Her Mother, Mrs. Kate Havisham
Her Father, Mr. John Havisham
Her Brother, Mr. Scott Havisham
Her Cleaner, Mrs. Una Amery
SUMMARY OF THE SYMPTOMS ON WHICH THE DIAGNOSIS OF PSYCHOPATHIC CHARACTER IS BASED
- An equally persistent and unchanging negativism of thought and action. This negativism has been so strong in her case as to suggest the existence of a psychotic disturbance of character usually found in schizoid characters or in cases of schizophrenia.
- Persistent pathological fantasy’s of young children.
- Abnormal and often perverted sexual behaviour.
- Outbursts of excitement and violence.
- A complete absence of social conscience and total insensitivity to the pain or injury caused to her family and friends.
Psychiatric Conclusion
Miss Havisham has exhibited throughout her life all the symptoms of psychopathy of a type which borders on the schizoid (psychotic) character and which under ordinary circumstances ends in compulsive delinquent and anti-social conduct. Indeed if she had been brought to a London Magistrate's Court within the last 15 years she would have been sent to a Delinquency Clinic for psychological examination and treatment. Not having seen her I can't say whether she is now sane or insane in the sense of forensic psychiatry but she is, according to her history, sufficiently pre-psychotic (ie. insane borderline) to make it probable that if left untreated she would have a psychotic breakdown about the age of 50. The whole picture is completely characteristic of severe psychiapathy negativism, unteachability, fear of rejection of a paranoid type, anti-social behaviour, delinquency, lack of moral feeling and conscience, sexual abnormality. And so on. No element is missing. On the matter of her present demeanour: I don't know whether she behaves apparently normally or not, but it is notorious that types of this kind will keep up a facade of normal behaviour in keeping with some diseased or apparently romantic conception of themselves. Simulation is a well known schizoid characteristic. No formal psychiatric examination could conclusively eliminate this element of simulation unless it were supported by a period of three months continuous observation in a psychiatric ward. And if she had been an ordinary delinquent this observation would have been carried out.
Although, as I have pointed out, I have not been afforded the opportunity of a direct psychiatric examination, I maintain that there is no psychiatrist in this or any other country who would not, on hearing this medical history, agree that Miss Havisham is an outstanding case of mental disorder.
JOHN SMITH
(Signed)
