Spotting Crazy – Sinead O’Connor

I saw this picture on Free Republic:

Today we all know Sinead is crazy. But could it have been spotted when she was young and pretty? There was one indicator in her picture.

Her cheeks show almost nothing, nor do her eyebrows. She has a hint of a squint-eye on her right side, but not enough to jump out at you. Overall, she was distractingly pretty, even with the shaved head. But when my eyes drift down to her mouth, and her upper lip in particular, I am awestruck. Notice how thin the red of the upper lip is, and how tense it is. Notice how the red of the lower lip is thickened by curling it outward.

In my experience, an upper lip folded under is indicative of anger, and the expression itself is reminiscent of how a dog bares it’s upper teeth by pulling the upper lip up and under. In this case, I wouldn’t necessarily view it as emotional anger per se, so much as the mental state of being impulsive, which anger produces. I do see it somewhat permanently expressed in action-oriented people who aggressively pursue goals most others would let slip by, such as billionaire Mike Bloomberg. I have noticed in myself a tendency to pull my upper lip under and against my teeth, ever so subtly, when irritated or angry, which is when I am most prone to feel driven uncontrollably to do things. So it is not necessarily a permanent feature, though I have no doubt in some with innate predispositions, it is for practical purposes.

The lower lip rolled out and projecting outward is itself often seen in crying, and I view it as an expression of helplessness. My favorite narcissist often expressed this combination of lip positions mildly when normally disturbed, and it would amplify itself in accordance with his degree of upset. I assumed it was an expression of a combination of anger driving to action, and the helplessness that motivates crying, and combined those two emotions produced some kind of feedback in the brain that tends to produce pathology.

At its peak in his case, the mouth would actually open to allow him to breath through it, while the upper lip was rolled under tightly, and the lower lip was thrust outward. Having seen it in it’s most extreme presentation is why I think it is so striking to me in Sinead’s photo.

Some more photos :

Brittany Spears back when she was crazy, smiling as she cuts all her hair off, and all trimmed up before she attacked a car with an umbrella. Notice the red of the upper lip pulled under.

Here is our future first lady, who transcends a lack of pathology into genuine sweetness. A nice fully relaxed upper lip. Try to imagine if she did get fiercely angry, and picture her curling her upper lip under and pressing it against her teeth as she fixed a glare on you.

Here is “crazier-than-a-shithouse-rat” Glenn Beck, crying with his lower lip pushed out, in an expression of helplessness.

A good example in Alec Baldwin, who expresses just a little more on the right side of his face, and another Alec Baldwin on a bad day. Focus on the lips to the exclusion of the rest of the images, until you can feel what he is feeling. Look at yourself in the mirror, make the expression, and imagine what would precipitate that expression, and how you would feel when you made it.

Anger and helplessness is probably a dangerous combination because it sets up a feedback mechanism in the brain, where the anger drives to action, the helplessness frustrates that ability to act, that frustration feeds the anger more, the increased anger makes you feel more frustrated, and you go back and forth until the anger is so great you will do anything – poison your wife, shoot up your office, or even join the ACLU.

I would imagine the helplessness mixed with anger is also probably related to the left’s frequent calls of “unfairness.” Things aren’t unfair if you have a fighting chance. But if you feel totally helpless (even if it is just in your head), and the issue is uncontrollably angering (even if only due to mental dysfunction and emotional dysregulation), then unfairness might seem an apropos word to describe the situation, even if a strict application of logic would not warrant it.