Evil Incarnate: Sociopaths

I myself am a sociopath, having been diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder, and I must say this author has no clue what he's talking about. Some of the "sociopaths" he mentioned can only be speculated to have been as such, and the "Son of Sam" was, in fact, psychotic. That is, he had hallucinations that, in his case, drove him to kill. In addition, this hypothesis that only a sociopath could do something as "cold-hearted" as murdering a family member is ridiculous. A sociopath is, in fact, less likely to lash out at an overbearing mother, fatally or not, because sociopaths are innately capable of blocking out emotion. Only five percent of all diagnosed sociopaths in the United States are violent offenders. Less than one percent have been convicted of murder. Can you say the same about the "normal" part of the population?

A Sociopath is not simply someone with Anti-social behaviors so my dear reader despite what you may have been told being a sociopath and Antisocial are different, sociopaths are antisocial with psychotic tendancies. You may have been diagnosed as having anti-social personality, but that in itself does not make you a sociopath I do know what I am talking about, and it is quite degrading to call yourself a sociopath it only shows your misunderstanding of the two words.

The term sociopath and it's meanings have been stretched over the years to rely solely on objective criteria as the above website states.
In doing so there are now too many so called sociopaths being diagnosed simply due to antisocial behaviors (as may have been Mikhail's case)

where-as the term sociopath and psychopath were at one time used interchangeably due to the fact that a sociopath IS generally characterized as more than antisocial, but rather antisocial with psychotic rage

So the author is not completely ignorant, and Mikhail is not a sociopath (unless of course you do have the psychotic rages they are characterized by) Don't let the fact that psychiatry has stretched the meaning of the term fool you,

In changing the range and spectrum of the term they are falsely diagnosing simple anti-social behaviors as being a sociopath when in fact they are different though they can be related.

Dear Freedom, everyone has a conscience for a reason, sociopaths "not having a concept of right and wrong" is a false statement, sociopaths do try to justify wrong behavior, they know the difference between right and wrong, but they don't care, it's really that simple, they are self absorbed to such a point they don't care about the feelings of others, rewarding them with flattery and ego boosts does nothing but send them on a power trip and actually does more harm.

John is correct saying sociopath's know the difference between right and wrong. Though really saying a sociopath is going to chop you up for no reason is idiotic. I'm pretty positive I myself am a sociopath.

Though I have to disagree that it's because sociopaths are "so self absorbed". At one time I used to be completely selfless, and now I am almost the opposite but not quite. While I think highly of myself yes, I do not agree it's why I don't care about the feelings of others. Part of it is I'm aware that most people are evil themselves an merely try to lie to themselves and those around them.

I simply think I'm more honest about myself in this area than most people. While not all people are like the formerly described person. I don't meet many generally good people walking around.

And as for being self absorbed, I'll admit I think very highly of myself. Though it's hard not to in my position, while I act humble. I've been tested and told I have the IQ of a genius, I'm good at everything I try, and I'm liked by most everyone. Not everyone does of course, though while I could probably be liked by everyone(or close to it) if I chose to. I actively make enemies when I feel like it.

Anyway as for ego boosts, yes they're nice and all but seeing as I don't really care what most other people think anyway. Their compliments are almost as empty as their insults. These things aren't true for all people in my life though. My best friend for example, one of the few people I would be closer to a normal person around.

You don't sound like a sociopath to me, if you were you wouldn't care about others at all, you'd be too wrapped up in your own world,the fact that you admit you can be self absorbed at times also shows are not a sociopath by the psychiatric definition a sociopath would, because of the very nature of their ego never admit that they were self-absorbed, and as I said you do appear to have affection for at least one person in your life,that tells me you are not a sociopath, a sociopath is defined partially by their incapability to care or Love others, you seem untrusting of most people, but not really uncaring so much as more careful of who you care about.

I don't think it was the authors intent to say all sociopaths are "going to chop you up in pieces" so much as the fact that sociopaths by definition lack even the basest compassion for others and are completely egocentric to the point that they go to extreme lengths(often to the point of hurting others deliberately) to further their own agendas and boost their own ego

Sociopaths thrive on the misery they can cause to another human being.

