Certainly narcissistic. No question about that. The etiology is very well described by Bruce Carruth, an Arkansas psychologist. Basically it's an attempt to be an individual in the face of the mother's efforts to control their lives. The mother, the source of nuturing to which a baby looks, treats the child as an extention of herself rather than as an individual. They act as if they are entitled to whatever they want. Read "spoiled", or "needy", as not having the best is an indication of their unworthiness. Try to get one to ride a bus. And they can't understand how anyone else thinks. They fake emotions because they know how they should feel rather than feel them. She could well have faked her way through psychological interviews. She's bright, and would have attempted to appear how she thought she might be expected to appear.

However, there are some other things which would lead me to believe she was ALSO under the influence of a stimulant drug. She was under a great deal of stress from her marriage collapsing, demanding career, 3 children and an affair. If they work for people, stimulants can become quite attractive in those situations. While her appearing thin to co-workers could be the result of simple situational depression, it is also a side effect of stimulants. And narcotics.

Additionally, there is the obsession with this relationship to the point of stalking Shipman. The relationship must have meant as much as life itself. The lady who drowned her kids driving a car into a lake comes to mind, also. Stimulants can drive a mild obsession into something like this.

The elaborate, half-assed plans. A narcissistic person under the influence of the omnipotent high of a stimulant could well believe that if she just could talk to this Shipman, she would agree. If only Shipman understood, she would have to agree. Grabbing a wig, a BB gun (imagine that), pepper spray, etc. A hammer, fer crissake. And the garbage bags. No saw, by the way. And when the conversation was over, would be surprised if Shipman had any hard feelings about it. Narcissistic rapists often wonder why their victims are upset.

Renting a car and driving 900 miles non-stop, or as non-stop as possible. That can be done by people, but usually leaves them a bit tired. It can be done easily by drivers under the influence of stimulants, and that's why long-haul truck drivers rather fancy them.

This is too long. However, my guess is that both a personality disorder and stimulants. I've been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again, though.

I hope stimulants were involved, and she couldn't behave this way without them enabling her. That's relatively easy to handle. Narcissism has a very poor prognosis.

Arf