Psychopaths are a favourite subject for film and TV. Often portrayed as serial killers or arch criminals these people are seen as heartless monsters, often cunning and a little odd. In fact most psychopaths stay firmly under the radar.
Psychopaths are also far more common than would you imagine in society and can cause immeasurable damage to those around them. There are a number of factors that make someone a psychopath.
- Superficial charm - They seem approachable and charming at first and can be plausible
- Grandiose self worth - The idea that they are superior to pretty much everyone else in the world
- Need for stimulation - Needs to find activity that excites
- Pathological lying - Constant untruths
- Conning and manipulative
- Lack of remorse or guilt - A Psychopath has no concern for his actions they are never wrong
- Emotional poverty - Despite initial charm they will be cold and unfeeling
- Lack of empathy - The Psychopath cannot put themselves in other's shoes, that cannot imagine how it feels to be others situations
- Parasitic lifestyle - Often psychopaths will live off their loved ones without contributing anything to their daily keep.
- Poor behaviour controls - Not being able to curtail strong emotions such as rage
- Promiscuous sexual behaviour - Psychopaths often exploit others sexually and have no boundaries outside their own needs
- Early behaviour problems - One of the most common factors with this condition is "getting into trouble" when of school age. This is usually criminal in nature.
- Lack of realistic long term goals - This is largely because the psychopath is completely convinced he is superior and any designs he has will lead to absolute success.
- Impassivity - Suddenly deciding to do something without planning
- Irresponsibility - Repeated failures to honour obligations and complete tasks
- Failure to accept responsibility for own actions - The psychopath is never wrong the blame for failure will always be transferred to others.
- Short term "marital" partnerships - Moving swiftly from one partner to the other.
- Juvenile delinquency - Getting in trouble with the authorities from the ages 13-18.
- Carelessness and low deliberation.
- Criminal versatility - The ability to change criminal behaviour to benefit themselves as they see fit.
Every single person reading this will find something on this list and worry that one or two factors may apply to them. Don't worry this is perfectly normal. In fact some Psychopathic traits are useful to society, for example being cold and detached is a really good quality for a surgeon. Most of us would be horrified by the process of cutting into a live body.
However if someone scores highly on this list they are a dangerous and destructive and can cause harm to all those around them. They can be criminal or sub criminal, violent or abusive ... for sure it's best to avoid them. Short term it can be hard to spot a psychopath, however little signs like having a massively inflated opinion of themselves or a callous attitude to animals or humans then step back and be cautious.