Forensic Psychiatrist REACTS To DAHMER | Doctor Analyzes Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer Story | Dr Elliott 

Evan Peters did an amazing job portraying Jeffrey.. he is a great actor for anyone who has seen the American Horror Stories

After he was given a life sentence he did an interview that’s worth looking into. He’s honest and calm despite everything he’s talking about. He also fully takes responsibility for his actions which is interesting

Dahmer's mind is very interesting, to say the least. Unlike most killers, he doesn't try to push the blame onto anything or anyone. He just accepts that he did it. He seems almost disgusted with himself but not exactly remorseful, if that makes sense.

Thank you Elliott for the explanation you gave on autism and empathy. I used to date someone that knew I was on the spectrum and told her parents. They told her that autistic people can't feel empathy. And when she told me about that and she actually believed it it broke my heart so much. I doubted myself for so long because of it hearing you talk about it meant a lot to me

I notice that people that analyze him never talk about how much the role of alcoholism played.

my mother is autistic and how I have to communicate with her sometimes is that "I know you're trying to do [whatever positive thing she's trying to do] but what it's actually doing is making me hurt/upset/frustrated/angry, so I understand your intent, but I would like you to stop" and then she gets upset because she is now aware that she's hurting me when all she was trying to do was help and support me. She understands my feelings and can read that I'm upset, but she doesn't understand why it's upsetting or what she's doing that's making me upset. I think that's the biggest struggle I've noticed with people who are autistic is that they understand that something happened but they don't understand why it happened which other people translate as lacking empathy. It's very much not fair.

I'm glad you're speaking up on behalf of autistics. Misunderstanding around their inner emotional world and even more so their empathy are still very much around. I'm not autistic, so please listen mainly to the people who ARE. But I have lived with and I love many folks on the autism spectrum, and so many of them feel empathy _deeply_ and proper hurt for other people or sense their emotions in ways that I don't even think I can. Even though I do consider myself to be quite an empathetic being. Yes, in some cases empathy may look different in someone with autism - that doesn't mean it isn't there. Also: sheesh, imagine being an actor and playing such a role. That's gonna leave an impression for sure. I hope the actors playing this had some counseling as well.

My father is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. He displayed so many of those traits when I was growing up. He was a severe alcoholic. Growing up with him as a single parent on the 70’s & 80’s was traumatic.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dahmer was autistic. (I say that as an autistic person myself) I wasn't diagnosed until I was well into adulthood, but in high school we watched a Dahmer movie in psychology class, and I was somewhat disturbed by how much I felt like I could relate to him. And I didn't know why! There was just something I could never put my finger on, but it made it into a pretty terrifying time, panicking about if I was going to grow up to be a serial killer. Eventually I got passed it, and many years later I took a single college level psych class in Criminal Psych - Psychopathic Minds. And asked if I could write my personal essay on Dahmer (not one of the choices we were given), permission was granted, and since it was an essay meant to have a personal component I was able to use that high school experience to write probably the best essay I've ever written. It wasn't for another handful of years before I got my autism diagnosis. I still don't know why I felt how I did about Dahmer in high school. But looking back on that now through an autism lens that very possibly could have been it. I just might have been seeing those little things that no one else sees unless you know it's there.

The Behavior Panel analyzed Jeffry and Lionel during their interview and they had the feeling that Jeff’s father was a huge trigger and not a great guy. It’s worth a watch. They are four behavior analysts with their own nuances.

I'm curious about his mother's diagnosis. They mentioned postpartum depression in the series, but she had tried to kill herself and was taking medication for anxiety before she even got pregnant, so she definitely had something. Also, taking all of those drugs while pregnant couldn't have been good for her boys.

This is a difficult one to tackle, I was a baby gay when Dahmer was captured and it was the height of the AIDS epidemic. I found that time to be very difficult to trust going home with people from the club and it took a long time to find my family.

