Point one: psychopath and sociopath are slowly being phased out globally as separate categories, even though you can still find the definitions in the ICD
. You're looking for antisocial personality disorder. And, even if she's not a single one, take a look at the DSM-V personality disorder clusters... while bearing in mind the old DMS-IV days of not diagnosing more than one is also (very slowly) getting phased out. Because, frankly, comorbidity and various layered feedback behaviours are things that only Neolithic practitoners refuse to contemplate... /sideswipe
Point two: "Yandere Syndrome" being a single easily inherited condition is a whole bunch of bollocks, mate. Sorry. See points one and three.
Point three: a Yandere will probably have some form of leaning towards a personality disorder on top of any other conditions. But, it could be from any of the clusters — comboing with anything from depression to stress or brain tumour. It's kind of in the whole architecture of the character type, sure — but, congenital issues are not the only options. Frontal or temporal lobe damage sustained in, for example, a car accident, can vastly impact the executive function, making somebody supremely unable to curb their impulses. And, ultimately, that's what a Yandere is: somebody who cannot control their emotional response and converts them to behaviours which don't function in wider society — but, aimed specifically in terms of romantic plots. Never mind that it'd affect most things, but, hey: distressed psychological conditions such as bipolar are, apparently, cute or hot on some level, and that's the most important thing. 
Because who wouldn't want to be the centre of somebody's little deluded world? (Anybody with any knowledge about where it's likely to end up, that's who.)
However, the "Classic Yandere" also includes people going through an acute, if temporary, episode, such as... the aforementioned bipolar, specifically a manic phase, or the not-yet-mentioned drug-induced psychosis, many of which can be brought on by environmental or social triggers acting upon latent genetic traits — or not. Say, discovering that they have a form of epilepsy which includes periodic mood and personality shifts (it happens — and, it's not necessarily genetic, but it helps — even mild oxygen starvation at birth can have more long term effects that only impact down the line than people realise).
Point four: this deserves saying again in it's own point.... epigenetics is in vogue, but don't ever forget that things like physical damage occurs to neural networks regardless of the underlying germline DNA. Lead, lead, lead, lead, lead, too much copper, pesticides, living too close to industrial or warfare contaminated soil which can include anything from anthrax to fun stuff like toxic residue from dodgy mustard gas and, of course, hello mercury. And, physical trauma.
In short: Yandere basically boils down to "somebody who has some disorder or condition that impacts how they respond to romantic situations and manifests in violent bonkers because reasons". Which covers an awful lot of very varied conditions, but writers are generally too damn lazy to do any real research, so just write "generic bonkers" without putting too much thought into it and hope it'll work. Hence, a whole load of 2D violations of anything in most diagnostic handbooks.
So, pick something that make sense. Look it up. Run with it, but keep it viable.
edited 4th Mar '17 2:22:36 PM by Euodiachloris
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... I'm sorry, but at which point did I ever specify that I'm trying to be hardcore-realistic in my portrayal of Yandere as a medical condition? I didn't ask for someone to barge in and rip apart my story idea with a blow-by-blow rant about how reality-violating and "full of bullshit" it is. -_-
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Zzzzzzzzzz
Marq, when you asked how to present it as " a consistently defined fictional psychological disorder," absent a bare statement "and I don't care how unrealistic it is", most people would read it as "how do I make it as real as possible?" At least, that's the way I would have read the request, and it's clear that that's how Eudiachloris read it, and that's the information she gave you.
If you don't care how realistic it is, then say that, clearly.
And, by the way, by posting your question here, yes, you did invite input from anyone who chose to give it.
edited 4th Mar '17 5:06:15 PM by Madrugada
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
One: I was operating under the assumption that the highly unrealistic nature of the topic was so obvious that it would be unwise to go Captain Obvious about it; at the very least, I had expected that people would at least ask how hard do I want the realism to be (there are more categories of adherence to realism than "100% realism" and "below 100% realism", you know). But now I see that my desire to avoid coming across as spoon-feeding the obvious to potential responders out of basic respect was a big mistake on my part. I'll be sure to remember that the next time someone calls me out on being Captain Obvious in the way I'm asking for questions.
Two: I did not ask "how to present [Yandere] as 'a consistently defined fictional psychological disorder'". I only said that I was working on writing it as such. Furthermore, "consistently defined" does not necessarily entail realism, so automatically conflating the two together is the problem of the one who did the conflating, not mine.
Three: What I actually asked for was stated in the list at the end of my original post, the last item of which reads "Any other constructive feedback for refining the Wall of Text explanation above." Euodiachloris' post does not look remotely like constructive feedback to me; rather the opposite, as it does nothing but destructively pick apart the entire idea, laced with the occasional insult or backhanded accusation (see the list at the end of this post), at least some of which are uncalled for at all, and conclude that I should essentially discard the whole thing and start from scratch, because for some reason unrealistic portrayal of psychology/psychiatry is a massive taboo, regardless of the actual severity of the unrealism.
