Case Study: O.J Simpson
Jamie Berthelette
Psy/410
May 14, 2012
Lara Ashbaugh

Abstract
This paper will mention Orenthal James Simpson also known as O.J Simpson. He was a very famous football player since college and went onto the pros. He was a dedicated athlete, good father, and also a husband not once, but twice. There will be highlights from the horrific event that took place June 12, 1994. It is believed that O.J Simpson suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder. Another issue that I feel O.J Simpson suffered from is Love Triangle Syndrome which explains why he acted, behaved at all times, and the way he was with Nicole Brown Simpson.

O.J Simpson was born July 9, 1947 to Eunice whom she raised him and his three siblings alone after their father ran off on them. His father Jimmy Simpson, being dysfunctional and leaving them which in part can explain so much on how O.J would act “macho” around everyone. He was awkward growing up with having to wear braces on his legs so most of the time he got picked on. He had to wear the braces until age five due to a diagnosed case of rickets and children would call him “waterhead” or “headquarters”. When O.J went to junior high he joined a gang called the Persian Warriors at age 14 and got caught stealing from a liquor store in the neighborhood. His mother ended up having him attend a private Catholic school which in turn put him back on a path towards positive things and better occupied him.

O.J Simpson went to City College of San Francisco and then went onto get a scholarship to USC. He then became an all American football player and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. O.J starred in movies after his football career and later went on to marry his first wife, Marguerite whom he had three children with throughout their marriage. In that relationship there were issues with violence and he cheated on her all the time. It was when he met Nicole Brown did he really start to show his real self. He started seeing Nicole while he was still married to his first wife Marguerite who he divorced in 1980. He was always a ladies man and that did not change when he married Nicole Brown. He would still cheat on her all the time and there were many calls to the cops about abuse. Although there were never reports of any violence legally, there were more than enough phone calls to notice that something was wrong.

June 12, 1994 Sunday night Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, were brutally murdered at her home. There is no evidence that O.J killed them, but there was talk that a few weeks before the murders O.J and Nicole had been intimate with each other. He was under the impression that they were going to work things out and then he saw Ron with her and knew they were together. Needless to say O.J was never convicted of the two murders in criminal court, but he did have to pay the Goldman family $33.5 million in damages.

The behavioral, cognitive, and emotional components of Borderline Personality Disorder consist of interpersonal dysfunction, issues with perception, issues with emotional reactivity, including hyper-impulsivity, elevated reactions to emotional stimuli, and a biological predisposition (Journal of Research in Personality, 2008). Maladaptive behaviors include behavioral and emotional dysregulation (Linehan, 1993). Individuals with BPD typically respond to an invalidating environment by becoming more emotionally vulnerable. Hence, the importance to explain to clients during the onset of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) that the causes for their disorder are coming from two areas, one is a biological/or brain chemistry imbalance, and the other is an emotional response to the invalidating environment they live in.

As a result they display a heightened sensitivity to emotional stimuli followed by dysregulation of behaviors. Their perception of emotion can become extremely intense and may include behaviors that are difficult to control to the point of impaired functioning. If we look at the
Emotional Cascade model we can see the role that rumination and chaotic relationships play in increasing anger that can result in control problems. Feelings of being alone, being a failure and criticism by others perhaps in this case (his wife), as well as his constant rumination on the negative can all be triggers to the Emotional Cascade which can can result in self harm or suicidal behaviors, (DSM-IV 1994), or more extreme changes such as hostility, or becoming fearful and feeling sad, Trull at al. (2008). The cognitive aspects of BPD are in the rumination on the negative which only magnifies it, Thomsen, 2006. Anger and depression become worse and my result in drug or alcohol use as a way of self-medicating and avoidance. We can also see increased incidences of reckless driving, threatening, pleading and verbal fights in individuals with BPD, Kruedelpach et, al., 1993.

Looking back at O.J. Simpson's behaviors and the police reports and phone recorded incidence of repeated domestic violence, it is clear to see why a Borderline Personality Disorder applies as a diagnosis particularly since much of the domestic/marital issues may have exposed him to a hypercritical and invalidating environment as far as his relationship with his wife Nicole was concerned. The constant conflict and negative emotional stimuli of his home life would be a perfect environment for his dysregulating behaviors that clearly included intense emotions and impaired functioning. The media reported on OJ's possible Cocaine use or abuse during this time as well, which may have been an attempt by him to self-medicate and deal with the unpleasant and intense emotions and feelings he was experiencing. As his anger and depression related to his disorder became worse, the question than becomes...did his condition move into a psychotic state?

Was OJ a Psychopath or did he enter into a Psychotic State?

It is well know that stress can contribute to and trigger a psychotic state. If he experienced other psychologically traumatic events recently in his life such as a divorce or other types of loss, these things can definitely contribute to the development of psychosis. I believe OJ Simpson experienced what is called a Short-lived "psychosis" that was triggered by the stress of his marital problems and the abusive use of cocaine. This type of psychosis is a brief reactive psychosis, and patients can spontaneously recover back to a normal state of mind within two weeks time, with associated memory loss. Drug abuse, in his case, cocaine can be a major factor as well in causing or worsening a psychotic state, this is generally known as a Substance Induced
Psychosis. So a Differential Diagnosis may be in order. Was the psychotic state brought on by the BPD and the related domestic stress and dysfunction he lived with, or was it the result of imbalanced brain chemistry that is a part of having BPD? Did his frequent use of Cocaine play a part in his behavior? Absolutely. Perhaps, in this case it is safe to hypothesize that BPD and behavioral and emotional dysregulation and interpersonal dysfunction with substance abuse all played a big part in the O.J. Simpson case.

Nobody really knows if O.J Simpson killed his wife Nicole and her friend/lover, Ron, on June 12, 1994. What people can assume and also think they know, is that O.J loved his wife very much whether they were together or not. In a heated rage and with passion like that it is scary to think what really did happen that night. Either way in the end, Nicole and Ron are dead, O.J is in jail in Las Vegas for trying to steal his memorabilia back from a hotel there and he may or may not have had something to do with their murders, but the people will never know.

References

Journal of Research in Personality, Vol 42, Issue 6, December 2008.
“Former manager says O.J. Simpson confessed” (AP) CNN.com. July 11, 2008
The New York Times, October 4, 2008