LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-04 AT 11:11 AM (EST)
 
"...You're looking for a physiological cause when the difficulty is with the twisted thinking."

Okay. Consider this scenario. If a man is severely depressed and has persistent suicidal ideation, would you consider that to a form of twisted thinking? I know it is not the particular kind of "twisted thinking" that you were referring to, but it is a reasonable example of a type of twisted thinking.

Now if solely testosterone is administered and no other chemical intervention of any sort is attempted, yet he undergoes an immediate and profound cure, you have clear indications of the role testosterone plays as a potent anti-depressant. That is one reason why I say that sex offenders have low testosterone, though the real problem is not with thier actual levels as it is more related to the circadian rythms of the hormone.

Do not think that sex offenders have 'too much testosterone'. Just the opposite. That is often the reason why 'chemical castration' is not really much of an option. It may change the aggressiveness but it doesn't really change the twisted thinking aspects. So his only choice with lowered aggression levels is to select a victim with lower abilities to resist his aggression: a very young child!

On edit: I would like to address one issue that is particularly relevant to "twisted thinking". You may recall the questions that John Ramsey was asked early that day about who do you owe money to, etc? The BPD were trying to find a "reasonable" enemy. I'm sure John Ramsey was wracking his brain trying to think of a "reasonable" enemy. But it is an enemy with 'twisted thinking' that might be responsible. It would be absurd for John Ramsey to have replied to the BPD with a statement that five years earlier he had been leaving an office building and having happened to be unaware of a man following close behind him, he inadvertantly let the door close on him. John Ramsey, not being a 'twisted thinker', would not consider such a trivial incident as grounds for a long-simmering grudge that resulted in the death of his daughter. However, the "tisted thinker" might well just think exactly that. His depression makes him view his problems as being related to others actions (not his own actions) and his only option is not to track down John Ramsey but to track down someone more defenseless so as to settle that grudge once and for all.