This was really informative. I had no idea bed wetting past a certain age was lumped in with those sets of behaviors. I had a friend whose kid was resorting to being rough with animals and they told me the kid had then set fire to some furniture. I immediately urged them to get help for their kid.

The show is very difficult to watch. I don't mean that as an insult. They just give a very vivid representation of every aspect of Dahmer's life. It is highly disturbing, but very well made.

As autistic I have more empathy than plenty of neurotypical people so someone linking lack of empathy with autism is actively harmful thanks for saying that Elliot. Also people trying to connect murderers with autism or other neurodivergencies is also actively harmful in the same way someone perpetuating ND traits as negative and saying that they’re all the same is super scary and I hate it when true crime people bring up that the person committing the crime is autistic or worse when they use the term Aspergers which once again isn’t a diagnostic term anymore because Asperger himself was a nazi.

The Ted Brundy tapes are something I think should be analyzed. Netflix had other crime related documentaries that are worth looking into

Just watched the series the other day, his portrayal of Dahmer was incredible. So offputting.

Autism, all day long. I struggle with dark thoughts often. The love of my niece (no kids of my own) keeps me on the straight and narrow. If she didn't worship the ground I walk on I'm not sure where I'd be now. She makes me want to be better than I am, I feel a huge weight to not let her down.

THANK YOU Dr El for confirming that autistics don't have empathy challenges, that this can occur in anyone, and that challenges around autism often stem from perceptions.

Thank you for your videos, being both neurodiverse and gay, there are often topics you hit on that really resonate with me. This might not be the best video to post that on given the subject haha but seriously, you make my day when I see a new video posted.

Truly amazing series, I've never experienced anything like it. Simultaneously haunting and heartbreaking whilst disturbingly engrossing. Very difficult to watch yet, i couldn't take my eyes off it. Bought me to tears many times. Especially watching Lionel after he learned what his son did. That and episode 6 broke me! I guess my theory is irrelevant however i reckon his brain chemistry was alerted due to his mothers addiction. Maybe with a healthy family life he would've been a normal guy. But his upbringing and the timing of his parents abandonment made him capable and able to do what he did. Did he have a choice? Of course! However he was moulded from birth

I'd be curious to hear your analysis of Lorna Morello on OITNB. There were two episodes showing her past life, and I thought it was really interesting how they built up this sweet character, who then turned out to be a stalker.

This show is incredible and Evan Peters deserves an Emmy!!!! Thanks for reacting to it

Will you be doing a video about the recent conversations on true crime and the ethics of it, how it can affect families, etc?

Richard Jenkins, oh my, his performance in this series was just so excruciatingly spot on.

I’ve seen some people blaming his mother for taking medication while she was pregnant with him. You are NOT a bad person for taking medication, psychiatric or otherwise, while you are pregnant! You are a person making the (hopefully) informed and appropriate decision to support your mental health. That is NOT a bad choice - it is healthy, and a healthy mother is always better for her child. ❤

I’m so glad you chose to go over this! I honestly wish you’d go through the whole series. And I also like that you hate they used the term “monster.” It’s honestly a weird title…Dahmer: Monster Jeffrey Dahmer. Like I get it..but still.

I'm with you on the series being called ''monster'', that and ''evil'' makes me roll my eyes.

I love your videos. Currently binge watching them!

Crazy that victims continued to enter and stay in that apt with those terrible smells.

Loved this and your channel. Keep up the great work, Doc.

it's important to note that the victims' families did NOT consent to this show being made and that netflix is profiting off of their trauma and re traumatizing them

These videos are so interesting to me, I love criminology and forensic psychology/psychiatry!

Excellent breakdown. It was very interesting. Especially the pharmacological explanations. I would love to know what interventions are available for children who exhibit the Macdonald Triad behaviors.

I felt that the first few episodes were mostly pretty gratuitous. Once it gets into the psychology of him, his family, neighbours, the victims, their families and the cops it gets much more interesting. The episode where his neighbour talks with Jesse Jackson is very moving.

