AniaR
04-08-2014, 09:31 PM
So, I took a lot of courses in university about brain development, psych and soc and empathy etc etc, and I have a passion for crime novels/tv show/ docs. One of the things I read up on a lot is psychopaths! (can I get any Dexter fans out there? haha)
Anyway, I think EVERYONE has either dealt with a psychopath or a sociopath or perhaps both before. But I think too many people don't know they have and they end up thinking there are things wrong with THEM and falling victim to these people. And in my almost decade in the mercommunity I do sincerely think there are people who fall on the spectrums as well.
I have two interesting articles for you, I hope you'll read. Especially if you feel like you have dealt with a really difficult or toxic person. I share them because having dealt with a real life psychopath before and several online, the best validation I ever got came from learned people who basically said, hey it's not you, it's them! Sometimes we need people to say that to us! So check out these links and quotes, if they apply to you and you're concerned about how to deal with a person or family member, I can post some good resources here too!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10737827/Psychopaths-how-can-you-spot-one.html
There are a few things we take for granted in social interactions with people. We presume that we see the world in roughly the same way, that we all know certain basic facts, that words mean the same things to you as they do to me. And we assume that we have pretty similar ideas of right and wrong.But for a small – but not that small – subset of the population, things are very different. These people lack remorse and empathy and feel emotion only shallowly. In extreme cases, they might not care whether you live or die. These people are called psychopaths. Some of them are violent criminals, murderers. But by no means all.
At heart, Hare’s test is simple: a list of 20 criteria, each given a score of 0 (if it doesn’t apply to the person), 1 (if it partially applies) or 2 (if it fully applies). The list in full is: glibness and superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, cunning/manipulative, lack of remorse, emotional shallowness, callousness and lack of empathy, unwillingness to accept responsibility for actions, a tendency to boredom, a parasitic lifestyle, a lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility, lack of behavioural control, behavioural problems in early life, juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility, a history of “revocation of conditional release” (ie broken parole), multiple marriages, and promiscuous sexual behaviour. A pure, prototypical psychopath would score 40. A score of 30 or more qualifies for a diagnosis of psychopathy. Hare says: “A friend of mine, a psychiatrist, once said: ‘Bob, when I meet someone who scores 35 or 36, I know these people really are different.’ The ones we consider to be alien are the ones at the upper end.”
does any of that ring a bell with your experiences with anyone?
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/life-as-a-nonviolent-psychopath/282271/
^ very thought provoking read on nature vs nurture in the role of the psychopath
Anyway, I think EVERYONE has either dealt with a psychopath or a sociopath or perhaps both before. But I think too many people don't know they have and they end up thinking there are things wrong with THEM and falling victim to these people. And in my almost decade in the mercommunity I do sincerely think there are people who fall on the spectrums as well.
I have two interesting articles for you, I hope you'll read. Especially if you feel like you have dealt with a really difficult or toxic person. I share them because having dealt with a real life psychopath before and several online, the best validation I ever got came from learned people who basically said, hey it's not you, it's them! Sometimes we need people to say that to us! So check out these links and quotes, if they apply to you and you're concerned about how to deal with a person or family member, I can post some good resources here too!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10737827/Psychopaths-how-can-you-spot-one.html
There are a few things we take for granted in social interactions with people. We presume that we see the world in roughly the same way, that we all know certain basic facts, that words mean the same things to you as they do to me. And we assume that we have pretty similar ideas of right and wrong.But for a small – but not that small – subset of the population, things are very different. These people lack remorse and empathy and feel emotion only shallowly. In extreme cases, they might not care whether you live or die. These people are called psychopaths. Some of them are violent criminals, murderers. But by no means all.
At heart, Hare’s test is simple: a list of 20 criteria, each given a score of 0 (if it doesn’t apply to the person), 1 (if it partially applies) or 2 (if it fully applies). The list in full is: glibness and superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, cunning/manipulative, lack of remorse, emotional shallowness, callousness and lack of empathy, unwillingness to accept responsibility for actions, a tendency to boredom, a parasitic lifestyle, a lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility, lack of behavioural control, behavioural problems in early life, juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility, a history of “revocation of conditional release” (ie broken parole), multiple marriages, and promiscuous sexual behaviour. A pure, prototypical psychopath would score 40. A score of 30 or more qualifies for a diagnosis of psychopathy. Hare says: “A friend of mine, a psychiatrist, once said: ‘Bob, when I meet someone who scores 35 or 36, I know these people really are different.’ The ones we consider to be alien are the ones at the upper end.”
does any of that ring a bell with your experiences with anyone?
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/life-as-a-nonviolent-psychopath/282271/
^ very thought provoking read on nature vs nurture in the role of the psychopath