They are not devoid of feelings. Its pleasure to them. Thats the difference.

They are methodical,deliberate and and effective in harming others.

Tara, sociopaths are devoid of natural affection

Hello everyone. No, I'm not a sociopath, just normal I guess. hehe. But I'm wondering if anyone would categorize Bush as a sociopath?

Here's a revelation for you.....anyone you follow, work for, or obey is a sociopath. It's really that simple. The cold, hard, hopeless fact is that it's not a disease or mental deficite. Intelligent people take profits from unintelligent people. This is the way of human rule, and it's not likely to change anytime soon.

Perhaps the social workers needed a name to more easily blame the successful people for taking advantage of them?

Or maybe it's true that these "mentally disabled" persons just happen to run everything...and own everything....due to a spectacular run of luck.

I am a sociopath....but I have only discovered this recently. Until lately, I lived my whole life trying to figure out why I don't see things the way others do. I tryed to understand why everyone was so happy while I saw social interaction as a "job".

Now I understand what's going on. It's very liberating to finally have a name to paste to the problem. Knowing what I "am" has helped my to hone my craft, and exercise better judgement when dealing with others.

I no longer lash out, or have temper tantrums, or get into physical altercations. I spend a lot of time conciously controlling and manipulating those around me, and it is proving to be very profitable.

I don't know what to tell you normal people....to behave in any other way seems purely insane to me.

to some dude, I hate to break it to you, but your assessment that "anyone you follow, work for, or obey is a sociopath. It's really that simple. The cold, hard, hopeless fact is that it's not a disease or mental deficite. Intelligent people take profits from unintelligent people. This is the way of human rule, and it's not likely to change anytime soon." has one major defect. The MAJORITY of human kind practices normal human decency and has compassion for others, including those that they are put into a position of leadership over.

based on your thought process however, specifically that you like manipulating others and taking advantage of others and as you say you used to lash out and throw "temper tantrums" and use others merely for profit tells me you may well be a sociopath.
Though I cannot know your heart so I don't really know

Truthfully, i would find it hard to believe that people have been born of the sociopath nature. I believe it is something that has to be nutured by their environment... or how they were raised as a child from the time they were in their mother\'s womb.. I believe the more traumatic their childhood was, the more likely they may choose if not given the help needed to develop these tendencies.I do believe over time people can become cold, and hard hearted towards those around them, but i to say that sociopaths do not know the difference between right and wrong is propousperous, because as mentioned earlier before, they try to justify the deeds that have been done... I also beleive anyone can develope such a nature if they choose to make harmful choices, and the more of these choices made, the more desensitized they become to their actions and those done around them... and also.. believe it or not.. unforgiveness has been known to cause mental illness and a cold heart towards others...

I have finally succeeded in exposing my ex-husband as the sociopath that he is. After 15 months of marriage ending in divorce, he was suppoened to court tomorrow and will have to answer to a judge. This whack job will finally pay for what he has done to me (including false incarceration, public embarrassment, loss of income, etc.) Six months into marriage we were in counseling, due to his promiscuity after 2 months of marriage. I gave it a shot, until the counselor, on one of my \\\"alone\\\" visits, opened a book and showed me all of the characteristics of a Sociopath. He fit almost every characteristic! I was then told by the Psychologist that he was \\\"setting me up\\\". I started recording his outbursts, to protect my self with local police. He called the police 52 times the 1st 12 months of our marriage; scratching his face saying I did it, etc. Finally, with my ammunition, he is being investigated by the IRS (not filing a return since 1976). So far, he is into them for $300,000,(so far). He is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (selling securities without a license). He lost his job of 10 years because of this. Lastly, the home he lives in was bought by his parents (his enablers) and they fraudulently filed homestead tax, so now the local tax office is going back and doubling their taxes for the last 3 years (I think they should have gone back 7 years). This is sweet revenge! Sociopaths really have no place in society and are big fat zero\\\'s in my book. He should have taken my advise and just written me a check. I would have been much cheaper than what he is spending on attorneys and legal fees. He\\\'s 50 and it\\\'s about time he take responsibility for his actions. I\\\'m still out alot of money, but his exposure is worth more than I lost!