Really great to hear your perspective on this show, really looking forward to hearing more as you watch more as we think it's a bloody good programme, albeit a hard watch

great video. new to your channel. as a fellow medical provider i truly enjoyed your assessment here. looking forward to watching more content, keep up the great work.

This is besides the point but every time I see clips from this show, as well as when I watched it for the first time in its entirety, I’m floored by how perfectly Evan Peters managed to capture Dahmer’s tone of voice, inflection, voice frequency, etc. (Although the accent might be a bit silly at times, such as when he calls himself “E men of eeeection”, haha). Great video!

I don't understand why NPD was ruled out as a diagnosis for Dahmer. He may not be overtly grandiose, but his level of entitlement and his blatant perception that his needs are far more important than the needs of others indicates a severe sense of self importance. Anyhow, there must be some clear reason this was ruled out by everyone who has studied his case. Would really appreciate an explanation for that from an expert. Thanks! ✌️ Eta: Also, his background of not getting emotional needs met from either parent (and the actual abandonment) seems to satisfy the nurture side of NPD. 🤷‍♀️

I was around 21 when all this was unfolding back in the early 90's, it made news like no other. I saw the Jeremy Renner version twenty years ago, which was good, but this series really delves into what happened with this nutjob and the families he affected. I still remember hearing on the news when he was killed in prison, I always found it odd that he lasted that long. Good video.

I wondered if you would review this show, thanks for your commentary. I had an interest in forensic psych when I started my undergrad and read about a lot of serial and spree killers, I found Dahmer's openness with police really interesting and fairly unusual.

Loved the Arrested Development reference!

I love reflecting back! I do this a lot when talking with my friends about difficult stuff. It's partially because I'm hard of hearing, but also because I'm autistic and I want my understanding of the situation to be accurate. I hate when people misremember or misunderstand me.

I got a UWorld question (US medical board prep) correct because of your discussions of transference/counter-transference :P it is super helpful!

But isn't this just judging Dahmer from this netflix series? He didn't comply to the triad, he didn't comply to the general psycocothy theory. He was on the spectrum in a major way! But his intervewies show him not to be enjoying the lime light, but feeling uncomfortable and even recenting the discussion unless asked about his compulsion? I've watched all his interviews. Even the contact with his father is strained . He is a hard case to fathom. Watching this interpretation of his activities on Netflix does not answer any questions regarding his motives or goals

I'm autistic and am training to be a counsellor. That's as empathetic as you can get! I'm glad Elliot gave this correction.

Dr. Elliott- great job!! Thank you! 😊

Something for your radar "Don't f**k with cats"

Bit of a tangent, but I think Exorcist 3 is underrated. It doesn't stand up to the original but George C Scott and Brad Dourif both give amazing performances.

Interesting inputs! Well explained! ❤️💖😍💖❤️❤️💖❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for speaking out on common misconceptions/misperceptions about autism

Thank you for this sensitive and informative video! I think it’s important to mention that the victims' families did not consent to this show being made and are not receiving any of the profits it makes. there have been so many documentaries etc. made about him already, I kind of feel like we didn't need another one. If the entire season was made the way they did episode six (focusing entirely on the victim and who they were as a person) it would have been different but this just feels exploitative to a certain extent. True crime content is a difficult thing to get right, but there is a way. I can highly recommend Kendall Rae on RU-vid. She actually talks to the families and helps get their stories out. Also, I recognize that this story isn't as widely known outside of the US and I think if anything it's great to have people watch it through someone else (especially someone who is qualified) instead of streaming it directly on Netflix, so they don't make more money off of this than they already do.