Four: Just because I "invite input from anyone who chose to give it" doesn't give the input-giver carte blanche to attempt to force-feed what they believe is right down my throat. No, I do not expect nor ask for input-givers to be an echo chamber of yes-men, nor to coddle me by maintaining 100% politeness. But having the first reponse be a Wall of Text whose general gist is little more than "Your idea is full of bullshit because it's not a 100% realistic portrayal of the subject it's about" is not conducive to a civilized discussion with that particular responder or to improving the story idea(s) that are the topic of discussion.
PS: For the record, Euodiachloris, I do appreciate you mentioning that mental disorders can have causes beyond the genetic, but has it ever occurred to you that I may have my reasons for explicitly making the condition being entirely genetic in origin? Or is that a completely unacceptable thing to do as well?
PPS: List of perceived insults and/or backhanded accusations. Emphasis mine. While considering that if something is mentioned in the course of criticizing someone, then it should logically have relevance to the criticism, otherwise there would be no point in bringing it up in the first place.
Because who wouldn't want to be the centre of somebody's little deluded world? (Anybody with any knowledge about where it's likely to end up, that's who.)edited 4th Mar '17 6:12:25 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That weren't clear, mate. -_- And, posting in the Psychology Thread for input here... you were going to get psychology. :/
If you want a fictional condition of Yandere... you're going to get criticism from those in the field. Mainly because the character archetype totally misleads people as to how mental health actually works as it is, let alone somebody riffing off it with an actual diagnostic thing in their world. :/
Neurogenetics is a lot of fun. Epigenetics is fun, too. 
There're plenty of really meaty, real life things to jump off from and play with if you want to explore the archetype. But, going for something that's just that broad and turning it into a syndrome when it could be many very different conditions condensed into one with little substantive connective tissue? That's a mistake which has been made too many times in reality, let alone fiction. And, it rarely has nice things behind it. Beware of the Francis Galton conundrum: very clever guy, totally right about the genetic roots of a lot of psychiatric conditions — totally took it bad places...
Take the obsolete diagnosis of dysaesthesia aethiopica... that was a whole load of awful on toast (see Galton), but it was a thing that happened. What connected it? "Black people are subhuman and need to be enslaved because of reasons having nothing to do with profit and prejudice."
Then there's good old neurasthenia — the "yuppie 'flu" of its day (I've got CFS, it's how it comes to mind so easily). And, technically still on the books in places in East Asia. <_< Never mind how over-broad and yet very narrow the diagnostic criteria (must have money, could actually have an actual condition with physical effects, but The Money is kind of overshadowing the problem and cutting a whole raft of people out). And, you do not want to know how that was sometimes treated (similar to "women with the vapours" vibrators to electroshock to the new fangled radium)... >_< Google for more details at own risk. <_<
Speaking of the vapours... There's that, too. Clinical depression, eating disorders, anxiety and bipolar disorder in women have some very, very bad treatment track records (even without half-way being constantly choked thanks to corsets). Well, "hysteria" in general has had several definitions over the years, some very clearly social-agenda based — and, men didn't escape the wacky, either.
If you go the route of this Yandere Syndrome thing, keep all this in mind: because it's a real minefield. Why is it a syndrome in the first place? Who benefits from labelling people (mostly women) with it? How biologically valid is it, really? Why is it thought to exist, even if it maybe doesn't?
Even the old psychopath and sociopath labels have a sorry history behind them... (mainly being "describing antisocial personality types from those we can easily spot in the prison and asylum population — who happen to have a host of other stressors on top, so aren't exactly the most typical expressions of the phenomenon"). There's mileage in labelling somebody something you can other. :/ And, Yandere as a character archetype is, unfortunately, very ripe for that.
Which is why it sends off flares in my head. -_- It's not an attack on you — but on how it's often badly used as it is.
NOTE: Was typing while was happening.
edited 4th Mar '17 6:25:59 PM by Euodiachloris
NOTE: This post is subject to change in response to feedback. If you're a newcomer to the thread, do not be alarmed if you notice a disconnection between it and subsequent posts on the first page.
Recently, I've discovered the indie game Yandere Simulator, where the Player Character, Ayano Aishi, is a female Yandere. Word of God clarified that Ayano — and by proxy, her entire known matriline — explicitly does not fit any particular real-life mental disorder (particularly sociopathy and psychopathy), though if required to choose currently-existing terminology to describe her, it would be that "she's capable of taking actions that only a psychopath would consider taking."
