Is Charlie Sheen Really a Winner?

Like anyone who watches television talk shows or reads newspapers, I have been fascinated with the almost-daily drama associated with America's latest celebrity train wreck, Charlie Sheen. He is a well-known television and film actor, born Carlos Irwin Estevez in 1965 to the actor Martin Sheen, who adopted the stage name Sheen in honor of the phenomenally popular 1950's television preacher, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Unlike other professional "Sheenologists," I shall not discuss which DSM diagnosis Charlie's (apparently escalating) symptoms best fit. Instead, I shall discuss Sheen in relation to my favorite topic: social competence/ incompetence.

Mr. Sheen himself opened the door to this discussion, by exclaiming "I am a winner" during several recent interviews. In saying this, he indicated that those who criticize him are losers who are jealous of his lifestyle, specifically his wealth and the beautiful and willing young women that his wealth attracts. He also used the winner/ loser analogy to justify his refusal to be "held hostage" to 12-step substance abuse programs, arguing that they rely on a non-working method developed by and for losers, and are not suited to a winner such as himself who possesses the ability to stop using drugs whenever he wants. As part of this winner metaphor, Sheen also alluded to his superior physical constitution, which allows him to consume quantities of drugs large enough to kill most people, and to smoke two packs of cigarettes over many years and still possess "the lungs of a nonsmoker."

As mentioned, I will try and avoid using applicable psychopathology terms, such as "narcissism" or "hypomania," when discussing Sheen. Instead, I shall address his stated belief that he is a winner, using my ideas about social competence as an organizing framework. Social competence can be addressed in two different ways, as a set of outcomes, or as a set of personal qualities (inputs, if you will) that contribute to those outcomes. Whichever approach one uses, I believe that the following analysis shows that Sheen is far from being the winner that he claims to be. Finally, in a concluding section, I shall examine the Sheen saga in relation to my evolving theory of "foolish action."

SOCIAL COMPETENCE OUTCOMES WHICH SUGGEST SHEEN IS NOT A WINNER

Social competence, from an outcome perspective, refers to the degree of success one attains in various social roles and goals, both those valued by society and those valued by the individual him or herself. There are many such goals that could be discussed. I shall pick six: personal relationships, career success (including financial status), reputation, school completion, legal freedom and health/ longevity. In discussing these concepts, I shall be stressing that social competence, just like one's sobriety, needs to be assessed over the long haul, and not just at one point in time.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

An important outcome indictor of social competence is maintaining positive and stable interpersonal relationships with valued people, in various categories (colleagues, family members, friends, romantic partners) over a period of many years. Sheen certainly seems more of a loser than a winner in this area of functioning. As example, he has been married three times, and all of these marriages ended badly. An earlier engagement was called off when he shot his then girlfriend (supposedly accidentally) in the arm. He has had many short-term liaisons with porn stars or paid escorts. I am not privy to information about his family relationships but his father has publicly referred to his son's drug addiction as "like a cancer." Sheen's current friendships seem to be made up mainly of hangers-on, who enable and encourage him in his self-destructive behaviors.

In the area of work, Sheen has been unable to sustain positive, reciprocally-satisfying, relationships over the long haul. An example is the very public falling out he had with Oliver Stone, the movie director who started Sheen on the road to stardom by casting him in prominent roles early in his career in the films "Platoon" and "Wall Street". Stone's offense was his daring to hire Tom Cruise, rather than Sheen, for the featured role in "Born on the Fourth of July".

More recently, Sheen went on a very public warpath against Chuck Lorre, the creative force behind many successful sit-coms, including "Two and a Half Men". That is the show which since 2003 has made Sheen one of the best-known and highest-paid stars in the history of American television. Lorre's chief offense appears to have been his strenuous efforts to get Sheen to admit himself once again into a drug rehab program. As a result of Sheen's tirades, Warner Brothers and CBS announced initially that the show would be suspended and, more recently, that Sheen's contract was being terminated. As reason, they mentioned, in particular, the actor's inability to interact respectfully with his colleagues, particularly the show's boss, Chuck Lorre. Spin it as Mr. Sheen might, it is difficult for me to understand how behavior that gets one fired from a job that paid in excess of forty million dollars per year is an achievement worthy of the term "winner."