Extremely interesting review! Thx

My two cents. His father insisted that Jeffrey had a happy childhood, but he didn't. His childhood was full of uncertainty, constantly facing abandonment, instability, and lack of control and power. His growing fascination and obsession with dissecting animals went unchecked and ignored. His growing problem with alcohol went unchecked and ignored. His growing introversion and violent thoughts went unchecked and ignored. His growing addiction to pornography went unchecked and ignored. His puberty and homosexuality went unchecked and ignored. His growing violence and cruelty towards living animals went unnoticed. Then, when Jeffrey was at his most vulnerable, when he finished high school with poor results and no plan for the future, both his parents abandoned him in their family home to be by himself for 3 months. He lacked power and control and fantasized about having complete power, control, and dominance over a hitch hiker - to him a nobody. This allowed his sick twisted desires, fantasies, suppressed emotions and thoughts to fester, along with his alcoholism, leading to his first murder and dismemberment which he never would have been caught for. He was intoxicated when he first killed and dismembered his victim, and by all accounts taken by surprise his long held fantasy became reality. Thoughts precede action, as he learned, but it gave him his first taste of evil. This first murder set the stage for his later serial killing, when he had perfected his drugging methods, and made himself the perfect wolf in sheep's clothing - physically attractive and charming to his unsuspecting victims. Wanting to keep his victims with him permanently is also a recurring statement in his later interviews, as his explanation for all his deplorable actions, as is complete power and control. Bones can be kept for a long time, as can dead flesh in the right chemical solutions. I suspect he was secretly thrilled out of committing the most vile murders imaginable and continuing to be a monster hidden inside a good looking man and not get caught, making him feel very very powerful and in control. In interviews he repeats that nobody had a clue. The fact he got away with his first murder even when stopped by Police with his car full of murdered body parts, could only have reinforced that he could get away with murder again and again and could fool police. He may have been very good at keeping his sick desires hidden, most his life, but everybody around him seemed to turn a blind eye towards him. The indicators were there, and the writing was on the wall. Perhaps proof that, "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

How liikely is it that JD's father actually said something about JD not being the same after JD's hernia operation? We know JD had hernia surgery. This is fairly common surgery, due to a common developmental abnormality. Was JD really not the same after the surgery? Did JD's father say he was not the same, or was this just in the movie. The movie was done for entertainment purposes. It was not a precise description of what actually happened. Nor was it intended to be.

I want more! You are amazing!

The movie "My friend Dahmer" is amazing as well. It's about his youth up until his first murder. Well worth a watch.

Excorist 3 is mostly a low budget jumbled mess of a movie, but Brad Dourif gives an amazing breakout performance with his monologue as the Gemini killer, worth a watch.

No doubt in my mind his upbringing and lack of love and attention greatly contributed to his development. After listening to this, an added factor is those drugs she knocked back during pregnancy also affected his neurological formation, leading to emotional and mental development issues too. Yet the smdysfunctional and distant parents both proclaim their love for him and don't take any responsibility for the way he tugned out. This is probably 80% their fault. They were disinterested in him and let him go off unsupervised to do his own thing. Plus all that supporting him to dissect animals and keep dead bodies around him in jars etc. They should have committed themselves to getting his psychiatric help. In the film, the way the father seemed so calm towards his sons behaviours makes you know he was not quite right either, as if he was helpless. They did not parent him. They just provided board and financial support.

I think you'll find that the reason that people with mental health situations, especially those relating to hallucinatory disorders end up developing an interest in estoeria/witchcraft/"satanism" (not all satanism is the same) because we are looking for answers and explanations about why we experience the things we experience that we can't find an adequate explanation for in science yet. Many of our experiences appear to be outside the normal realm of experience. One might call it paranormal or supernatural. I think it is supernature, in that the experiences transcend what is observationally and experientially natural to our epistemological understanding or baseline, but I don't think it's any kind of realm beyond the nature of self, if that makes sense?

The first 2 cops a worst and their are in so high position...disgusting and the dad poor soul

Interesting. My son got diagnosed with ADHD at 4. Although I thought it was very young to be diagnosed found to be very true. Thanks for that little bit of insight.

It’s not okay but I bursted out laughing when The first thing out of the husbands mouth when his wife overdoses is “did she finally do it?” 😂

Question: what is it about bedwetting that helps become a predictor of whether or not a child will develop psychopathic tendencies? Thanks, Dr. E! Love your knowledge and personality! Thanks for being authentic 😊❤

10:22 Yeah there’s a 3 and it’s directed by the book’s writer. I especially love the casting of Brad Dourif.

