I’m A Forensic Psychiatrist: Here’s Why Some Women Fall For Murderers

An expert has explained why some women are attracted to killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy and Chris Watts despite their horrific and violent crimes.

Dr. Sohom Das, 44, is a London-based forensic psychiatrist and YouTube content creator, who makes videos on mental health issues for his channel. A psychologist for sore minds.

In a recent video, she addressed why some women are attracted to men who commit the most violent crimes, presenting various explanations, from childhood trauma to a condition called hybristophilia.

Explaining the intricacies of why some women are attracted to violent criminals in his video, Dr. Das explains: “I’ve mentioned Ted Bundy, but there are other high-profile murderers as well, including Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and then the Night Stalker Richard Ramirez., who was sent letters and gifts from women all over the world.

“To me, the Dahmer case is extremely powerful, because these kind-hearted, pure women managed to look beyond the cannibalism…the sexual offense, the dismemberment, they even looked beyond their own sexuality and still got it right.”

The psychiatrist also referred to the most recent case of Chris Watts, who murdered his pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, in 2018.

He says: “Chris Watts received love letters and photos from fans… One even sent a photo of herself in a bikini to Chris Watts in prison.”

Looking at the possible reasons for this, the first factor Dr. Das cites is psychosis.

1. Psychosis

He describes a case in which a woman experiencing psychosis believed that she was communicating telepathically with a criminal and that they were in a relationship, despite the fact that the two had never met.

In these cases, she says, women are ‘mentally ill… they are not making a rational choice.’

He adds: “And also, this is an extremely rare submission, so we can leave it out… I just wanted to give it an honorable mention.”

2. History of trauma

A more common explanation, according to Dr. Das, is a history of trauma.

He explains: ‘So they’ve been physically, sexually or emotionally abused by a partner or by their parents. [and] they want to repeat this type of cycle, either unconsciously or intentionally.

“And unfortunately, these women tend to gravitate towards what’s familiar rather than what’s safe. And we see this phenomenon in victims of abuse.

“Sometimes they become abusers themselves and…tragically, some girls who witnessed domestic violence as children…choose abusive partners as adults, in part because it’s ingrained in them to see the violence as a form of conflict resolution. .’

Ironically, he explains, these women feel safe in their relationships with killers, because even though they are violent criminals, they are behind bars, allowing the women to “really control and dominate the relationship, maybe for the first time.” time”.

3. savior complex

There are other cases in which womenthey feel they can save or transform the prisoner or the murderer’, seeing it as a challenge.

4. Idealized relationship

Another psychological aspect cited by the psychiatrist is that “some of these women have this kind of notion of a perfect relationship.”

By being in a relationship with someone in prison, “they don’t have to put up with the day-to-day problems that are really involved in most relationships.”

He explains: ‘You don’t have to go through worldly things. There are no clothes to wash. There is no need to cook for him. There are no smelly socks left on the stairs.

5. Hybritophilia

The final item that Dr. Das mentioned was a condition known as hybristophilia.

He explains: “I think it’s pretty fair to say that some of these women do this because… they crave attention or fame. In extreme cases, it’s a phenomenon called hybristophilia, also known as Bonnie and Clyde syndrome.

This is a type of paraphilia, an intense sexual arousal toward atypical objects that includes particular situations, fantasies, behaviors, and individuals.

Dr. Das points out that this is not a phenomenon limited to a particular economic social class, as it has affected all types of women (it has also been documented in men, but to a much lesser extent).

He says: “I’ve heard there are examples of educated women with careers, including lawyers and attorneys, who fell in love with or married murderers who will be sentenced to death or never released.”

The psychiatrist goes on to explain that, in his opinion, much of this is “related to celebrity worship, and some women have done it very openly.”

“So they were clearly hoping to share some of the media attention or get a book or movie deal afterward,” he says. And all of this is psychologically related, in my opinion, to the combination of being famous and being infamous.

“And I think it’s a relatively recent phenomenon, something that we’ve seen grow enormously in front of our eyes over the last two decades…we see it in reality TV stars, they often become famous just by having fame”. . And I think the public feeds this and we are partly to blame.’

Finally, it touches on the character traits of the serial killers themselves and how they are attractive to women.

“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of them are psychopaths and narcissists, and those groups of people often attract women because they have the ability to be charismatic and to charm vulnerable people who are susceptible to this kind of manipulation.” says.

“Narcissists are very grandiose and very much entitled to things like sex and relationships.

“Psychopaths are the same, so they have inflated self-esteem, but they’re also very charming, calculating, and quite devious, so they’re very good at knowing… what to say, to make women feel special, to make themselves feel special.” they feel loved, they feel privileged, they feel part of some kind of special bond.’

Dr. Das told FEMAIL that he started his channel because he saw numerous creators sharing inaccurate information online, misanalyzing people, and drawing the wrong conclusions.

“I just wanted to create some material that came from someone who actually works with offenders with mental disorders,” he explained.

He added that as interest in true crime grows, with an increasing amount of content available, viewers are increasingly looking for expert opinions and analysis when it comes to criminals.

He explained: ‘A lot of true crime content is being put out now, from professional Netflix content to podcasts.

“So it’s almost like you need to find a new angle… it’s not enough just to talk to you about murders because people have already heard about hundreds of cases.”

“I think a really interesting angle, which is probably also one of the most complex, is understanding why people do what they do.”

Dr. Sohom Das told FEMAIL that he has always been fascinated by true crime, but when he was young, he did not know that there were career options to quench that interest.

In medical school, when training in different disciplines, he was drawn to psychiatry.

Then, as a junior doctor, one of his placements involved working for six months in a medium security unit in North London.

He said: ‘All the patients were men, and all the patients had committed some pretty serious violence, some of them had killed people.

‘Their backstories… are fascinating. There is always something to be traced back to, the reason…they end up living a violent lifestyle and often the same aggravating factors…poverty, abuse and drug or alcohol use are also a important factor.’

Dr. Sohom Das is in Twitter, instagramand Tik Tokas well as YouTube.