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What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

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101–110 of 119 posts

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#101
Yet another article with misleading information about “psychopathy” (“sociopathy”, “antisocial personality disorder”, etc).

The fundamental pattern these terms are all trying to address is the same: antisocial behavior, or a consistent pattern of behavior that harms others. Do we all have it in us to act selfishly sometimes? Yes. Just like we all have it in us to act altruistically. Psychopathy is a spectrum with Mother Theresa on one end and Hitler on the other. (I realize Mother Theresa may not have actually been all that saintly in real life, but bear with me for the sake of argument.)

The major flaw in the article is how it focuses on someone who was eventually diagnosed as a psychopath after seeking treatment. The issue here is that the people who are actually dangerous, i.e. very high on the Hare psychopathy checklist, i.e. true psychopaths, are never going to voluntarily be diagnosed. Real psychopaths don’t seek treatment to change their behavior. If they get caught, they try to destroy whoever exposed them, and if that doesn’t work, they move on to new targets and start over.

My point is that we need a consistent way to refer to people who are dangerous social predators. It doesn’t matter what the term is, sociopath, psychopath, ASPD, whatever. What matters is that the term doesn’t get watered down or confused with other so-called personality disorders which don’t share this aspect of harm to others. For example, aspergers/autism has absolutely nothing to do with psychopathy. If the term “psychopath” becomes meaningless, then it becomes harder to talk about and expose the real predators in our midst. In other words, the psychopaths win.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#102
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the thing most interesting in the interview was the S/O and friends. What's the value in those relationships to a psychopath? I can't imagine there's the same desire for consensual validation, etc that drives so many normative relationships. I really wish the interviewer dived a bit deeper into what her need fulfillment was in her interpersonal relationships.

It’s touched on obliquely, but psychopaths are impulsive and in constant need of stimulation, which, because of their diminished emotional responses, they largely derive from anti-social behavior. Its adrenaline inducing response is one of the few ways they can “feel.” High functioning psychopaths will often pursue long-term relationships because they provide a consistent source of this kind of stimulation, while als…

> It’s touched on obliquely, but psychopaths are impulsive and in constant need of stimulation, which, because of their diminished emotional responses, they largely derive from anti-social behavior. Its adrenaline inducing response is one of the few ways they can “feel.”

Another way to look at this is that psychopaths seek and respond to different kinds of stimulation. They have little interest in gossip, hanging out or generalized bonding rituals. Instead they may be drawn to competitive, "results-oriented" games where individuals or groups have a clear objective. They may also, on the whole, be more drawn to "high-stakes" games because they perceive less downsides and more potential upsides to such games. Again, this doesn't suggest any real malicious intent. Psychopaths are just using different risk metrics. While some people may shy away from high-stakes status games because they are very sensitive to the potential loss of status, to a psychopath, "loss of status" isn't a thing and so such games can be perceived as pure upside.

> It’s a typical psychopathic lapse into bragging about one’s ability to manipulate or inspire fear in others, albeit under the guise of the ability to “feel concern.”

Again you seem to deliberately attributing some kind of malign intent without justification. This woman is trying to explain how she relates to others and why. There's no reason to think she is lying or that she cannot actually feel concern.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#103
post #59

Judging by how many people in this comment thread identify with the traits described in the article, it probably just shows that those traits are pretty ordinary, just a facet of the normal diversity of humanity, and have probably been with us forever. The true problems of recent societies might in fact be overdiagnosis and Hollywood-style oversimplifications, not the traits themselves. Not everyone needs to be hyper…

“Judging by how many people in this comment thread identify with the traits described in the article, it probably just shows that those traits are pretty ordinary”

Or it could point to the fact that the traits that make an effective “hacker” (tendency to exploit systems to gain power and control) happen to be the same traits that make an effective sociopath.

Broadly speaking, psychopaths exploit social systems while hackers exploit technological systems. But there’s really not much of a barrier. What hackers call “social engineering” is what manipulators and sociopaths would refer to as manipulation.

To be clear, I don’t mean to imply that all hackers are sociopaths. Or even that most of them are. It is quite possible to be an extremely effective hacker with a solid moral foundation. “With great power comes great responsibility”, etc. I’m merely trying to encourage some self-awareness in the hacking community.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#104

Yet another article with misleading information about “psychopathy” (“sociopathy”, “antisocial personality disorder”, etc). The fundamental pattern these terms are all trying to address is the same: antisocial behavior, or a consistent pattern of behavior that harms others. Do we all have it in us to act selfishly sometimes? Yes. Just like we all have it in us to act altruistically. Psychopathy is a spectrum with Mot…

You may actually be confusing and conflating several different "disorders." Certainly it's not clear that psychopaths, sociopaths and ASPD are all just "dangerous social predators." Some would consider psychopaths and sociopaths to be polar opposites. This comment lays it out pretty well [1].

