For years, true crime followers have accused Sherri Papini of having narcissism or munchausen syndrome. But in the new documentary Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie, her therapist shares an altogether different diagnosis: “self-defeating personality disorder.”
Back in November 2016, Sherri vanished from her home in Redding, California, which she shared with now-ex-husband Keith Papini and their two children. When she returned 22 days later, she was chained, covered in bruises and burn holes, and even had a Bible verse branded on her back.
She claimed she’d been abducted by two Hispanic women, but law enforcement later discovered she’d been at her ex-boyfriend James Reyes’ home. After a prison stint and a $300,000 fine, Sherri has broken her silence in ID’s new docu-series, Caught in the Lie.
Although she admitted to the hoax as part of a plea deal, she’s now changed her story, saying she really was abducted by Reyes. The FBI don’t believe her claims, but her psychologist Dr Stephen Diggs shares his insights on the real-life Gone Girl.
Is self-defeating personality disorder real?
While it’s not formally recognized in the current DSM-5 (the diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists), the condition – sometime referred to as “masochistic personality disorder” – was included as a proposed diagnosis in the DSM-III in 1980.
It describes a pattern of behavior in which someone consistently engages in self-sabotage, often rejecting help, choosing situations that lead to failure or humiliation, and undermining their own success or happiness.
In other words, it’s someone who subconsciously invites suffering, often in a way that garners attention or pity. According to its earlier recognition, it’s said to usually stem from childhood trauma, with the sufferer seeking validation, reassurance, or a sense of control in their lives.
Speaking about Sherri in the docu-series, Dr Diggs says, “The lie was based on her personality disorder, which is self-defeating personality disorder, which manifests in a child who has a warm, outgoing temperament but is also passive.
“They’re very ingratiating, they’re very pleasing, they want to please. So that desire to please works well in the traumatic family environment.”
He goes on to suggest Sherri started an alleged emotional affair with James Reyes because of this disorder. “They get into relationships in which they’re not fulfilled, and then they create a second secret life to get their needs met,” he continues.
“An affair is a series of dominoes falling and it ends with the affair. The affair does not come out of nowhere. The affair comes when a bid for attention goes unrecognized.
“So Sherri makes a bid for attention to her husband, that does not get fulfilled, and when that does not get fulfilled, eventually she wants to have this secret life.
“She gets in touch with James so that she can have a fleeting moment of getting her needs met and then return to her subservient role. She expected something short and then that’s not how it turned out.”
Still, the use of this diagnosis is controversial. Critics argue that it pathologizes behavior that may stem from abuse or depression, and its vague criteria make it difficult to apply consistently.
Others suggest it’s simply a rebranding of traits found in more widely accepted conditions like borderline personality disorder or complex PTSD.
Why psychologist thinks Sherri Papini lied
IDIn Sherri Papini’s case, her therapist’s use of the term could be an attempt to explain a woman who inflicted physical and emotional harm on herself, spun a web of lies, and destroyed her own life – not for profit, but possibly for pain.
However, this isn’t the version of events he believes. “I absolutely believe she was abducted. To think of this as a conscious hoax concocted by Sherri just doesn’t fit the facts that we have here,” Dr Diggs says.
“I’m a licensed psychologist in the state of California, specializing in the treatment of personality disorder. I am Sherri’s therapist. Could I be wrong? Of course I could be wrong. Is it likely I’m wrong? It’s not very likely because I know her and I know this personality disorder.
“I believe that she has broken through a very difficult defence mechanism of lying and she is now most of the time quite honest. Between our therapy, which she’s worked very hard at, and the prison, she has stopped telling the big lies.
“She is never going to tell a big lie to the public. The consequences have been big and she has worked really hard not to do that.”
IDAfter explaining the diagnosis, he states, “I believe that he abducted her. And there were details of her torture that she was humiliated and embarrassed to talk about. But I absolutely believe Sherri did not ask for this. She did not want this to happen.
“What she was thinking was, ‘I want to get out of here alive, and if I let him do these things, he might be more likely to let me out alive.’
“Once she got out alive and got back, her sole goal was not to lose her kids again, and so she lied to make sure she could be with her kids and it worked for five years.”
There’s a slight issue with these new claims: James Reyes could sue her. You see, when police started digging into the case, they spoke with him, and were able to corroborate his turn of events.
According to James, Sherri falsely accused Keith of abusing her and she convinced him to help her stage the hoax kidnapping, even roping him into assisting with the injuries.
At the time, he took a polygraph test and passed every question. Sherri similarly takes the test in the new docu-series, and while she passes a couple of the questions, another indicates she was deceptive, and a few more were unresolved.
In Caught in the Lie, Peter French, a retired FBI special agent involved in the case, says that James gave “a statement that we were able to corroborate and he was much more credible than someone who gave several stories and even now still can’t be corroborated.”
“When you tell the truth, there are corroborations that bind that story together. When you’re making stuff up, it’s impossible sometimes to prove or disprove. It just is. And it’s hard to corroborate Sherri Papini’s claims,” he continues.
“She had four years when she could’ve said, ‘You know what, I was having marital problems at the time so that’s why I had these events take place.’ She never said that.”
When James is confronted with the fact that Sherri has made these allegations against him, he responds, “Oh yeah, I know. I’ll have to contact my lawyer in California.”
Is EMDR a legitimate therapy?
IDWhile self-defeating personality disorder is not recognized in the DSM-5, the therapy Sherri allegedly underwent – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – is a legitimate treatment.
A person who has EMDR is tasked with moving their eyes a specific way while processing traumatic memories, allowing them to deal with the associated negative emotions and body sensations.
“Sherri did five years of EMDR, which is about what I would expect it would take to overcome the trauma that she had gone through,” Dr Diggs explains.
“The EMDR did work. The therapy that was provided did in fact lower and reprocess her trauma quite well. I think it was a good therapy. I think it was a necessary therapy.”
Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie is streaming on Max now, and you can also read about Sherri’s divorce attorney Chase Kinney. For more true crime news, read about why Fred West needed an appropriate adult, the Menendez brothers’ new sentencing, and where Molly Martens is now.
