Richard Hickock Mental Illness

Richard Hickock additionally known as Dick was one of the individuals involved in the murder of the Clutter family. Hickock was from a low-income family with little land or money. His father was rather strict but Dick did not seem to mind. Dick was in various sports in high school; desiring to go to college but was unfortunately unable to due to the non-existent wealth in his family. Afterward in Hickock’s life, he suffers in a car accident which causes severe head injuries. Additionally, it disfigured his face making it lopsided and causing his eyes to become asymmetrical. For Dick, this incident was like a bomb set off. Before the car wreck, he was already showing indicators of a mental disorder. His persistent theft and scamming of others

He had previously committed these acts, and his father was compelled to make amends by providing them with a horse, as mentioned in the In Cold Blood Documentary. He had signs of psychological issues that were ignored.

Hickock had shown various symptoms that are associated with BPD ( Borderline personality disorder). One of the obvious symptoms was the ongoing feeling of emptiness that is reoccurring in ICB. For instance in Part 2 "Deal me out, baby," Dick said. "I'm a normal." And Dick meant what he said. He thought himself as balanced, as sane as anyone—maybe a bit smarter than the average fellow, that's all.” (page 108) This demonstrates Dick's coldness after murdering a family of four. After accomplishing all of that, he doesn't appear to care in the least. After murdering a family, you'd assume he'd feel a bit more remorse or sympathy, but Hickcock shows no sign of it. Unstable and intense relationships are an additional indication of Borderline Personality disorder. To demonstrate, “After that, he wasn’t the same boy. Gambling, writing bad checks. I

That trait of Hickcock's character keeps coming up. “I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” (page 244) Dick was successful in getting someone else to carry out the dirty job he didn’t want to accomplish. He was just contemplating how much cash he planned to steal from The Clutters. This just illustrates his indifference to other people's sentiments, since he never once considered how Perry might feel following such an act. When it was brought up, he pretended it wasn't all that horrible. Constant lying, stealing and deceiving others are some signs of APD. In the text, it says “I’m curious, Dick. Why do these people accept your checks? I’d like to know the secret… The secret is: People are dumb.” (page 217) Dick explains how he stole from and deceived people without any regret. He would frequently write fraudulent checks and steal. Individuals that exhibit antisocial behavior react impulsively and don't consider how their actions may influence others. An example of this is “A hundred feet ahead, a dog trotted along the side of the road. Dick swerved toward it. It was an old half-dead mongrel, brittle-boned and mangy, and the impact, as it meant the car, was more than what a bird might make. But Dick was satisfied. “Boy!” he said and it was what he always