> 1. Psychopaths do not have a conscience (e.g., they do not feel guilt) and do not bond or love like most people. Sociopaths do have a conscience, albeit a weak one, so they are able to feel some degree of guilt in certain situations. However, they usually quickly deflect that guilt and place blame on others for causing to do whatever they feel guilty about. Sociopaths are capable of love but it is usually a very dysfunctional form of love/bonding.

> 2. Psychopaths tend to not take a lot things personally. They don't care if you don't like them. They are usually egotistical, though, so if you attack them personally, they will feel anger but not other forms of emotional hurt/wounding. Sociopaths will feel both and tend to take everything very personally, even stuff that isn't meant to be.

> 3. High-functioning psychopaths tend to think things through and plan their actions/steps in a logical manner without emotions coming into play. Their thinking is very organized and it is about reaching whatever goal they have. If they hurt you in the process, well, that is because you were most likely an obstacle and you got run over for being in the way, but not because it was personal. Psychopaths typically inflict pain because it's a means to an end, not because they enjoy it.

> 4. Sociopaths are basically the opposite: they tend to be very disorganized in their thinking and planning because they are much more subject to certain emotions such as vanity/narcissism, anger and jealously. If you get in their way, they will inflict pain to eliminate you, but will also likely enjoy it. Sociopaths will often seek to inflict pain because they enjoy inflicting it (psychopaths don't get that kind of rush) but will often feel mixed with their anger or violence a tinge of guilt, which their narcissism will require them to deflect as being caused by others (think of the killer who does something to their victims to show regret or respect, such as posing them in a certain manner. It doesn't mean they regret their actions, only that they regret that they were forced by someone or society to kill).

> 5. Most sociopaths end up in jail and have lower than average IQs. Most high functioning psychopaths don't and end up in jobs that require turning down one's emotional reactions, such as a trauma surgeon, butcher or CEO.

[1] https://www.thecut.com/_pages/cjkmuv88b00500xy6u0morj7n@publ...

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#105
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably disagreeing over the meaning of hawk then.

I’m pretty sure we’re not. They can work very well together as long as they all see each other as competent.

No, I think we're disagreeing. Look at the link I made in my original post. By definition, hawks are ones that don't get on well with each other.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#106
post #92
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty silly. But then the article is also really silly. Psychopaths are not superheroes. They don't have magical powers. And, believe it or not, they are absolutely not narcissists who need stimulation from other people. In simplest terms psychopaths are people who do not "get" the particularity of human relationships. To a psychopath, relationships are always and everywhere abstract conceptual power relatio…

>In simplest terms psychopaths are people who do not "get" the particularity of human relationships. Well now, I'm pretty sure you can't use this as a definition for psychopathy, as many other types of disorders fit this definition. In my comment I was thinking of the definition given by this article, and the list of traits it provides. So going by that definition I have to disagree with your argument: "...that peopl…

[deleted]

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#107
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not convinced it requires empathy to recognise that the occasional stumble from someone with a solid track record doesn’t mean they’re not going to perform well again tomorrow.

No, but it erodes trust, and may start a quarrel. Then, without empathy it will be harder for people to deescalate tensions, or want to collaborate with someone they've had a confrontation with and are angry with.

This particular group of people pretty much never fought about anything. They practiced a very extreme version of candor which prevented tension from developing to begin with.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#108
post #99
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In simplest terms psychopaths are people who do not "get" the particularity of human relationships. Well now, I'm pretty sure you can't use this as a definition for psychopathy, as many other types of disorders fit this definition. In my comment I was thinking of the definition given by this article, and the list of traits it provides. So going by that definition I have to disagree with your argument: "...that peopl…

> If someone checks all the boxes from the points raised in this article I would really hope that that sort of behavior never gets normalized because these traits are the exact opposite of what people should strive for in their lives. I don't see any cause for concern. Putting aside Hollywood nonsense there doesn't seem to be any reason why psychopaths would inherently engage in destructive behavior. In reality psych…

Guess you really like your psychopaths....

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m pretty sure we’re not. They can work very well together as long as they all see each other as competent.

No, I think we're disagreeing. Look at the link I made in my original post. By definition, hawks are ones that don't get on well with each other.

They’re just people who are aggressive and disagreeable. Those people are prone to conflict, but can actually get along very well in the right environment.

Re: What It’s Like Living As a Diagnosed Psychopath

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I think we're disagreeing. Look at the link I made in my original post. By definition, hawks are ones that don't get on well with each other.

They’re just people who are aggressive and disagreeable. Those people are prone to conflict, but can actually get along very well in the right environment.

As I said, we are just disagreeing on the definition of hawk.
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