This inspired me to work on working the Yandere character type into a consistently defined fictional psychological disorder, which henceforth I will refer to with the colloquial name "Yandere Syndrome" pending a better alternative. Within the folder below is the Wall of Text that is my current draft for what the Yandere Syndrome is.
Yandere Syndrome is divided into multiple stages. Stage 1 begins straight from infancy, and is marked by the individual exhibiting a total lack of both emotion (i.e. extreme apathy) and affective empathy. Anything that appears to be an expression of emotion is merely either an act on their part or an expression of basic biological impulses. For example, as a baby they would cry if they feel hunger, pain, or are in a soiled diaper, but would just stare blankly at any attempts to induce laughter. Not even tickling works; they plainly lack the laughter reflex for that.
The lack of emotion also extends to their sexual drive — which is basically nonexistent. They cannot even derive enjoyment from harming others (be they actual people or mere animals), i.e. they're universally not sadists. Incidentally, they're universally not masochists as well.
Stage 1 yanderes have no driving motivation, and while they have no desire to acquire one, they're not nihilists either (whether the straw kind or not); it's not that they don't believe in the concept, it's that the concept itself is inherently foreign to their minds, and at most they only comprehend it on a purely intellectual level. The only thing that could be remotely called a "drive" for them can be best described as "logic-driven defiance" of the idea that their existence has no meaning.
In short, Stage 1 yanderes are Empty Shells. They quickly learn to adopt a Mask of Sanity when around normal people, as exhibiting their true nature draws unwanted attention.
Transition to Stage 2 Yandere Syndrome occurs when a Stage 1 yandere discovers a person in whose proximity the yandere spontaneously experiences emotion for the first time in their life, in the form of intense euphoria when in proximity to this particular person (henceforth referred to as "focus-object").
The euphoria induced by proximity to the focus-object is akin to suddenly stepping into a world of vivid colors after a lifetime in a completely monochrome world, or high-quality music being the first sound you hear after a lifetime of complete deafness, or getting to stand in a pleasantly warm room with only the bare minimum of clothing after a lifetime of wearing heavy clothes practically 24/7 to ward off frostbite in a world of omnipresent coldness. It is overwhelming as well as highly addictive, leading Stage 2 yanderes to quickly develop a psychological dependence on the focus object; in many cases, this is accompanied by the yandere falling in love/lust with the focus-object regardless of physical sex / gender identity note , which will further amplify the afroementioned state of euphoria and may thus extend the addiction to the state of attraction to the focus-object.
Stage 2 yanderes replace their previous state of total apathy with the complete opposite: They now not only feel emotions, but almost always feel them to the extremes, bordering on Inhuman Emotion. Positive emotions such as love and joy are, without exception, exclusively directed towards their focus-object, and by proxy anything the yandere perceives as a "legitimate product" of their relationship (e.g. biological children). When interacting with people other than the focus-object, the yandere usually falls back on the Mask of Sanity they had previously adopted for themselves, while having the same emotional indifference to them on the inside. The only emotions a yandere ever exhibits to anyone or anything that is not the focus-object is hatred towards any perceived obstacle to the yandere's proper fulfillment of their desires towards the focus-object. Even actively assisting the yandere in their fixation on the focus-object does not elicit any feeling of actual gratitude in the yandere; at best, they'd only repay the favor in kind out of the pragmatic logic that it both helps maintain their facade of normalcy and increases the likelihood that the persons in question may offer their assistance of their own accord in the future (i.e. exploiting the common tendency to altruism).
A Stage 2 yandere exhibits an obsession with emulating their focus-object in every way possible. Where once they never had any favorite food beyond purely pragmatic choices (e.g. this dish is easier to chew than the other one, that one doesn't give me diarrhea), they adopt their focus-object's Trademark Favorite Food as their own once they learn what it is. Similarly, should they discover that their focus-object has a favorite color (or combination/pattern of colors), they would unquestioningly make it their personal Color Motif. They also commonly fetishize items that they perceive as having "belonged" to the focus-object, and spend a great deal of time and effort preserving said items; examples include photographs, a discarded toothbrush, used clothes, and even partially-eaten food items. Private shrines dedicated to the focus-object in general and such items in particular are a frequent manifestation of the yandere's "love".
Stage 2 yanderes universally exhibit an obsessive desire for monopolizing their focus-object as much as possible, with little to no regard for whether or not the focus-object even remotely reciprocates their feelings; they may take into consideration the fact that non-coercive courses of action are logically and pragmatically preferable, but ultimately they do not entertain the thought that the focus-object may refuse them outright, and sometimes may even dismiss the idea that they have a right to refuse. They especially have a zero-tolerance approach to any potential Love Interests of their focus-object. If necessary, the yandere has absolutely no compunctions about committing murder, torture, rape, or any other kind of immoral act, so long as it would help eliminate their rival and they are reasonably sure they could get away with the crime. However, committing such acts frequently risks degrading the yandere's mental stability rather rapidly, as does repeated rejection by the focus-object of the yandere's attentions. This is compounded by the fact that the yandere considers the focus-object's opinion on the matter as irrelevant, with justifications ranging from automatically assuming their approval is guaranteed to seeing them as too naive or passive to be trusted to make their own decisions.
