Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos

[Guest guest]

Has anyone seen the documentaries on her? The doctors that exam her always find

her competent, but in watching the documentaries, she looks like she has

borderline personality disorder (and probably paranoid personality disorder)

quite severely. It's another example of how so little research and treatment

available on BPD can be detrimental to people in so many ways.

I know that this is the case of one woman, but she could act clearly sane yet

have distorted perspectives on reality, delusions, paranoia, and violent

reactions to minor disagreements that, in her case, ended in murder. I don't

condone her actions, of course, but she has all the signs.

It just makes me sad how many lives are wasted to BPD. It's so incapacitating in

so many ways.

At the same time, I wouldn't welcome a serial killer into my home.

[Guest guest]

Yes, I saw the documentary just last week. It was fascinating and heart

wrenching. I agree that she displays BPD traits heavily. Did you catch the part

about her grandfather being her most likely father? I am certain this woman

didn't have a chance in life. The saddest piece was hearing how badly her

childhood friends/boyfriends treated her. Multiply the effects of her FOO abuse

and it's no wonder things went the way they did for her. The love of her life

even turned on her in court. She literally didn't have a friend in the world.

[Guest guest]

I've only seen one of the two documentaries, " Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial

Killer " . The other one is " Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer " and

I've not seen the film " Monster " (with Charlize Theron) that is based on AW's

life story.

I had lots of jolting moments when I watched the one documentary, a kind of

heart-stopping *gasp* when she'd become very intense and her eyes looked so...

blank yet enraged at the same time. Very disconcerting for me.

I advise that the documentaries can be triggering for those who had enraged

nadas who were physically abusive; some of my reactions were probably due to

ptsd-type stored memories. I guess. I haven't seen " Monster " so I don't know

if that's equally triggering.

And I agree with you, in the interviews of Aileen, it sure seemed to me that she

exhibited at least some bpd behaviors, such as cognitive distortion: she blamed

the police for " turning her into a serial killer " . I don't believe she

expressed any feelings of remorse at any point; she felt justified in what she

did and saw herself as a victim. In at least one of the interviews, she also

changed moods in an instant, from rather calm and neutral to a hostile verbal

attack against the documentary-maker in the blink of an eye. Scary.

Although AW was one of those bpds who suffered an unspeakably abusive

childhood/teenhood, still, as an adult, sadly she chose to become an abuser

herself, and a killer. Its truly tragic when a former child- abuse victim does

not have what it takes to stop perpetuating the cycle of abuse and destruction

by voluntarily seeking treatment. That is the tragedy of personality disorder;

they hemorrhage the damage they received and the pain they feel onto others

until everyone around them is a bloody mess, too.

-Annie

>

> Has anyone seen the documentaries on her? The doctors that exam her always

find her competent, but in watching the documentaries, she looks like she has

borderline personality disorder (and probably paranoid personality disorder)

quite severely. It's another example of how so little research and treatment

available on BPD can be detrimental to people in so many ways.

>

> I know that this is the case of one woman, but she could act clearly sane yet

have distorted perspectives on reality, delusions, paranoia, and violent

reactions to minor disagreements that, in her case, ended in murder. I don't

condone her actions, of course, but she has all the signs.

>

> It just makes me sad how many lives are wasted to BPD. It's so incapacitating

in so many ways.

>

> At the same time, I wouldn't welcome a serial killer into my home.

>

[Guest guest]

Mia, I don't think you're glutton for punishment. I think we try to learn

whatever we can from wherever we can.

[Guest guest]

I don't remember the first documentary too well, but in the second, she doesn't

exactly express remorse but she says a number of times that she wants them to

kill her because she can't be stopped--she's a killer and can't stop. I think

she knows that something is wrong with her and she can't control herself. In

fact, she says as much.

It's interesting that she does have moments of clarity when she can clearly and

logically say so.