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What caused Hitler to become an anti-Semitic dictator and mass murderer? His actions and beliefs actually stemmed from his severe psychological and pathological disorders. Even as a child, young Adolph suffered from schizophrenia and narcissistic borderline personality disorder. These psychological disorders caused him to crave the attention and admiration of his peers and others at any cost. The effects of any of the above disorders are clearly visible in most, if not all, of his speeches, in which he commonly uses strong body language coupled with intense emotion and dedication. Throughout his life, Hitler was never able to maintain long-lasting social relationships unless he felt that something could be gained from them. His innate distrust in humans did, however, lead him to often betray his former benefactors after they had sated his desires and were of no use to him.
Hitler suffered from a series of distinct and ultimately very dangerous pathological syndromes and psychological disorders throughout his life. Now, contradictory to former allegations and diagnoses, Hitler was not, in fact, psychopathic. The general term “psychopath” is used to refer to one who acts without a conscience and shows no remorse for their actions, no matter how heinous. Quite contrary, Hitler actually thoroughly believed that he was doing good in ridding Europe of the Jewish presence and uniting the continent under one rule. In his quest to absolute power, Hitler was often blinded by obvious realities and forced to blame personal failures on his enemies.
A particular reason for this blatant form of denial was his schizophrenia, which most probably stemmed from his narcissistic borderline personality. Hitler’s schizophrenic tendencies ranged from “healthy self-esteem to extreme self-preoccupation in that he was constantly inventing elaborate fantasies, often intermingling them with his own reality.” (Bromberg and Small 12). Such fantasies during his childhood were often accompanied by great delusions of grandeur and accomplishment, with his external life often reflecting such beliefs. His rage, though always close to the surface, would violently erupt whenever these fantasies and expectations were not met.
Hitler often had conflicting feelings about his self-worth and his relations with other humans, often viewing individuals as either all-good or all-bad. Here in particular, we can see the emergence of Hitler’s borderline personality disorder, in which many primitive defences have manifested themselves into his mind. The “all-good, all-bad” split is an advanced form of defensive splitting, a tendency more common in infants. In such a disorder, as you may have well observed with young children, when one meets the individual’s desires, they are treated with the utmost love and admiration whereas if the individual’s wants are not met, the caregiver is suddenly viewed as “evil” and unworthy of love and trust. In short, the individual has a pleasure-driven ego, in which deeds are measured in a monochromatic sense by their aesthetically pleasing properties.
Closely related to this is the defence of projection, or projective identification. In this complex, one projects his or her own self-image onto others and may often suffer from an inferiority complex. Such lack of an ego can cause the individual to become emotionally withdrawn from society and prone to other asocial behavior. The third primitive defense along these lines is that of blatant denial, as alluded to previously. With such a defense, one such as Hitler flat-out denies and ignores any contradictions to personally held beliefs, often responding with the utmost rage when they are threatened or questioned.
Hitler’s childhood and family life was undoubtedly one of the leading factors in the development of his various disorders. Though fiercely protected by his mother, she could not shelter him from the rage of his father, who would beat him and his two brothers for any misdeed committed in his presence. By the age of seven, Adolph's brothers had either run away or died, leaving him alone to face the full anger of his father. His mother’s protective behaviour towards him could have greatly attributed to the development of his borderline personality disorder and the manifestation of the aforementioned primitive defences in his later career.
Even as a young child, Hitler wanted to study art and architecture and was greatly moved by operas and other performances. His father, having other plans in mind, sent him to a conventional technical school where he was noted by his teachers as “gifted, but… lacking in self-control” (Bromberg and Small 46). Struggling to derive motivation from external stimuli, young Hitler would often excel at the subjects he found interesting, and yet fail at those he disliked, giving them little or no effort at all. In his schooling, Adolph would often attract large crowds of followers, later turning to younger children when his peers lost interest.