Should a Stage 2 yandere succeed in attaining a perceived monopoly over their focus-object (e.g. through marriage), a state that is formally termed "Stage 2-alpha", they would proceed to act in what they believe is the "proper" way to dote upon one's "most important person"; what that exactly entails varies on a case-by-case basis, and is as much shaped by innate predispostions as it is by post-Stage 1 environmental influences (e.g. nature of reading materials). Without exception, however, it is the yandere that has absolute control in the relationship, and if for some reason the yandere came to believe that the focus-object has "deviated" from whatever "ideal" they has come to believe in, they are very likely to actively work towards "correcting" the problem, even if it involves psychologically breaking the focus-object in the process. Arguably, the best case scenario for a focus-object in such a relationship is for them to fully fall into Stockholm Syndrome and become a benign form of Henpecked Husband.
During Stage 2-alpha, the focus-object with a sufficiently assertive personality has a chance of influencing the yandere's growth and development as a person. If they repeatedly stress their opposition to murder as a solution for the yandere's problems, they could effectively "train" the yandere out of the majority of their murderous tendencies; they would still be much more willing to resort to lethal violence in self-defense than a normal person, but they could completely forgoe killing as an option for dealing with unwanted interference in their personal happiness with the focus-object. In the best-case scenario, they may even completely ignore attempts at pulling their focus-object away from them (e.g. attempting to seduce a yandere's spouse), out of sheer security in the focus-object's Undying Loyalty to the yandere in question (won't stop her from being cruelly smug at the interloper and rub tons of salt in the wound when they inevitably fail, though).
After enough years in Stage 2-alpha, a yandere would slowly develop the capacity to feel emotions even when away from the focus-object, but maintain their psychologically dependence; should they go on without direct exposure to the focus-object for long enough, they will ultimately return to being emotionless and become increasingly restless. This is termed "Stage 2-beta", and marks the first time the yandere could truly pass themselves as "normal" due to their Mask of Sanity becoming no longer a mask. Both Stage 2-alpha and Stage 2-beta are considered subsets of Stage 2.
After a few decades, the yandere would finally outgrow their psychological dependence and fully transition to Stage 3 of the syndrome. The mental stability of Stage 3 yanderes is the greatest among all of the other stages, though it remains relatively volatile compared to the human baseline, and still vulnerable to mental degradation.
Should a yandere's focus-object die while the former is still in Stage 2 of the syndrome, they would permanently regress back to Stage 1. The resulting shock and subsequent repeated failures to regain what was lost will eventually lead the yandere to falling into such an extreme depression that they enter a persistent vegetative state
or even fall into a coma
. The chances of reviving the yandere out of such a state is very small, but does exist; the presence of their parent(s) or child(ren) is strongly correlated with increased chances of revival. Should the focus-object's death happen after the yandere progressed to Stage 3, however, they would retain their emotional capacities, but still be afflicted by feelings of grief, suffering and a sense of loss that are at a far higher intensity than a normal human would experience in such a situation; the yandere often develops a highly increased attachment to anything that they perceive as a "product" of the "love" between them and the focus-object. Any children they have had, whether biological or adopted, would be even more deeply cherished than beforehand.
The absolute worst case scenario involving the Yandere Syndrome is when a post-Stage 1 yandere's mental stability has degraded so much that they transition to Stage 4 of the syndrome. No longer can the yandere feel euphoria from proximity to the focus-object or indulging in their focus-object-related fetishisms; instead, they feel a constant emotional hollowness that agonizingly eats away at them from the inside, and it feels so horrible that Stage 1 is definitively pleasant in comparison. They swing wildly between extremes of mood, from explosive anger to wailing grief to near-catatonia. Hallucinations and any of a plethora other mental disorders are also common symptoms. Eventually, some stimulus or the other will cause the yandere to simply "snap" and become full-on Ax-Crazy, seeking out any and all that they perceives as the source of their misery to violently retaliate against. Some simply descend into mindless berserkers who attack people randomly in the open, but more dangerous are the ones who maintain enough of their former intelligence and Mask of Sanity to carefully devise plans and avoid a premature end to their rampage. Should a Stage 4 yandere manage to fulfill their question for revenge, they will soon commit suicide themselves (assuming that they didn't die in the course of achieving the final step of their revenge, that is).
Now, what I'm looking for right now is the following:
edited 4th Mar '17 1:52:00 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.