Charlie Sheen’s demise
There is nothing like a psychotic train-wreck to awake Laymanpsych out of its winter hibernation. Charlie Sheen, as we’re sure you’re well aware, has been making headlines for the past couple of months because of hospitalization-leading porn-star-laden coke binges. Most recently the news has centered around the highest paid television actor’s feuds with his employers at CBS who have halted production of Two and Half Men as a result of these off-the-set troubles.
Sheen, no stranger to controversy, has been making the rounds on radio and TV shows with a ferocity that rivals the Tea Party Express in November. The defensiveness of his appearances (which seem to serve no purpose but call out his employers who have essentially fired him) is overshadowed by his behavior which can only be labeled as bizarre.
Many have been left wondering if he is, in fact, mentally ill. Famous celebrity mental health specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky stated that he feels Sheen “is clearly manic“.
What’s going on with the man?
Having watched the interviews on The Today Show and Good Morning America, LaymanPsych wanted to bring these labels to the masses with some better understanding.
Aside from falling back on decades of experience (and wads of student loan debt), psychologists and psychiatrists rely on a bible of sorts; the DSM-IV. So what does the DSM-IV say about manic episodes?
Manic Episode
During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable) and have been present to a significant degree:
1.) inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
2.) decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
3.) more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
4.) flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
5.) distractibility (i.e., attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli)
6.) increase in goal-directed activity (at work, at school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
7.) excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)
Having seen all of the interviews to date (and if you haven’t, they are worth watching in much the same way that a wreck at a race track is), LaymanPsych is also left to wonder if Sheen is also suffering from a mood disorder.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
1.) Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
2.) Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3.)Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4.) Requires excessive admiration
5.) Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6.) Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7.)Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8.)Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
9.)Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
These are just lists of required symptoms of the disorders and it’s not our place to state what’s going on with Charlie. Clearly something is wrong though. Is Charlie Sheen dealing with a mental illness? We’ll let you be the judge, and hope that Charlie gets some help from medical professionals to judge for themselves.
More Reading…
DSM-IV Manic Episode criteria
DSM-IV Narcissistic Personality Disorder criteria