Beth Thomas: the psychopathic girl marked by sexual abuse

People who lived in the 1980s may remember this incredible case that shocked the entire world. Known as “the psychopath girl” little Beth Thomas had her entire family scared. However, behind all this there was a striking trigger. A prelude to something that was key in the history of child psychiatry.

Everything that happens to us in childhood marks us, that is why good development on an emotional level is so important in this first stage of our life. The problem is that sometimes this doesn’t happen. A bad upbringing, an unfavorable environment, sometimes added to a genetic predisposition to certain psychological disorders often leads to serious behavioral problems.

This is what happened to Beth, the so-called “psychopathic child” who showed clear asocial behavior from an early age.

The story of the psycho girl

Beth Thomas lost her mother when she was just one year old. After this event, she and her brother were placed under the guardianship of her biological father and a true ordeal began. The father sexually abused the two minors, something that was detected by doctors who warned of these abuses. Quickly, after six months, a social worker took care of the two children who were adopted by a couple.

This couple was very careful with both Beth and the brother. They had been trying to conceive a child for years, but they did not have that chance. So the two little ones were received with hope and great affection. However, Beth began to have some very specific nightmares: “a man who fell on top of her and hurt her with a part of himself” .

The effects of sexual abuse and maladaptive behavior

These nightmares worried her adoptive parents, but what really alerted them were certain behaviors that Beth carried out. She began to be very violent with them, also with her brother, and even killed domestic animals.He had uncontrollable anger, aggression and a defiant attitude. Likewise, it was common for him to masturbate compulsively in public to the point of bleeding.

Undoubtedly, The parents decided to take Beth to a clinical psychologist specialized in child victims of sexual abuse, Dr. Ken Magid.

What he discovered about The consequences of childhood sexual abuse due to the Beth Thomas case was very revealing. Here we present a video that shows how the parents experienced this situation and some conversations between the psychologist and Beth that will further illustrate what was happening to her.

Beth was able to recover

Dr. Ken Magid decided that for Beth’s sake it was best to admit her. This way, She was diagnosed with an attachment disorder that prevented her from maintaining healthy relationships with other people..

Likewise, certain habits and rules were imposed on him so that he would not hurt the other children at the center. As he improved, the rules loosened their strictness.

Despite this, a question arises: was Beth Thomas really a psychopathic girl or was she a sociopath? Because psychopathy is an innate antisocial tendencya biological condition that, as revealed by a study by the Center for Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry in London, usually predisposes a person towards a certain type of behavior.

However, in sociopathy the environment becomes important; in Beth’s case it would be a consequence of negligent upbringing. The conjecture remains unclear.

All the work that took place at the center allowed Beth to adapt to living in society. She learned to control her feelings of anger and to be consistent with her actions. However, Therapists like José Luis Cano consider that Beth learned to pretendsince it was not about his pain and hatred, but rather the consequences of his negative actions.

A woman committed to the importance of attachment-based parenting

Despite this, Beth is now a nurse and lectures on parenting methods and attachment therapy.. Her merits have earned her several awards that have made her a very successful woman. Additionally, she considers that she has a great relationship with her coworkers and that she has a smile that conveys a lot of warmth.

The case of Beth Thomas makes us reflect on the importance of children enjoying a healthy childhood. After all, as in this case we have seen, the consequences of bad parenting can have terrible consequences.

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