artful?” Milne asks, his expression now more stern than before.
“It was, for example...” She looks down at he notes again. “...The psychologist asked if the client had her driver’s license…”
“Setting up the dialogue.”
“...That’ right, the client set the dialogue up. She claimed she was injured in a car accident and refused to drive, saying that she was traumatized. We know that was the gauge for sympathy, then it shifted to how she used to get bad bouts of the flu. She then asked the psychologist if he had his flu shot this year, he replied he had, as his partner is a nurse. She then shifted position, open body language, eye contact. To which he noted that she looked at his hands.”
“That was deliberate. So, yes, she was setting up for interpersonal sympathy, exposing her vulnerability and intimacy. As the two are closely linked, in the sense they are precursors to sexual cues. It would appear, from what you have described and your own observations that she was toying with the dialogue. She knew, that it would be seen by the psychologist. But, has attained this under different circumstances. Normally, they, people with psychopathy, do not visit a psychologist.”
Willis nods agreeing with Milne’s observation of her file notes. “Yet the was a futility, which I am find perplexing on why the continuation of attempting to draw out response, when she would have already known the response.”

“Many years ago when I was a postgraduate, yes way back in the 1970s, we were given a profile of a young boy, aged at Thirteen, who tried to sexually entice his Special Teacher, as he was assigned for one through the school. Obviously it was noticed by the Teacher, who then reported it as a reason why she could no longer teach the boy.”
“It was for control?” Willis asks.
“Yes, toying with that person. Not necessary for a physical encounter. But, for reaction. Which can start at an early age, it is a form of manipulation. But, advanced for a child to know this. Which, your former client and the file notes, would indicate that she may have derived these manipulative techniques at an early age.”

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Reading: "Manifest the Antithetic" from COVEAL OF THE HEDONIC (A.Glass 2025)