Eccentric and Bizarre BehaviorsAn engrossing look into the heart of twelve of the strangestpsychological disorders known to science In a book reminiscent of Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wifefor a Hat, psychologists Louis Franzini and John Grossberg take usbehind the tabloid headlines and media exposes to tell thereal-life stories of emotionally damaged men and women driven tohorrific extremes in their efforts to gratify their basic humanneeds for love and attention. Writing with compassion and offering many profound insights intothe human condition, the authors provide rare, often wrenching,glimpses into the tortured worlds of necrophiliacs, who make loveonly to corpses, and "werewolves" who commit unthinkable acts ofmutilation and cannibalism; of men paralyzed by the terrifyingbelief that their penises are disappearing into their bodies, andcompulsive hair pullers, who pluck every last hair from theirflesh; of paranoids who believe they are being stalked by theirevil twins, and those convinced that everyone close to them is animposter; and many others. All of the stories contained in Eccentric and Bizarre Behaviors arebased on actual case studies. Throughout, Drs. Franzini andGrossberg discuss, in terms that general readers can understand,both the known and conjectural causes for the strange disordersthey describe. And, in many cases, they recount the stirringdetails of how patients were ultimately rescued from the eccentricand bizarre patterns of behavior in which they had becomeimprisoned. |
Contents
Obsessive Loving | 1 |
The New Form of Child Abuse | 21 |
A Touch of Love | 39 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
abuse actually attack autoerotic asphyxia become began behavior believed biological bizarre blood brain called Capgras delusion captors cause child clinical Colleen corpses culture dead bodies death delusional described developed diagnosed disorder doctors double emotional erotic erotomania erotomanic example experience fantasies father fear feel female folie à deux frequently frottage frotteur girl Haarman hair pullers hair pulling hanging hospital hostage takers human individuals insanity involved John Money killed koro learned living lovemap lycanthropy male masturbation mental illness misidentification MSP mothers Munchausen Munchausen syndrome murder musical necrophiles necrophilia nurse occurred Olsson orgasm paranoid paraphilias parents patient Patricia Hearst penis person physical play pleasure Poddar police problem professional psychiatrist psychoanalytic psychological psychosis psychotic reported result savant savant syndrome secondary partner sexual social Stockholm syndrome strangling symptoms theory therapists therapy touch toucheurism treatment trichotillomania typically vampire victims violent wife woman women