Hitler’s mind, however, remained an enigma for most of his career as he never revealed his entire plans to anyone, nor maintained social relations long enough for one to get to know him. From reading his personal journals, it would become apparent that he often saw himself as a man of destiny, an omniscient simplifier of complex issues. In this sense, he could be closely compared to Edmond Dantes of The Count of Monte Cristo in that they both felt that they were above conventional laws and closely comparable to Providence. His opinion of himself was however quickly deflated when he enlisted in the army during World War One and learned the bloody realities of trench warfare.
Hitler’s experiences in World War I led him to redefine Darwin’s theory of evolution. He eventually decided that it wasn’t just the survival of the fittest, but that only the strongest had the natural right to exist. This belief was only intensified after Germany surrendered the war, an act which he blamed on those groups that he already hated, the Jews and Marxists. Once in power, this hatred only further manifested itself as he declared Jews a “racial tuberculosis” with his ultimate goal being “the irrevocable removal of Jews in general.” However, at this point in his life, it is still generally believed that he only meant to exile Jews rather than commit genocide.
On his rise to power, Hitler was appointed to the position of Director of Propaganda where he often went over the heads of his superiors if he felt that they were incompetent in the matters at hand. After the Beer Hall Putsch and the formation of the Nazi party, Hitler formally resigned from position, enraged that other leaders wanted to merge with a German Socialist party. This was a heavy blow to the Nazi party as they heavily relied on his persuasive and emotional speeches to gain their audience. As they faced imminent destruction without him, Hitler was eventually persuaded to return to the party providing that he was given complete dictatorial control and that his word was taken as law.
After appointed Fuhrer, Hitler developed a series of more subtle disorders. Among these was his noted non-specific anxiety. Due to this, he was almost constantly in a state of unrest and later developed chronic restless anxiety. This new-found disorder plagued him wherever he was, although he did find that travelling soothed his nerves and soon began moving impulsively throughout the country. He was also victim to multiple phobias throughout his career, only further contributing to his anxiety.
As has been shown, Hitler’s actions and beliefs actually stemmed from his severe psychological and pathological disorders. Throughout the course of his life, Hitler was plagued by a myriad of disorders and complexes, ranging from simple phobias to full-blown schizophrenia and narcissistic borderline personality disorder. Though he never openly admitted to these hauntings other than his personal notes, it quickly becomes clear that he was a victim at the whim of his scarred mind.
Copyright© 2007 Christopher Wetherill
Not to be reused, reproduced, distributed, or otherwise copied in any form, partial or whole for personal or public use without the express written permission of the author.
Hitler suffered from a series of distinct and ultimately very dangerous pathological syndromes and psychological disorders throughout his life. Now, contradictory to former allegations and diagnoses, Hitler was not, in fact, psychopathic. The general term “psychopath” is used to refer to one who acts without a conscience and shows no remorse for their actions, no matter how heinous. Quite contrary, Hitler actually thoroughly believed that he was doing good in ridding Europe of the Jewish presence and uniting the continent under one rule. In his quest to absolute power, Hitler was often blinded by obvious realities and forced to blame personal failures on his enemies.
A particular reason for this blatant form of denial was his schizophrenia, which most probably stemmed from his narcissistic borderline personality. Hitler’s schizophrenic tendencies ranged from “healthy self-esteem to extreme self-preoccupation in that he was constantly inventing elaborate fantasies, often intermingling them with his own reality.” (Bromberg and Small 12). Such fantasies during his childhood were often accompanied by great delusions of grandeur and accomplishment, with his external life often reflecting such beliefs. His rage, though always close to the surface, would violently erupt whenever these fantasies and expectations were not met.
Hitler often had conflicting feelings about his self-worth and his relations with other humans, often viewing individuals as either all-good or all-bad. Here in particular, we can see the emergence of Hitler’s borderline personality disorder, in which many primitive defences have manifested themselves into his mind. The “all-good, all-bad” split is an advanced form of defensive splitting, a tendency more common in infants. In such a disorder, as you may have well observed with young children, when one meets the individual’s desires, they are treated with the utmost love and admiration whereas if the individual’s wants are not met, the caregiver is suddenly viewed as “evil” and unworthy of love and trust. In short, the individual has a pleasure-driven ego, in which deeds are measured in a monochromatic sense by their aesthetically pleasing properties.
