Anyone who enjoys a good mystery wrapped in horror with just the right amount of gore has watched "American Horror Story." If you are among the crowd that has seen season one then you either love or hate Tate Langdon. Tate is a misunderstood teenage emo who just so happens to be dead–did I mention he has a habit of killing, raping and tormenting people just for giggles? Personally, I could not help but fall in love with this smiling boy who would do anything for the girl he loves. In the last episode, Dr. Ben Harmon, the current owner who happens to be a psychologist, finally diagnoses Tate: “a psychopathy, and the worst kind, charismatic, compelling, and a pathological liar.” I do not have a degree in psychology, however, I am a psychology major who has done extensive research into psycho and sociopaths and would like to challenge this diagnosis.
A psychopath is someone who is born with an antisocial personality disorder. Psychopaths do not have a conscience and therefore do not feel remorse. They are incapable of feeling emotions and therefore learn from a young age how to act as if they have emotions. Psychopaths are emotionally manipulative by nature, but not necessarily threatening to society. These people are incapable of forming genuine connections with people, not even family. This is the main reason why I believe that Ben misdiagnosed Tate. Anyone who watches the show knows that Tate went above and beyond for Violet. A psychopath would not have been that dedicated–the boy turned down a beautiful woman, whom he would not have been caught with, because of his dedication to Violet. Psychopaths are also highly intelligent individuals that are obsessively organized. They plan out each step of every criminal act to ensure success without getting caught. Tate is very sloppy and thinks on his toes when it comes to his crimes. If you look back you will find this to be true. My main example is the exterminator; when the exterminator found Violet’s dead body in the crawl space Tate killed him with the gas without a second thought. Tate also did not think of the consequences or even how he was going to kill the gay couple that owned the house before the Harmons. Just these two factors make it impossible for Tate to be a psychopath.
My diagnosis is that Tate is a sociopath. Sociopathy is an anti-social personality disorder in the same cluster as psychopathy. The two mental disorders share a handful of similar traits. They are not, however, interchangeable. Sociopathy is caused by nurture rather than nature, it is the product of childhood trauma, physical and/or emotional abuse to the point where the person shuts down emotionally to survive and develop the condition. This is one reason to believe that Tate is a sociopath. His mother was incredibly cruel to his siblings (who he loved dearly). He suffered knowing that they were being treated so harshly. His father was also shot and killed by his mother at a young age and left to deal with her alcoholism. This is cause enough to make poor Tate shut down emotionally to stop feeling the pain of his mother’s cruel actions. Sociopaths understand the difference between wrong and right, but like psychopaths, they do not feel guilt or remorse. They are capable of forming genuine connections but only with a limited amount of people. Tate had a genuine relationship with both his sister Addy and Violet. Again just two factors that make it possible for Tate to be a sociopath as opposed to a psychopath.
Tate is obviously disturbed, he definitely has a mental disorder. That disorder could not be psychopathy, though, from what has been shown to us throughout the season. So I give my diagnosis: Tate is a sociopath, by definition. I have so much sympathy for this apathetic character, who does not know trust, and cannot connect with people on an emotional level the way others can. It is saddening to know that the sweet, disarming smile he shows, is not heartfelt because he is incapable of feeling happiness. My apologies for under minding Dr. Ben Harmon, but in all fairness, I could never take the man seriously at any rate. I hope this is enlightening to anyone who was contemplating throughout the season what might have plagued Tate’s mind.
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