CAREER SUCCESS

Ability to hold a job, support oneself and one's family, and accumulate a nice home and other assets are all important outcome indictors of social competence. This is one area where Sheen has been extremely successful and it is in fact the main thing that he pointed to when describing himself as a winner. However, it only takes one spectacular act of incompetence to make all of that go away, and it appears that Charlie Sheen, whether intentionally or not, has succeeded in doing just that. Not only has he ended an employment arrangement in which he was the highest paid television star ever (earning almost $2 million for each of 24 annual episodes) but it is very possible that he has made himself unemployable, certainly at anything approaching his former level of remuneration.

It is very unlikely that any major film studio or TV network would now be willing to take on the risk or aggravation of hiring Charlie Sheen, even if an insurance company could be talked into issuing a policy for the endeavor. Furthermore, Mr. Sheen has made himself so toxic that it is unlikely that any major corporate sponsor would wish to be associated with a show in which he stars. Charlie Sheen was, until recently, a very successful actor who made a spectacular living. I am not suggesting that Charlie will end up destitute anytime soon. However, he has certainly managed to increase the likelihood that in the future he will be pointed to as an object lesson in how to destroy a once-flourishing career, even if he is able to keep a new career on the concert circuit as a one-man curiosity/ freak show going for awhile.

REPUTATION

Most people, including undoubtedly Charlie Sheen, want to be thought of by others in positive terms. Except for his small (and ever-shrinking) circle of supporters and enablers, Sheen is thought of almost universally as a clown and a lunatic. Being a nightly butt of jokes by comedians is hardly the hallmark of a social competence winner.

SCHOOL COMPLETION

Success in school, or more precisely avoidance of failure (through expulsion, grade repetition, or dropping out), is an important outcome indictor of social competence. This assertion may seem strange to those, including many psychologists, who tend to think of school success/ failure mainly in terms of cognitive capacity. However, avoiding school failure is mainly a function of social behaviors such as showing up, paying attention, completing assignments, controlling one's temper, following rules, respecting authority and persevering in achieving a goal. It is for this reason, more than whatever academic content one might have mastered, that causes most employers to require completion of high school as a minimum requirement for all but the most menial of jobs. This reflects the fact that people who cannot complete high school have a higher than average likelihood of failing in various other challenging life tasks.

It is informative that Mr. Sheen was expelled from Santa Monica High School, just a few weeks before he was scheduled to graduate. The reasons given in most biographies of him are "poor grades and poor attendance," which most likely translates to "failure to complete graduation requirements because of non-attendance." That, in addition to some antisocial, illegal or wildly inappropriate act (for which we do not have evidence in this case, but whose existence would not surprise me) are the most common reasons for the highly unusual outcome of last-minute expulsion. In any event, Sheen's failure to graduate is a foreshadowing of his failure in other social competence outcomes, especially ones--such as staying with a spouse or a TV series over the long-haul--that require perseverance and self-regulation over a period of years.

LEGAL FREEDOM

One important social competence outcome indicator is the ability to stay out of jail, and to avoid putting oneself at risk of ending up in jail. Most competent adults go through life without seriously encountering the criminal justice system, but that has hardly been the story of Charlie Sheen's life.

Here is a list of Sheen's known socially incompetent actions, several of which could easily have earned him a prison sentence: (a) in 1990, he accidentally shot his then girlfriend, Kelly Preston (who later married John Travolta); (b) in 1995, he admitted to being a very frequent client of the so-called "Hollywood Madam," Heidi Fleiss; (c) in 1995, he was sued by a UCLA student who claimed he assaulted her physically a year earlier for refusing to have sex with him (the case was settled out of court); (d) in 1997, Sheen pleaded no contest, and received a suspended sentence and two years probation, for punching a former girlfriend in the face; (e) in 1998, Sheen was sentenced to lockdown rehab for violating terms of his probation, when he was hospitalized for a drug overdose. His father, Martin, is the person who alerted the authorities to the violation; (f) in 2005, Sheen's pregnant wife, Denise Richards, filed for divorce, citing "inappropriate behavior," including use of prostitutes, excessive gambling and heavy drug use; (g) in 2009, Sheen was arrested on felony menacing charges for threatening his wife, Brooke Mueller, with a knife while they were vacationing in Colorado. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third degree assault in the case and was ordered to 30 days in a rehab facility followed by 30 days of probation; (h) in 2010, Sheen was hospitalized after he trashed his room at New York's Plaza hotel. According to the woman who was with him, Sheen attacked her and she was forced to barricade herself in a closet. She later threatened to charge him with battery and false imprisonment, but did not follow through, after he allegedly paid her off; (i) in March, 2011, police raided Sheen's home searching for weapons, after his estranged wife complained he was in violation of a restraining order by keeping licensed firearms in his home.

