Psychologists believe that the features we learn to despise in a relationship are sometimes the same traits we were attracted to in the first place. This is referred to as “fatal attraction.”
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What is love’s fatal attraction?
In interpersonal relationships, a fatal attraction occurs when the qualities that first drew one to someone later lead to the dissolution of the relationship.
Is there such a thing as fatal attraction?
Carolyn Warmus is the real-life counterpart to Glenn Close’s character in “Fatal Attraction,” in which she pursued and murdered the wife of a guy she was fascinated with.
She was 25 years old at the time of the murder in 1989, and 28 years old when she was found guilty following two trials in 1992.
Neighbors and acquaintances characterized her as friendly and cheery during her stay in Michigan and New York. She was described as the type of girl you could take home to Mom, according to one source.
Her broad grin, according to some who knew her well, concealed an emotionally unstable, needy, frequently melancholy, and occasionally suicidal individual.
Carolyn, a blond, wide-eyed woman in her twenties, had a seductive attitude, a wonderful body, and dressed opulently and tastefully. She was the center of attention. Her coworkers described her as cheerful and capable.
She had also begun obsessing over a string of older, unavailable men, and had a lengthy history of strange conduct, some of it criminal, in response to these romantic entanglements by the time of the murder.
What does a deadly attraction look like?
Other instances include being drawn to a sweet, caring spouse who frustrates you later because they’re ‘too nice,’ or a pushover. You have a strong-willed, confident lover who you eventually find to be excessively controlling.
Is it possible to fall in love at first sight?
According to Dubrow, “love at first sight” refers to a feeling of instant connection with another person.
When you see and converse to one other for the first time, some people describe it as fireworks, while others describe it as times when nothing else matters around you. It’s that sensation you get when you don’t want a moment to finish since you’ve never felt anything like it before with another person.
Is Fatal Attraction a film about bipolar disorder?
Since it’s October, I figured I’d utilize this month’s blog postings to revisit where we left off, with horror. (I’m not doing a review for American Horror Story this season.) Start with Fatal Attraction, which features one of the most blatant villains with mental health issues in film history.
Michael Douglas stars as Dan, a seemingly happy family guy, with Anne Archer as his wife Beth and Glenn Close as Alex, a woman with whom he has an affair in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction. Dan and Alex had an affair, which Dan thinks is just a one-time event while Alex thinks it’s more. She attempts to persuade him to accompany her to the opera, but when he refuses, she becomes enraged and abusive. She begins pursuing him and eventually commits suicide, kidnaps his daughter, and famously boils a bunny. Beth, in the end, resorts to violence to deal with the matter.
This film occupies an unusual historical position. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, and is widely regarded as a great film. It’s also frequently used in classrooms to depict borderline personality disorder, which is what Alex is thought to be suffering from. It’s also one of the most well-known films featuring a successful and glamorous individual with a mental health problem.
But! Because of her mental illness, Alex is also the antagonist in the film. It appears to be the source of all she does. Because her acts so closely resemble the standard signs of borderline personality disorder, they are used to demonstrate the condition. Right down to the ‘he’s not dead’ jump at the end, her plot arc follows that of the slasher movie villains of the day. It’s absurd and insulting to folks who suffer from mental illnesses. No one in the film thinks to seek her assistance, even after she attempts suicide, or to report her actions to the authorities. The film makes no mention of mental illness, except to continually refer to her as “a crazy bitch.”
The fact that Dan is meant to be the movie’s hero is also a huge concern. He cheats on his wife and abuses both her and his lover, and the audience is supposed to cheer him on. Knowing how sick Alex is, it’s difficult to see him use, ignore, mistreat, and eventually try to kill her. I would feel more sympathy for him (and that lovely bunny would be fine!) if he told anyone about her actions at any point during the movie. He fails to enlist her assistance in the hopes of salvaging his marriage, and as a result, her death is the only logical consequence. As a result, Alex is another another person with a mental illness who is presented to be so out of control that death is their only alternative. Don’t you think that seems a little stigmatizing?
Fatal Attraction is one of the most well-known depictions of a person with a mental illness in modern culture, thanks to its Oscar nominations. The issue is that it is one of the most derogatory. We’ve established mental illness as a bad thing, a trait that belongs to individuals who need to be slain by good people, by making the movie’s villain a person with a mental health disorder (whose behavior is caused by that sickness). To me, that sounds like a horror film.
