Can Michael Jackson's demons be explained?
No one knows exactly where Michael Jackson's problems stem from. But in the eyes of those who study behaviour, feelings and motivations, his unorthodox upbringing could go a long way to explain his troubled adult life.
Michael Jackson, who has died at 50, is known to have been a man who struggled with a host of inner demons.
Here, psychologists weigh up how the extraordinary childhood experiences of someone such as Jackson might shape a person in later life.
Michael Jackson's father Joe admitted to the BBC in 2003 that he whipped his son as a child.
 The child star at work in 1972... |
Violence occasioned by a parent on a child leaves lasting psychological and physical impact, says Peter Sharp, chartered psychologist at the British Psychological Society.
"Young people in receipt of physical violence have difficulty forming and maintaining long-term relationships," he says.
"They're 'anxious-avoidant', which means they will often take on what they know they can be successful in, therefore avoid challenges outside their comfort zones and may try to provide their worth by excelling and over-excelling in one particular area."
If that person thinks that to have affirmation and validity, they need to be successful at something, he adds, there is a risk that this is the only thing about them they define as worthy.
Peter Congdon is a psychologist who works with extremely intelligent or gifted children.
"It's well known that the best preparation for growing up is to live fully as a child. Parents of clever or talented children shouldn't forget this."
 ...and at rest |
Accelerated mental development, for example, slows down social and mental growth and the result can be a lop-sided and maladjusted individual.
Parental expectations bring undue pressure on children - one of Mr Congdon's clients is a boy who is being groomed to become an actor and already he is talking about buying his parents a house.
Another man took his teenage child to the swimming baths every day at 4am in an effort to make her an Olympic champion, but it was making her unhappy.
Sometimes the pressure can be overwhelming, he says. "Philosopher JS Mill was taught Latin at three, Greek at four, wrote his first history book at 16 and aged 19 had a mental breakdown."
Jay Belsky, director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues at Birkbeck College, University of College London, says: "With a gift, the issue becomes 'Am I loved because I sing and dance or because I'm worthy of being loved?'
"I think the child figures that out, not necessarily in a conscious way but does it register? Certainly."
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