It is important to note that a dominant personality in and of itself does not mean someone is a sociopath, people by nature can be dominant at times

(instinctively, due to a need to protect for example a father might set a rule in place for a child, this is human nature)

sociopaths however take dominance to an EXTREME, abusive, and unhealthy level. So what the author should have made clear is that sociopaths have a tendancy to over-dominate without regard to the other person or people's feelings.

If you are naturally dominant, do not jump to the conclusion that you must be a sociopath, if however you are ABUSIVELY dominant rather than PROTECTIVELY, I will not judge and say you ARE a sociopath, simply that you need to evaluate yourself in regards to the possibility

I agree with Robert,protective dominance is not a bad thing at all, in fact it is healthy.
an example of a sociopath like that to which Robert referred, would be a wife beater, Abusive dominance goes BEYOND what is natural protective instinct and often becomes coldly possessive,If you are abusive in any way to those around you, get help before it escalates....

I have a son, whom after reading a few books on sociopathy I am convinced is a sociopath. He has almost all the behaviors discribed. He was diagnosed as ADHD as a child so I thought his behavior was probably his ADHD diagnosis. I tried many times to talk to him about the malicious lies and conning he was doing. He always denied everything, even when caught in lies. I begin to doubt myself but nevertheless his behavior kept haunting me. He entered the Military at 18 y.o.(he is now 20) he refuses to talk to anyone in the family other than his brother(my oldest son). He comes back on leave and he only hangs out with his girlfriend(they are now engaged), he seen his family 2 times during his whole leave and that was both at family gatherings not individually. His grandfather(with whom he appeared to be close to when younger) was hospitalized while he was on leave for a cardiac condition and he didn\'t even go to the hospital to see him. He doesn\'t call his grandparents or I. We haven\'t heard from him in several months.We call and he refuses to answer. He refuses to give us an address to write him or send him anything. We sent him boxes of things previously and when he seen us in March he didn\'t even say thanks. The town put on a \"welcome home\" event and he never thanked his grandparents or I or the town for the event. I paid his plane tickets(both ways) each time he has come home. His grandparents and I went to his graduation in CA, which is across the U.S. for us and we flew him home. I want to know if there is anything that we can do to help him realize that this situation is very painful to his whole family, his uncles, aunts, grandparents have told him that we are very pained at the way he is treating us and what makes it worse is the fact that his girlfriend is going along with him. If we call her and try to talk with her she will say I will have to let you know about that I will have to talk to him first. He has made numerous comments to my oldest son that he will call us or that his upcoming marriage isn\'t about love but that you just find the best you can and go from there. Did I mention her family does have money and has promised to help them out when he gets out of the military. Please if anyone knows of support groups or anything that I can do to help my family and I ease our pain of him shunning us then please I am open to any advice. Thanks.
Deb

To Deb, my best advice is counseling(for him especially) but if that does not help you may have to cut ties with him(at least for a while, and see if that's a wake-up call) but that's a drastic step. Seek advice and counseling both in your Local area and online, books etc. I sincerely wish you the best in seeking help.

God Bless

to the person who left the last comment, I will have you know that anyone you ask that knows my stepdad will tell you that both he and his dad fit the profile and they are often vicious,brutal,and dominating, so please my friend do not take it upon yourself to insult my credibility, I have talked to psychologists and done extensive research, your comment has been removed for the reason that it is not productive and merely serves to be insulting and degrading, so....with that said I apologize if you yourself did not find the article to your liking, but I wrote it to inform so that people who are associated with such people can be aware.

Thank you and take care

Recently at the beginning of this summer my boyfriend and I moved into his grandmas apt until we found a place of our own. I\'m a freshman in college and taking psychology and have been learning about sociopaths. I started to get my mind thinking about my boyfriend and his ways we\'ve been together for 3 years and he was so very sweet the first couple of months then things started changing I\'ve caught him in lies with phone numbers as evidence of cheatin and a girl who\'s number i called said they had been together when he was out of town. Now I know that is cheating but he also says he loves me but he is irritable mostly everytime he comes home from work and he shrugs me away when i come close but only comes to me when he\'s ready. If i do something that he doesn\'t like he grabs me and leaves marks. I know people that have important jobs and he\'s always asking me to try to get them to help him out and do something for him. He used to steal but i have no clue if he\'s done it recently or still does it. I feel in my gut that there\'s is something wrong with him but does this mean he is a sociopath? What other ways can i know for sure?