In my experience as a forensic psychology consultant, poor people are sentenced to lengthy prison sentences every day for engaging in violent behaviors less severe than some of those attributed to Charlie Sheen. That he has managed to avoid that outcome thus far is most likely due to his celebrity status, combined with his ability to hire good attorneys (who are able to negotiate plea deals) and publicists (who invariably attribute his outbursts to medical conditions) and to buy off complaining witnesses. It is only a matter of time, however, before Charlie pushes his luck once too far, and a fed-up judge requires him to trade his mansion for the inside of a jail cell.

HEALTH/ LONGEVITY

The ultimate social incompetence outcome is dying young, especially if one's demise is attributable to stupid behavior. Sheen is still alive, but certainly his behavior has put his health at risk, and a common ending for a story like Sheen's (and one reason for the public's fascination with him) is an early death. Sheen denies that his health is at risk, and in fact brags about his amazing ability to consume large quantities of drugs with impunity. However, in 1998 he overdosed while (according to him) injecting cocaine and had to be hospitalized. According to a newspaper report, "Sheen's body ‘gave out' as a result of the drugs and alcohol he had consumed." His father spoke tearfully to reporters at that time, indicating the seriousness of the health crisis that Sheen had faced.

Sheen has been hospitalized on other occasions. As early as 1990, he was admitted into a rehab facility because of what his publicist described as "extreme exhaustion due to an arduous filming schedule" (double-speak for strung out on drugs). In January, 2011, Sheen was rushed to a hospital after a 36-hour party with several porn stars and smoking of a huge quantity of cocaine. When he complained of severe abdominal pain, he was hospitalized for what Sheen later claimed was a flare-up of a hernia condition, a flare-up that likely was precipitated by his behavior. Not being a physician, I am reluctant to make health predictions, but does anyone other than Charlie Sheen really think he is likely to be a winner in the longevity game, even if-contrary to some predictions--he does not eventually commit suicide?

SOCIAL INCOMPETENCE INPUTS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO INCOMPETENT OUTCOMES

The usual explanation for Sheen's bizarre and ultimately self-destructive pattern of behaviors is mental illness, combined with, caused, or exacerbated by chronic drug abuse. But mental illness-and to a lesser extent, drug ingestion-- does not cause or explain self-destructive behaviors. Even when taking drugs, it is a person's underlying needs and tendencies, in combination with external temptations or precipitants, that cause someone to behave in a manner that motivates psychologists and laypeople to try and find an appropriate mental health category to describe the person.

There are two ways of discussing the social incompetence inputs which likely have contributed to the incompetent outcomes discussed in the preceding section. In this section, I shall discuss Sheen in terms of a static social competence model with three broad trait domains: Temperament, Character and Social Intelligence. In the concluding section, I shall discuss Sheen in terms of an emerging dynamic model of "foolish action," which reframes those input traits as contributors to the inept handling of specific social challenges.

TEMPERAMENT

The term temperament refers to one's self-regulatory abilities. This is obviously an area of deficiency for Charlie Sheen, as the kind of behaviors that get him in trouble are usually impulsive, angry and sometimes violent responses to something that sets him off. Losers, such as people who are imprisoned for assaultive behaviors, exhibit this tendency to fly off the handle when they feel provoked. A true winner, as Sheen claims to be, is able to maintain a necessary degree of control over his or her emotions and reactions.

Abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs can be an obvious contributor to temperamental instability, as they can impair judgment, lessen inhibitions and increase anxiety, agitation and emotional reactivity. Chronic abuse of drugs and alcohol can also cause permanent structural and functional changes in the brain, including decrements in cognitive functioning and social judgment.