I think his diagnoses of BPD and Schizotypal Personality Disorder from his time in prison were very accurate to how I view his behavior.

love it! thanks

Can you please explain the difference between psychopathy,sociopathy and anti social personality disorder?

THANK YOU, re: autism and empathy. We're empathetic, but we don't always express it right (or at all). It doesn't mean we don't feel it.

Apparently some psychiatrists have also speculated that Dahmer might have had a combination of borderline pd and schizotypal pd. Also I'm curious how exactly would bed-wetting after a certain age be connected to aspd, unlike animal cruelty and setting fires it doesn't seem connected to the behaviors of that personality disorder?

It was suggested in one of the episodes that the drug he used on the victims was haldol. He learned about it in the armed forces.

Please review an Episode of Mindhunter also on Netflix. I would love to see your opinions on mental health and other portrayals of serial killers.

Thank you, thank, thank you for explaining that autism doen't mean lack of empathy but lack of understanding social clues. This is SO misunderstood.

Dahmer did a lot to try not to kill people at first and his killing seemed to stem from this fear off people leaving him. The other compulsions such as cannibalism came much later. There were mixed stories too. He was for instance friendly with most of his neighbours although they did complain about the smell, he was being evicted for it and they did call the police on one of his victims (14). Chris Scarver who murdered Dahmer much later told news outlets that Dahmer used to make food into people and pretend to eat them but it was never mentioned initially. I don’t think he was as terrifying as they made him out to be in netflix documentary in fact the reporter who interviewed him for dateline.(?)on Dahmer on Dahmer said the scariest thing about him was how normal he seemed to be. Which makes sense. He wouldn’t be able to pick anyone up and take them home if he was a scary, weirdo and watching parts of the trial his last survivor Tracey said he changed and then would go back to normal. So when he saw him starting to change into a “monster” he would try to get him back to normal and distract him. It probably saved his life. He used the $100 for photos on him.

Interestingly, in "The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer" by Brian Masters (which I'm absolutely positive the people who made this extensively consulted) he describes Dahmer as "almost autistic in his lack of connection with other people". But this is the first time I've seen it discussed any further than that.

"Today we are talking about Dahmer..." Black Peppa in the background: Hey 👋

I love this video. Please do more.

Thank you, that was informative and very interesting. I wish you had addressed the father's concerns that the prescription drugs the mother was taking during pregnancy might have adversely affected the development of the fetus. Do you think this may have been a contributing factor to Dahmer's psychopathic nature?

Yes, there is an Exorcist III, and while it's obviously not as good as the first one, it's a recommended watch, miles above the dreadful Exorcist II. One of Brad Dourif's (AKA Grima Wormtongue in LOTR and the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play films) most memorable films, IMO. And yeah, to call this show disturbing would be an understatement. How someone can do to another human being what Dahmer did to his victims is beyond me.

Just discovered you today. Absolutely lucid and layered explanation of JD/the Netflix movie itself. I learned so much. Really applaud your addressing LGBTQ issues. I subscribed today!

The Exorcist III is one of the creepiest horror films I've ever seen. A true 90's classic!

Does young Jeff's experience of finding his mom dead-ish (eyes open, OD-ing) corelate to Denis Nielsen's experience of seeing his dead grandfather lying in his coffin, in their parlor? Is that why both found dealing w corpses preferable? Both equated love w death? At such a young age in their development?

Hi there I find this video interesting and im currently studying psychology but I think forensic psychiatry is where I was born to be beyond intrigued 😌

*Saving the term "proper gross" for future use ❤️*

From what I've heard of the true story and hearing Lionel Dahmer speak, I think they might have exaggerated a lot of the parents flaws on the show, maybe in an attempt to build empathy towards Jeffery Dahmer or even try to excuse some of his behaviours. That's the only real issue I have against the show. Dahmer himself said he was the only person responsible for his actions. Let's not blame parents or try to explain things away this easily.