Thank you and god bless

To clueless, there are a number of possibilities, likely though he could very well be, there is no real way to know for sure unless you can read minds, I'd say however go with your instincts,it is said that a woman has an intuition, and apparently yours is telling you something, whether he is a sociopath or not, if he is being abusive or cheating on you, I'd say you should part company, a true sociopath's behavior will only worsen with time, the longer you put up with his ways, the longer he will continue them because he will think they are "okay"

However, I would suggest, Pray about it instead of jumping to a conclusion,and whatever your heart is told, Go with it.
That is my best advice, if you want to help your boyfriend to break his negative behavior and you want the relationship to work, Prayer and counseling may help him see the errors of his ways.

If you feel threatened by your boyfriend's behavior, my most drastic suggestion is to leave him for your own safety and peace of mind, hope that helped

I want to get a couple of opinions on the matter.

My best friend is involved with this girl. When they first met, she seemed like an interesting, charismatic, and sociable human being. She\'s a single mother (at 23 I think) and has often made trips out here to visit my friend, and he has made trips out there to see her as well.

About six months ago, things started falling apart. She would come over to see him, and would start to hit on other guys, and say things to my friend that made him feel really bad about himself. As their months together went on, she would go on about how she would go out, leaving her kid in the responsibility of her mother, sister, strangers, and so on, meeting new guys and having relations with them, often sexual in nature. She, knowing full well that my friend loves her totally and completely, would go spouting off on these transgressions, yet at the same time she says that \'she feels really bad about it\' and honest to God loves him. Her excuse is always something around the lines of \'I was really high\' or \'I was really drunk and I didn\'t know what I was doing.\' This is a pattern that kept on over and over until he finally had enough of it, and when he does, it is HER who sends him on a guilt trip.

There have been times where they would argue, and she actually came out and said \'I never loved you. You are pathetic, and so are all of your friends, and I could never imagine loving anyone like you, ever.\' Only to call back about two or three hours later saying that it was a \'test\' to see how upset he would get, to prove to her how much he loves her. To this day, they are in contact (i\'ve strongly advised my friend to drop this girl completely) and she continues to play this little \"I did this but I\'m sorry\" game with him, manipulating him into this sort of self-loathing state. Finally, when he tells her that he\'s had enough of her games, she goes on to say horrible things about the way he treats her, and how hard her life is with her kid, and she uses the fact that she is a single mom in order to really get him to feel down on himself.

To me, this girl is someone who not only manipulates the hell out of my friend, but twists her little conniving patterns into actions that ultimately make my friend look bad because she says that they aren\'t her fault, but are my friend\'s fault.\"If you didn\'t do this, than this and that wouldn\'t have happened.\" She goes off and meets guys, tells my friend all about it, and then often conjures up an excuses so that her transgression wasn\'t really a transgression at all, but just a mistake, and that it\'s not her fault. She couldn\'t give a damn about her kid, who she often leaves in the care of her mother, sister, or whoever is willing to take the money for babysitting so that she can go out and party.

Maybe I\'m a bit paranoid, but to me, this definitely sounds like the behavior of a sociopath. Because of this, (and other reasons) I\'ve been trying to get my friend to drop this girl for good, and never speak to her, see her, or talk about her again. All she does is make him, and everyone around him feel like hell. I haven\'t told him that I think she is a sociopath, but I am pretty sure that this girl is pretty damn close to the real deal if she isn\'t one. It\'s a bit difficult to believe that she isn\'t.

My question to the people here, and anyone can answer, am I going a bit wild with the assumption of her sociopathy, or are my fears legitimate here. If they are, what would be your advice? I worry about my friend probably more than I worry about my own family because he really doesn\'t take the time to worry about himself. He\'s caught up so much in everyone else\'s shit that he really can\'t make a pleasurable, happy life for himself. What would your advice be to deal with this girl, and how should I approach the subject with him, if I should even approach it at all?