Closely related to this is the defence of projection, or projective identification. In this complex, one projects his or her own self-image onto others and may often suffer from an inferiority complex. Such lack of an ego can cause the individual to become emotionally withdrawn from society and prone to other asocial behavior. The third primitive defense along these lines is that of blatant denial, as alluded to previously. With such a defense, one such as Hitler flat-out denies and ignores any contradictions to personally held beliefs, often responding with the utmost rage when they are threatened or questioned.
Hitler’s childhood and family life was undoubtedly one of the leading factors in the development of his various disorders. Though fiercely protected by his mother, she could not shelter him from the rage of his father, who would beat him and his two brothers for any misdeed committed in his presence. By the age of seven, Adolph's brothers had either run away or died, leaving him alone to face the full anger of his father. His mother’s protective behaviour towards him could have greatly attributed to the development of his borderline personality disorder and the manifestation of the aforementioned primitive defences in his later career.
Even as a young child, Hitler wanted to study art and architecture and was greatly moved by operas and other performances. His father, having other plans in mind, sent him to a conventional technical school where he was noted by his teachers as “gifted, but… lacking in self-control” (Bromberg and Small 46). Struggling to derive motivation from external stimuli, young Hitler would often excel at the subjects he found interesting, and yet fail at those he disliked, giving them little or no effort at all. In his schooling, Adolph would often attract large crowds of followers, later turning to younger children when his peers lost interest.
Hitler’s mind, however, remained an enigma for most of his career as he never revealed his entire plans to anyone, nor maintained social relations long enough for one to get to know him. From reading his personal journals, it would become apparent that he often saw himself as a man of destiny, an omniscient simplifier of complex issues. In this sense, he could be closely compared to Edmond Dantes of The Count of Monte Cristo in that they both felt that they were above conventional laws and closely comparable to Providence. His opinion of himself was however quickly deflated when he enlisted in the army during World War One and learned the bloody realities of trench warfare.
Hitler’s experiences in World War I led him to redefine Darwin’s theory of evolution. He eventually decided that it wasn’t just the survival of the fittest, but that only the strongest had the natural right to exist. This belief was only intensified after Germany surrendered the war, an act which he blamed on those groups that he already hated, the Jews and Marxists. Once in power, this hatred only further manifested itself as he declared Jews a “racial tuberculosis” with his ultimate goal being “the irrevocable removal of Jews in general.” However, at this point in his life, it is still generally believed that he only meant to exile Jews rather than commit genocide.
On his rise to power, Hitler was appointed to the position of Director of Propaganda where he often went over the heads of his superiors if he felt that they were incompetent in the matters at hand. After the Beer Hall Putsch and the formation of the Nazi party, Hitler formally resigned from position, enraged that other leaders wanted to merge with a German Socialist party. This was a heavy blow to the Nazi party as they heavily relied on his persuasive and emotional speeches to gain their audience. As they faced imminent destruction without him, Hitler was eventually persuaded to return to the party providing that he was given complete dictatorial control and that his word was taken as law.
After appointed Fuhrer, Hitler developed a series of more subtle disorders. Among these was his noted non-specific anxiety. Due to this, he was almost constantly in a state of unrest and later developed chronic restless anxiety. This new-found disorder plagued him wherever he was, although he did find that travelling soothed his nerves and soon began moving impulsively throughout the country. He was also victim to multiple phobias throughout his career, only further contributing to his anxiety.
As has been shown, Hitler’s actions and beliefs actually stemmed from his severe psychological and pathological disorders. Throughout the course of his life, Hitler was plagued by a myriad of disorders and complexes, ranging from simple phobias to full-blown schizophrenia and narcissistic borderline personality disorder. Though he never openly admitted to these hauntings other than his personal notes, it quickly becomes clear that he was a victim at the whim of his scarred mind.
Copyright© 2007 Christopher Wetherill
Not to be reused, reproduced, distributed, or otherwise copied in any form, partial or whole for personal or public use without the express written permission of the author.
