Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person (generally over the age of eighteen years, although it is also found in adolescents), characterized by depth and variability of moods.[n 1] The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the disorder often manifests itself in idealization and devaluation episodes, as well as chaotic and unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image, identity, and behavior; as well as a disturbance in the individual's sense of self. In extreme cases, this disturbance in the sense of self can lead to periods of dissociation.[1]

BPD splitting includes a switch between idealizing and demonizing others. This, combined with mood disturbances, can undermine relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. BPD disturbances also may include self-harm.[2] Without treatment, symptoms may worsen, leading (in extreme cases) to suicide attempts.[n 2]

There is an ongoing debate among clinicians and patients worldwide about terminology and the use of the word borderline,[3] and some have suggested that this disorder should be renamed.[4] The ICD-10 manual has an alternative definition and terminology to this disorder, called Emotionally unstable personality disorder.

There is related concern that the diagnosis of BPD stigmatizes people and supports pejorative and discriminatory practices.[5] It is common for those suffering from borderline personality disorder and their families to feel compounded by a lack of clear diagnoses, effective treatments, and accurate information. This is true especially because of evidence that this disorder originates in the families of those who suffer from it[6] and has a lot to do with Axis IV factors, rather than belonging strictly in Axis II. Conceptual, as well as therapeutic, relief may be obtained through evidence that BPD is closely related to traumatic events during childhood and to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), about which much more is known.[7]


 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorde

Dant'e Cottingham At The Age Of Seventeen !

At the age of seventeen I was charge with one count of party to the crime of frist degree intentional homicide, and two counts of which are counts that do not reflect the true extent of my involvement in the case.
Though pursuant to wisconsin law I was automatically waived into the jurisdiction of the adult court system for adjudication.
Where my adolescent brain was instantly held to an adult standard, and I was expected to make coherent and strategic adult decisions while facing a maximum tear of life plus ninety years of inprisonment.
During the process of my adjudication I attended many different court proceedings.
Hearing the words of my attorney, the D.A. and the judge, yet incapable of understanding the situation of the court room furniture.
But what's absent in my memory of those court appearances are actual spoken sentences.
I remember nothing of what the D.A. said,I remember nothing that my attorney said,and the only thing that I remember the judge saying was "The Court finds you guilty of party to the crime of frist degree intentional homicide, and I sentence you to the crime of frist degree intentional homicide, and I sententence you to life imprisonment and I set your parole eligibility for the year 2020."
The words that they were useing,the legal concepts that dictated their strategies were squares and my adolescent brain was a circle, a natural unfit.
The frist institution that I was sent to was the GreenBay Corr Inst, a maximum prison .
I was treated like an adult immediately. I was thrust into a cold, dark world that's full of the states most sophisticated predators.
My childish disposition gave me utterly no chance at avoding the many pitfalls nor the mental and physical abuse.
There was no system in place to cultivate my mind nor to help me guide my emotions.
It was like dropping a child in the middle of a dark forest that's full of wolves and then telling him to feed him self, clothe himself and to find his own way out.
I remember spending my frist year of incarseration waiting for my Mom.
For some reason I believed that my Mom and the Judge had united in an elaborate scheme to scare me straight.
I truly, truly belived that once they thought that I had learned my lesson they'd call me back into the court room and then the judge would release me to my Mom.
I fantsized about that day, I dreamed about It, and waited and I waited .

Dant'e Cottingham copyrights

Stalking

Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted, obsessive attention by individuals (and sometimes groups of people) to others. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation. The word "stalking" is used, with some differing meanings, in psychology and psychiatry and also in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense. It may also be used to refer to criminal offences or civil wrongs that include conduct which some people consider to be stalking, such as those described in law as "harassment" or similar terms.

Definitions of stalking
The difficulties associated with precisely defining this term (or defining it at all) are well documented.[1] It seems to have been first applied to the harassment (in a general sense) of celebrities by strangers who were described as being obsessed. This use of the word appears to have been coined by the tabloid press in the United States.[2]


Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching, and / or harassing of another person. Most of the time, the purpose of stalking is to attempt to force a relationship with someone who is unwilling or otherwise unavailable. Unlike other crimes, which usually involve one act, stalking is a series of actions that occur over a period of time. Although stalking is illegal, the actions that contribute to stalking are legal, such as gathering information, calling someone on the phone, sending gifts, emailing or instant messaging. Such actions by themselves are not usually abusive, but can become abusive when frequently repeated over time.[

