The World of Psychopaths Part 2

Kay, for this part I'm digging right into the facts, but if you find anything you dont like, show no mercy, do an entire post ripping it to pieces!! Alright here it is. Psychopath's have traits which mark them out from most people. The problem with identifying these traits is the psychopath's penchant for manipulation, which can fool even some professionals. Here are the traits and a short description of each:

Glib and Superficial: Psychopath's are often witty and articulate. They can be amusing and entertaining conversationalists, ready with a quick and clever comeback, and they can tell convincing stories placing themselves in a good light. To some people though, they appear too slick and too convincing, too obviously incincere and superficial. Astute observers often get the impression that psychopath's are 'play acting', mechanically reading their lines. Typically, they appear to be familiar with sociology, psychiatry, medecine, psychology, philosophy, poetry, literature and art. A signpost to this trait is often a smooth lack of concern at being found out.

Egocentric and Grandiose: Psychopath's have a narcissistic and grossly inflated view of their self-worth and importance, a truly astounding egocentricity and sense of entitlement, as see themselves as the centre of the universe, superior beings who are justified to in living according to their own rules. For example, it is not unusual for them to critisize or fire their lawyers and to take over their own defense, usually with disastrous results. Psychopath's are seldom embarrassed about their legal, financial, or personal problems. Rather, they see them as a temporary setback, the results of bad luck, unfaithful friends, or an unfair and incompetent system.

Lack of Remorse or Guilt: Psychopath's show a stunning lack of concern for the devastating effects of their actions. On the other hand, psychopath's sometimes verbalize remorse, but then contradict themselves in words or actions.Thier lack of remorse or guilt is associated with a remarkable ability to rationalize their behavior and to shrug off personal responsibility for actions that cause shock and disapointment to family, freinds, associates, and others who played by the rules.

Lack of Empathy: As has been said before, psychopath's seem unable to 'walk in someone else's shoes' . Psychopath's view people as little more than objects to be used for their own gratification. The weak and vulnerable - whom they mock rather than pity - are favorite targets. Psychopath's have been known to parasitically bleed other people of their possessions, savings, and dignity; aggressively doing and taking what they want; shamefully neglecting the physical and emotional welfare of their families; engaging in an unending series of casual, impersonal, and trivial sexual relationships; and so forth.

Deceitful and Manipulative: Lying, deceiving, and manipulation are natural talents of the psychopaths. With their powers of imagination in gear and focused on themselves, psychopaths appear amazingly unfazed by the possibility - or even the certainty - of being found out. When caught in a lie or challenged with the truth, they are seldom perplexed or embarrassed, they simply change their stories or attempt to rework the facts so that they appear to be consistent with the lie. They seem proud of their ability to lie. Many observers get the impression that the psychopath's are sometimes unaware that they're lying; its as if the words take on a life of their own.

Shallow Emotions: Psychopath's seem to suffer a kind of emotional poverty that limits the range and depth of their feelings. While at times they appear cold and unemotional, they are prone to dramatic, shallow, and short-lived displays of feeling. Careful observers get the impression that they are play acting and that little is going on below the surface. Sometimes, they claim to experience strong emotions but are unable to describe the subtleties of various states. For instance, they equate love with sexual arousal, sadness with frustration, and anger with irritability. This apparent lack of emotional depth suggests that they know the words, but not the music. Laboratory experiments using biomedical recorders have shown that psychopath's lack the physiological response normally associated with fear. Fear makes us do some things, but it also makes us do others. It is this emotional awareness of the consequences that impels us to take a particular course of action. Not so with the psychopaths, they merrily plunge on, perhaps knowing what might happen, but not really caring. For psychopath's, fear -like other emotions- is incomplete, shallow, largely cognitive in nature.