(It’s worth noting that Glenn Close has been a vocal champion for those with mental illnesses in recent years.) Her efforts with Bring Change 2 Mind have been inspiring. She does, however, continue to support Fatal Attraction.)
We’ll examine at Primal Fear, a courtroom thriller starring Richard Gere and Ed Norton, next week. Have you seen the movie Fatal Attraction yet? What are your thoughts on the film’s representation of people with mental illnesses?
Who is drawn to people with a borderline personality?
Understanding the natural connection that two individuals have for each other is critical to finding a healthy option. Here are five instances that are commonly used.
- Attraction is a powerful force. The greater the link between two opposing magnets, the closer they go to each other. These three common examples are explained by this notion.
- Introvert/extrovert: Introverts are drawn to those who are at ease in social situations, and they can help to calm a tense situation. Extroverts like the calmness that comes naturally to introverts.
- Unhurried vs. hyperactive: Unhurried persons tend to have moments when their brain switches off, in contrast to hyperactive people’s incessant over-thinking. In some way, each of them want a portion of what the other lacks naturally.
- Sensitive/stoic: When you’re around someone who is sensitive, it’s a relief to be around someone who isn’t. The intensity of the sensitive individual is something that Stoics value.
- Like attracts like. The concept of “birds of a feather flock together” is manifested in relationships between two persons who share the same personality feature.
- Passive-aggressive: A passive-aggressive person is best understood by another passive-aggressive person. Someone with this personality attribute feels an emotion, such as rage, but does not express it immediately. Instead, it manifests itself as forgetting or postponement of a duty that has been requested several times.
- OCD: A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) values and appreciates another individual who behaves similarly. They have a tendency to feed off of one another and normalize their dysfunctional behavior.
- Anxiety: Others who suffer from the same disease can best understand heightened spells of anxiety and/or panic attacks. Those who do not suffer from severe anxiety tend to downplay the issue and its consequences.
- Dysfunctions that are similar. This is just a small sample of the many prevalent illnesses that are naturally drawn to each other in a loop that keeps them going.
- Addicts/co-dependents: An addict needs someone to enable their addiction in order to thrive. Co-dependents enjoy rescuing others, particularly those who are frequently overlooked or misunderstood by others.
- Borderline/dependent: A person with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and a person with dependent personality disorder (DPD) are a good match (DPD). The BPD has a strong fear of abandonment, which is an excellent match for the DPD, who will not quit any relationship, no matter how problematic it is.
- Aggressiveness/suppression: Anger-style aggression prefers to attack people who are unwilling to fight back, such as those who suppress their anger. Similarly, a suppressive person admires the aggressor’s capacity to let go of his or her anger and not return to it repeatedly.
- Attraction between parents. Sigmund Freud thought that a youngster is often drawn to his or her parent. However, some people, strangely enough, carry this unconscious desire into their adult relationships.
- Marry your favorite parent: A person may enter into a relationship with another because they share strong similarities with their favorite parent. While this may be appealing at first, sexual desire generally fades as the similarities between the two people become more apparent.
- Marry your least favorite parent: Some people, on the other hand, marry someone who is remarkably similar to the parent they despise. This is an unconscious attempt to mend the adult child’s damaged relationship with their parent.
- Re-enactment of a traumatic event. Unfortunately, when trauma is not effectively addressed, people often find themselves in similar vulnerable situations.
- Abusers/abusees: This is most evident when a person leaves one abusive relationship and immediately enters another. A person will continue to repeat the abusive cycle unless the reason for their tolerance of the abuse is addressed.
Problems do not go away on their own. They must be worked through, or they will remain a barrier to spiritual growth and development for the rest of one’s life. The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck, was the source of inspiration for this piece. Healing from natural dysfunctional attractions makes it possible for a person to form healthy functioning relationships.
What are the signs and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
The following are some of the signs and symptoms of OLD:
- a strong attraction to a single individual
- feelings regarding the person that are obsessive
- feeling compelled to “defend the person you care about”
- ideas and deeds that are possessed
- a great deal of envy for other people’s interactions
People with OLD may have a hard time accepting rejection. When a relationship ends or if the other person rejects you, the symptoms may become worse. Other symptoms of this condition include:
- they send the individual they’re interested in several texts, emails, and phone calls
- a yearning for reassurance that never goes away
- Because of the fixation with one individual, it is difficult to form friendships or keep communication with family members.
- keeping an eye on the other person’s conduct
- You have complete control over where the other person goes and what they do.