Gender studies related to stalking

According to one study, women often target other women, whereas men generally stalk women only.[7][8] However, a January 2009 report from the Department of Justice in the United States reports that "Males were as likely to report being stalked by a male as a female offender. 43% of male stalking victims stated that the offender was female, while 41% of male victims stated that the offender was another male. Female victims of stalking were significantly more likely to be stalked by a male (67%) rather than a female (24%) offender." This report provides considerable data by gender and race about both stalking and harassment.[9]

Types of stalkers

Psychologists often group individuals who stalk into two categories: psychotic and nonpsychotic.[10] Many[quantify] stalkers have pre-existing psychotic disorders such as delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Most stalkers are nonpsychotic and may exhibit disorders or neuroses such as major depression, adjustment disorder, or substance dependence, as well as a variety of Axis II personality disorders (such as antisocial, avoidant, borderline, dependent, narcissistic, or paranoid). Some of the symptoms of "obsessing" over a person is part of obsessive compulsive personality disorder. The nonpsychotic stalkers' pursuit of victims can be influenced by various psychological factors, including anger, hostility, projection of blame, obsession, dependency, minimization, denial, and jealousy. Conversely, as is more commonly the case, the stalker has no antipathic feelings towards the victim, but simply a longing that cannot be fulfilled due to deficiencies either in their personality or their society's norms.[11]

In "A Study of Stalkers" Mullen et al.. (2000)[12] identified five types of stalkers:

* Rejected stalkers pursue their victims in order to reverse, correct, or avenge a rejection (e.g. divorce, separation, termination).
* Resentful stalkers pursue a vendetta because of a sense of grievance against the victims – motivated mainly by the desire to frighten and distress the victim.
* Intimacy seekers seek to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. To many of them the victim is a long-sought-after soul mate, and they were 'meant' to be together.
* Incompetent suitors, despite poor social or courting skills, have a fixation, or in some cases a sense of entitlement to an intimate relationship with those who have attracted their amorous interest. Their victims are most often already in a dating relationship with someone else.
* Predatory stalkers spy on the victim in order to prepare and plan an attack – often sexual – on the victim.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking

Judge: California must make execution drug records public

http://www.tinyurl.com/3525xme

Clemency for Kenneth Young

by Matt Kelley
Petition Clemency for Kenneth Young http://chn.ge/gKev9U

How has Florida responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling that juvenile life without parole sentences are unconstitutional in non-murder cases? By doing virtually nothing.

Florida has been ground zero for this issue, with 116 of the country’s 181 juveniles serving life for non-murder crimes. Only a few of these cases have made it back into court since the high court’s ruling, and many of those defendants limped away with sentences that seem identical to life: 92 years, 90 years, 50 years.

And one of the state’s most prominent defendants convicted as a juvenile, Kenneth Young, is scheduled to come before the state clemency board next week, and he expects to be sent away empty-handed. I first wrote about Young in 2009, when PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly profiled his case. Young was sent to prison for life without the chance of parole for a crime he committed when he was 14. His crime: he helped a 25-year-old drug dealer, who his mother owed thousands of dollars for crack, commit a series of armed robberies. The dealer paid him for his help: $50 cash, a pair of Air Jordans and a six-pack of Heineken. Hardly someone with no chance to be a productive member of society.

Since Young’s conviction, the judge who sentenced him has explained that he didn’t know at the time what the sentence meant. “It was not my intent at the time of his sentencing that Mr. Young never be considered for release. So I support Mr. Young’s bid for consideration for clemency,” the judge wrote to the clemency board. Even one of the victim’s in the case called Young her “hero” for stopping the dealer from assaulting her during the robbery.

News outlets are reporting that the clemency board — which includes Crist and three cabinet members — will deny Young’s petition for clemency next week. But there’s still time to make our voices heard. Urge the board to grant Kenneth Young clemency today.

This issue is likely to come before the state legislature next year, with lawmakers already discussing the possibility of life sentences with a chance at parole after 25 years. That would at least be a step in the right direction, but any law should retroactively address the 116 people sentenced to life without parole as boys and girls, rather than forcing them to petition courts for relief or to rely on the politicized clemency process.

Some of these youths committed terrible violent crimes, and it is clear that some period of incarceration was necessary in many of them. But to send a teenager away for life without a chance at rehabilitation or growth is a mistake and a crime in itself. Even the most violent 14-year-old can change. The brain is still developing in our teenage years, and so many of these defendants have histories of abuse and neglect. With opportunities for education and rehabilitation, most — if not all — of these young people should have another chance at life.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in Graham v. Flolrida that states must provide “some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.”

It’s time for Florida to listen up.