Help would be very much appreciated here. Thank you.

to Kiernan Mooney,Tell your friend that BECAUSE you are his friend, that you are concerned about him being in contact with the girl when it's so obviously unhealthy, just from reading your comment I think he should have dropped her a long time ago. That may sound harsh but I'm just being honest. Your friend deserves so much better.

Hi
i have question. Probably i was a victim of sociopath. What i know exactly that it was emotional hell ( manipulations, emotional blackmail, game \"poor me\", absolut cruelty and so on).
Now i came to conclusion that it was personality disorder. However I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. for me all disorders from cluster B have the similar traits which are synerged in the description of sociopaths. Another disorder what is mystery for me- passive-agressive one. The differences are so litlle and ambivalent. For exmaple the suicide attempts in BDP for me is the act of sociopathic manipulations. Manifistation of passive-agressive disorder is very abusive for victim too BUT psychologists say it may be treated!!!
Who can define the real and objective differences?

"For exmaple the suicide attempts in BDP for me is the act of sociopathic manipulations. Manifistation of passive-agressive disorder is very abusive for victim too BUT psychologists say it may be treated!!!
Who can define the real and objective differences?"

First off, how are suicide attempts a sociopathic act? there are thousands of suicides yearly, are you attempting to tell me that they are all sociopaths or am I missing something? because that seems to be what you're insinuating and that seems very insensitive on your part.....forgive me if there was a misunderstanding......

as for your ? of "Who can define the real and objective differences?"

I'd say talk to a psychologist

If anyone can help, please do. I feel like I have been and still am the possibly a victim of a sociopath, maybe he has something else going on...I just know his thought process is not right. For the past year and a half I feel that I\'ve been tortured, mentally and physically, feeling that I was never TRUELY able to get away. I couldn\'t even begin to name everything that went on, but it has ranged from blackmail to torture. I don\'t mean the cutting off limbs kind of torture though. An example would be, during my pregnany I had a lot of problems and had to have several sergeries, after I would leave the hospital, when we would get home he would hide my pain medication if I didn\'t do what he wanted me to. I would cry and beg...he would have no mercy, until I gave into his requests. During and after my pregnany he had to have complete control of everything to do with the baby...my diet, how long I nursed, and how often I nursed. If I did not comply he would physically hurt me until I did what he wanted. Now this man is trying to get custody of our baby daughter and I feel helpless in the matter. He has lied about me in court, he has found other people to lie for him. Basicly he has accused me of doing things that he has done to me. I feel like he acts this way because maybe he can\'t help it, but I can\'t let a man like this have control of my baby daughter\'s life. How do you get passed someone like this? How do you beat someone who has half ruined your life and just keeps going? I have vertually no proof of anything he has done to me, because he was never stupid enough to do it in front of people. Everytime I have called the police for things he has done to me, his claim is that he did it in self defense because he says I attacked him...of course he\'s lieing, but there\'s nothing I can do. Does ANYONE have any ideas or suggestions on this matter?

in need of help,
buy a cheap recorder and get him on the phone to admit his behavior and motives, this is admissable evidence in court. show no mercy! he will permanently scar your precious baby!

Erik,
he will admit nothing, i have tried. he is super paranoid about being recorded. at this point in time my attorney had advised me to have absolutely no contact with him. it is hard, he is calling everyone i know and telling them that i'm a liar and making false acusations. he is driving me absolutely insane. the only thin i have on recording is him telling me that i will "pay" and that it will "cost" me dearly if i fight him in court. do you think that will help my case at all?

To in need of help, anything you've caught on recording that the court percieves as a threat will help your case(provided it is admissable and not obtained by illegal means) How much what you've caught on recording helps your case often depends on how obvious or not that the percieved threat is.

Example, if someone says they're going to harm you, that's an obvious threat and grounds for the court to intervene without much trouble, however if someone says "You'll be sorry" that's a little more vague and the courts might not intervene until something more happens.

It is best to report any incidents, no matter how "minor" they may seem...better safe than sorry after all