I don't know if you're a sci-fi fan, but something occurs to me. There's a very good Deep Space Nine episode Field of Fire, which dealt with using the personality of a serial killer to try to identify another. The central character for that episode is also a therapist.

This was a really interesting brilliant video

Name one white character in this film who wasn't depicted as a villain. How could you diagnose this film without noticing this?

Your benzo sleepiness comment reminds me of something unrelated, a study of hypersomnia patients by Emory U. sleep docs. I had hypersomnia for seven years. Researchers hypothesized that the cerebral spinal fluid of hypersomnia patients may contain a substance that has a sedative effect like a benzodiazepine would. They were able to prove this. One researcher stated that the effect of this compound was like having a benzodiazepine in your system all of the time. He also stated that the sedative effect on the body of hypersomnia patients was similar to the sedative effect that patients experience for a colonoscopy. For seven years, I slept up to 33 hours at once and up to an average of 18 hours a day, and it was not depression. It was tough to live through, but I seem to be on the other side now. Hypersomnia is a debilitating sleep disorder.

This whole thing broke my heart..

They still have triazolam in the US. not popular but every pharmacy has at least some on hand.

Dr. Elliott you are in your bag on this one in the rare intersection between the forsensic and LGBTQ media. Thanks for not taking the voyeuristic approach when so many are ( you legit rock)

Why non of these psychoanalysis and psychologists never discuss that he had quite a lot of characteristics of Asperger’s.

I wish you would have included the lines right after in the scene about the pregnancy - the mother clearly states that she doesn't enjoy pregnancy and she can't wait for it to be over.

he did an interview with inside edition thats really interesting and worth a watch

You are just fantastic!!

We know so little about mental illness because we know so little about consciousness and ourselves... Consciousness is the most overlooked element of them all, and we're like fish unaware of the water that surrounds them.

This is such an interesting topic I’m not sure we will ever have the answers to. You see it argued all the time: video games, guns, the occult, taxidermy/collecting specimens, trauma, all things people are quick to blame for violent actions. When in reality 99 percent of “normal” people with interests in these things would never ever hurt another person. What is it psychologically that tweaks how that person relates to it to the point of violence? And then it makes the rest of us look terrible lol

It was hard to watch for me cause i could relate in so many ways. I had pretty much the same childhood as him. Disfunctional family, bipolar toxic suicidal mother, was a shy kid, very lonely and anti social. To this day never had friends or relationships/love. That didn't turn me into a serial killer but i do understand all his actions. Rejected by a mother can damage u to the core. U can struggle with low selfworth ur whole life. He numbed himself with alcohol to overcome his selfhate and low selfworth, getting more interactive as well, constant rejection developed a fear of being left alone all the time. There was no other way for him to get intimacy and sex than force men into it. And he had to kill them so they couldnt intimidate him, reject him or leave him. The killing was never for sadistic pleasure, he never wanted to hurt anyone. The goal was to have a beautiful man at home who never leaves. The thing we all wish for actually. Thats why he wanted to turn his victims into zombies. He didnt wanted them dead, he wanted them to stay, so he had to damage their brain with acid (which didnt work for sure). Also cannibalism and collecting parts. Its a desire to become one with the other and have him forever. Posess somebody. Its sick and weird for sure. But it makes sense. He wasnt a monster. He was a lost soul that was damaged in childhood cause of his mother and also probably the surgery he had. Deeply lonely and incapable to socialize and well aware he never would find love, so he developed those weird fantasies of posessing men. Sociopathic for sure. If your self esteem is destroyed and u hate urself so much, u loose respect and value for life. Ur own, and that of others. Which makes it easier to kill with no remorse. The early training with taxi dermi made him also develope the morbid love to body parts and inner organs.

WATCH HEARTBRAKE HIGH I don’t want to spoil it but grin the last episode it explores this traumatic event and I think it would be good for a video!