YouTuber Baseball Doesn't Exist (Twitter @baseballdoesnt) poses the question of Max Scherzer becoming the Biggest Psychopath in baseball.  Watching the video, it is easy to see behaviors that may not be common to every baseball player, even at the highest levels.  This post is not setting out to weigh in on Scherzer other than to say he is a phenomenal pitcher, and as of this writing - on fire for the Los Angeles Dodgers, by being 5-0 in starts (1 nd) since going to them in the recent trade.  He is a three time Cy Young winner and a for sure future Hall of Famer.

The term psychopath is often focused on the villainous type, or those associated with evil - such as murderers.  According to this Psychiatric Times article, characteristics often associated are those with detrimental interpersonal traits, such as "egocentricity, deceit, shallow affect, manipulativeness, selfishness, and lack of empathy, guilt or remorse..."  The DSM updated to focus on the anti-social aspects of the disorder, one including "violations of social norms".   The DSM IV update went on to seem to blend anti social personality disorder and psychopathy, ambiguously.  Providers often use the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)  in predicting these behaviors.  To gain access to the instrument can be pricy, but you can get a feel of the questions from this Reader's Digest article.

It is interesting to note that a lot of the behaviors like aggression and competitiveness were in Scherzer early on in college at Mizzou, and even in the minors coming up for the Diamondbacks.  However, seems that the focus shifted after the death of his brother, with new intent and a deliberate focus to be the best performer on his rotation day.  He cemented this resolve by pitching just days after his brother, Alex died of suicide.  

This new sense of focus seemed to amplify Scherzer into what we see in the video, anti-social behavior, although a lot of pitchers don't like to be talked to during games they're pitching in.  He especially doesn't like to be touched, or congratulated along the way, as seen in this article after Dave Roberts learned of this the first game Scherzer pitched for the Dodgers.  While we at the Burrow are not qualifying any diagnoses, it is interesting to see the change and the lock-down work ethic that Scherzer has.  Self-stated, he is "doing [his] job."  That has to be respected at some level.  I think most would take these attributes on game day for the results that are produced. 

In this weeks' post, think of passions that drive you wild, or over the edge. What causes you to indulge? What do you often find yourself getting lost in?  What would you be accused of being a psychopath in... or for? 

Rounding out the seventh month of July, MindBurrow wanted to end this literal Month of Sundae's  on a lighter note.  In the "Where's Your Center" post, we discussed the instruments that we find helpful to re-center ourselves, mentally.  One of those was playlists.  Driving down the road, music is conditioned into our habit pattern.  Or, unless you're a pod-er (Don't know if that's a thing), then you're listening to words, but audio none-the-less.  It embeds itself into the driving environment that we are in.  

So the question is: Are you a Stop-light Singer?  When you roll to a complete stop (No "California Rolls")  and your song is up next in your playlist, do you just belt it out? Do you roll the windows down and share the experience with everyone around you? Or are you wondering why people would sing at all?

Check out this article by Jay Hill at LifeHack on why singing in the car can boost mental health.  Jay notes a few key points on how  it can help, but the nerd in us at MindBurrow loves to point out the natural high of highs thanks to oxytocin, dopamine, and seratonin. Those happy little neurochemicals that love to please.  You'll note as Jay goes on, the article even talks about singing with others.  So Carpool Karaoke guests must reach high levels while singing with James Corden and others.  

So consider, what do you do?  Dive in the burrow on this. Does it matter the song, the mood, how many cars are around?  Hop over to Twitter (@mindburrow) and let us know by answering our poll.

The 28th day of the month of July...

Today's Dive into the MindBurrow surrounds the so-called classics.  A quick internet search will yield pages and pages of lists of many of you asking "What are the Classics I should read?".  Funny enough, many of the people searching for such lists were those who didn't want to pay High School English class any mind.  

Here at the MindBurrow, we don't judge though, so neither will I.  Simply - we want to know what you think.  If you want to bias your opinion, here are some starters from Penguin Publishing , Good Reads , The Guardian , Abe Books , and heck, even Southern Living .  

Click here to tell us what your top 3 are.  

As you are working your list, is it at the top of your classic list because it suspends your disbelief and takes you to a far off land, or away from the doldrum of the day-to-day? Is it a classic to you because it makes you really ponder the meaning of life? Is it a deep and romantic love story that carries you away in the arms of a literary lover?  Or, is it one that maybe you haven't even read but think everyone should have on the bookshelf?  

What about categories?  Often categories may shift one's thought towards "classics".  Anecdotally, some may say religious text as the most classic.  So what do we think at the MindBurrow?  We think.  Period.  That is what we encourage.  Utilizing cognition in a manner to be able to transport the mind and self into another world can build imagination, lead to inquiries of character, catalyze self-reflection, or in other cases lead to transformation.  Where does your dopamine rush lie? 

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