Impulsive: Psychopath's are unlikely to spend much time weighing the pros and cons of a course of action or considering possible consequences. More than displays of temper, impulsive acts often result from the aim that plays a central role in most of the psychopath's behavior: to achieve immediate satisfaction, pleasure and relief. At an early age most children have already begun to postpone pleasure, compromising with restrictions in the environment. A parent can generally use a promise to put off satisfying a two year olds desires, at least temporarily, but psychopaths never seem to learn this lesson - they do not modify their desires; they ignore the needs of others. Psychopaths tend to live day to day and to change their plans frequently. They give little serious thought to the future and worry about it even less. As one psychopath put it: "If I always think about tommorrow I wont be able to live today."

Poor Behaviour Controls: Besides being impulsive, psychopaths are highly reactive to percieved slights or insults. Most of us have powerful inhibitory controls over our behaviour, even if we would like to respond aggessively we are usually able to keep a lid on. In psychopath's these controls are weak, and the slightest provocation is sufficient to overcome them. As a result, psychopaths are short tempered, or hot headed and tend to respond to frustration, failure, discipline, and criticism with sudden violence, threats, and verbal abuse. However, when psychopaths "blow their stack" their behavior is not out of control, on the contrary they know exactly what they are doing. Their aggressive displays are "cold". It is not unusual for for psychopaths to inflict serious physical and emotional damage on others, sometimes routinely, and yet refuse to acknowledge that they have a problem controlling their tempers.

Need For Excitement: Psychopaths long to live in the fast lane or "on the edge", where the action is. In many cases the action involves breaking the rules. Some psychopaths use a wide variety of drugs as part of their general search for something new and exciting, and they often move from place to place, and job to job searching for a new buzz. Many psychopaths describe "doing crime" for excitement or thrills. The flipside of this is their inability to tolerate routine or monotony. Psychopaths are easily bore. You are unlikely to find them engeaged in occupations or activities that are dull.

Lack of Responsibilty: Obligations and commitments mean nothing to the psychopaths. Their good intentions- "I'll never cheat on you again" - are promises written on air. Their do not honor formal or implied commitments to people, organizations, or principles. Psychopaths are not deterred by the possibility that their actions may cause hardship or risk for others. Psychopaths are frequently successful in talking their way out of trouble - "I've learned my lesson" "You have my word that it wont happen again." "Trust me". They are almost as successful in convincing the criminal justice system of their good intentions and their trustworthiness. They frquently manage to obtain probation, a suspended sentence, or early release from prison, and then ignore the conditions imposed by the courts.

Early Behaviour Problems: Most psychopaths begin to exhibit serious behavioural problems at an earyl age. These might include persistent lying, cheating, theft, fire setting, truancy, class disruption, substance abuse, vandalism, violence, bullying, running away, and precocious sexuality. Because most children exhibit these behaviours at one point or another, especially children raised in violent households, it is important to emphasize that the psychopath's history of such behaviour is more extentsive and serious than that of others, even when compared with those siblings raised in similar settings. Early cruelty to animals is usually a sign of serious emotional or behavioural problems. Adult psychopaths usually describe their childhood cruelty to animals as ordinary events, matter-of-fact, or even enjoyable. Cruelty to other children -including siblings- is often part of the young psychopath's inability to experience the sort of empathy that checks normal people's impulse to inflict pain. Interestingly, the media often shows reports of witnesses and neighbors being taken completely by surprise in reaction to some crime; "I just cant believe he was capable of that" this shows not only the psychopath's power to manipulate others, but also the winesses ignorance of their early history.

Adult Antisocial Behaviour: Impulsive, decietful children who lack empathy and see the world as their oyster will be much the same as adults. The life-long continuity of the self-serving psychopath is truly amazing. Even within prison populations, psychopaths stand out largely because their antisocial and illegal activities are more varied and frequent. Not all psychopaths end up in jail. Many of the things they do escape detection or persecution, or are on the "shady side of the law" For them, antisocial behaviour may consist of phony stock promotions, questionable business and professional practices, spouse or child abuse and so forth.

While all these traits may paint a picture of people who are not human, I believe that surely behind all the self assurance and inhuman traits, theres just a little child looking for some love. Kay, if you wish to add anything at all to this, please do so.