Thoughts on Morbid Meditation as it relates to Psychopathy.

[Nummi]

We've come a long way in understanding and accommodating mental disorders in the last 20 years, so many long-term works of passion understandably fall behind the latest norms. I'd like to draw attention to the way Rimworld (in it's current state) might contribute to an unhelpful mental image of psychopaths as:

• bloodthirsty killers
• somehow necessarily amused or appeased by human suffering.

Now, I understand there is a fun gameplay / narrative aspect to this, as this trait is directly opposite with almost everything you normally have to consider to keep up with your colonists needs. However, I think the same quirk in the normal "loop" could be achieved via a more specific trait, perhaps more accurate to real life diagnoses, or just a new "sci-fi" diagnosis.

The scientific problem with Psycopathy is that there is no "generally agreed on" diagnosis. The latest "comprehensive" attempt is called the "triarchic model":

which posits three separable trait constructs underlying psychopathic symptoms: "disinhibition," which includes tendencies toward impulsiveness, irresponsibility, difficulty regulating one's emotions and behavior, and mistrust of others; "meanness," which involves deficits in empathy, contempt toward and inability to bond with others, and predatory exploitativeness; and "boldness," which includes dominance, social assurance, emotional resilience, and adventurousness.

Source (APA.org, 2022)

Considering the above, and the generally common medical consensus that the real danger in all of this is the idea that Psychopaths are all the same: violent, dangerous, serial killers; I'd propose altering the "Psycopath" trait to not include any hyper-specific fascinations with the dead, or other things like this which don't fit our current understanding.

The trait could be adjusted to make the colonist more eager to take risks, (faster on approaching enemies), they could have difficulty functioning in the social aspect of the colony (no bonds), and they could have grandiose designs for themselves in the colony (megalomania, increased needs, this could be specified at random).

While the whole "dead people" and "death" fixation just doesn't seem right for a psychopath, there are certainly ways we could keep the "morbid meditation" as a thing. Make it part of an ideoligion (maybe this is already the case), have a made-up trait for individual colonists that isn't strictly tied to current world illnesses like "Morsfascinatio - fascinated by death".

Anyway, I'm not an expert on this. All the information I've used here is based on reading, discussing, and watching educational content on the subject in the last few years.

It's not a "glaring" problem. You might argue it's not a problem at all. Psychopathy is tricky for society, since the "patient" has a lowered barrier to inflict suffering (mental more often than physical) on others. This naturally makes us less inclined to feel empathy towards them.

Thoughts?

Reading: APA.org - A broader view of psychopathy; New findings show that people with psychopathy have varying degrees and types of the condition
Watching: Youtube: Psychiatrist Breaks Down Psychopaths From Movies & TV | GQ

edit: missing a "t"!