A lot of criminals or social offenders are characterized by quick changes in their moods, from extremely high to extremely low. These changes in moods can happen frequently — even within a single day of a criminal’s life. He or she may appear to be elated at one time, feeling that he or she is in control, but in a short span of time, will just snap out of it and become sad and bad-tempered. These quick changes in moods may be seen by others as an emotional disorder that needs medical attention.
Realistically speaking, if a professional were to look into a criminal’s mind, he or she will soon determine that a criminal’s quickly changing moods may really because of his or her unrealistic expectations of the people around him or her and of himself or herself.
Offenders commit such mistakes of setting improper expectations and when he or she commits crimes, it is because he or she thinks there is something wrong with other people, not with himself or herself. He or she expects other people to behave the way he or she expects them to do and when they don’t, he or she becomes depressed and feels unsatisfied and frustrated of other people around him or her.
A community college student who goes by the name of Mel said at one of his meetings with a psychologist that he is all ready for a midterm and that he did not see the need to study. He said that he was sure that he would be able to ace the said exam. In the next session with the psychologist, he was observed to be disappointed and planning to quit his studies because he did not pass the test. He made comments about how the teacher was unfair. He also said that he was unhappy with the whole idea of having to take classes, being treated in an unfair manner, and for having to study for exams.
Mel thought that just because he believes in something, his belief will become true or that his expectations will become real. He expects other people to satisfy his requirements but unfortunately, most of the time, they do not do so. If someone expects other people to treat him in a way that he expects them to do, he will eventually suffer from frustration and will become disheartened.
As long as an offender feels that he or she is in control, he or she feels happy and satisfied with the world. But when things do not go the way he or she has planned, he or she may become desperate and unhappy.
This state of mind does not mean that the offender suffers from a bipolar disorder and/or any other mental disorder. These emotional extremes felt by a criminal are a consequence of his or her erratic thinking. The unrealistic expectations of himself or herself that far outweigh his or her efforts, looking at life as something that will concede to him or her the way he or she wants it to, and expecting other people to act the way he or she wants them are the reasons that he or she becomes happy one second and sad the next.
Unfortunately, there is no medication that will help with these unrealistic and distorted expectations. These emotional extremes may only level off once the offender admits to his or her own thinking errors — from where he or she will then decide to use applicable thought patterns. In certain cases, this may never be possible for that individual – this should be taken into consideration when the courts are deciding how to carry out punishment.
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