It is rather striking to me that in all of the discussions by psychologists about Charlie Sheen, I have yet to hear anyone note that he shows a lot of the symptoms of someone with a seriously damaged brain. Nor have I heard anyone make note of one of the most striking things about his biography, namely that he was born with a cyanotic (oxygen deprived) condition popularly referred to as "blue baby." His given middle name, Irwin, is in fact in honor of the physician who his parents credited with saving the newborn's life.

Blue babies often suffer brain impairments, which show up later in learning problems (Charlie was a poor student) and sometimes in behavioral problems, including the kind of impulsive acting out behaviors which have been a common occurrence throughout Sheen's life. The possibility that Sheen had a damaged brain to begin with, combined with acquired damage resulting from chronic alcohol and drug abuse, combined with the temporary state imbalance caused by acute alcohol and drug inebriation, can go far to explaining the temperament impairments which help to explain Sheen's incompetent social outcomes.

CHARACTER

The term character refers to motivating personality and morality factors, having to do with the relative value one attaches to the needs and interests of other people in comparison to one's own needs, interests and goals. Whether or not one considers Sheen to be a narcissist, it is clear that he is highly egocentric, and tends to see himself as being in the right in most situations. Such a rigid sense of moral superiority, and a need to be an absolute winner in conflicts with others, undoubtedly contributes to the overly aggressive behaviors which have created so many legal, relationship and employment problems for him.

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

The term social intelligence refers to one's understanding of people, social relationships and social institutions such as organizations. A good part of this is accurate perspective-taking. Sheen seems to lack such perspective-taking when he states that other males envy and admire him for consorting with prostitutes and porn actresses. In fact, emotionally mature individuals of either gender are likely to see such behavior as pathetic, and a sign not of virility but of failure in the adult task of maintaining and valuing reciprocal and mutually satisfying romantic relationships.

Sheen's perspective-taking limitations also are reflected in a relative lack of social foresight, namely an inability to understand how far one can push others before unintended or undesirable consequences occur. One way in which individuals acquire social foresight is by experiencing the negative consequences of their inappropriate behaviors. It appears that Sheen has been shielded from learning such valuable lessons by the caving in of victims (such as women he has assaulted) and by surrounding himself with people who egg him on or are paid to clean up his legal or public relations messes.

While the outcome of Sheen's current $100 million wrongful termination lawsuit against Warner Brothers and Chuck Lorre is a long way from being resolved, it appears likely that Sheen miscalculated when he assumed that his employers would respond to his bullying tactics by caving in. That is assuming, of course, that his behavior reflected a conscious miscalculation, as opposed to being driven mainly by emotion and impulsivity.

CONCLUSION: WHY FOOLISH BEHAVIOR IS NOT THE HALLMARK OF A WINNER

The most socially incompetent people among us (and Charlie Sheen probably belongs in that group) are not incompetent all of the time and in all situations. One only needs to be socially incompetent once in a while to bring about the worst kinds of outcomes. A key requirement for being a winner, rather than a loser, therefore, is the possession of an ability to make correct decisions in situations which pull one in a self-destructive direction. Charlie Sheen has consistently demonstrated a tendency to make dramatically incorrect decisions, and that is why his description of himself as a winner strikes so many as delusional.

I define "foolish action" as behavior which brings about negative consequences that are undesired and which could have been anticipated. All three of the within-person factors identified in the previous section-Temperament, Character and Social Intelligence-come together in explaining a particular foolish act, with one difference from the previous discussion being that the situation itself comes into play. The explanatory force of any given factor varies according to the situation and how it interfaces with the characteristics of a particular individual. In the case of Charlie Sheen, the threshold for a foolish action is lower than it is for most people, and usually involves interactions where someone dares to set some limits on his ability to fulfill some need or preference. When that happens, particularly when he is a somewhat impaired state, one can safely predict that Charlie Sheen will invariably react foolishly. An inability to skillfully navigate challenging or threatening situations is not the hallmark of a winner. Rather, it is the hallmark of a pitiable and socially stunted loser.

Copyright Stephen Greenspan