Sociopathy (Psychopathy)

People join hate groups because they feel disillusioned with society, rightly or wrongly, and they feel they must blame others for what is wrong in their lives. Many join hate groups for about the same reasons as the people who use illicit drugs or have illicit sex.

• It makes them feel better, or at least not quite so bad. They have low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, and nothing positive in their own lives to make them feel good.
• Feeling superior to (and hatred for) 'those negroes', 'those Jews', 'those gothic kids,' 'those homophobes,' or even 'those Yankees fans' saves them the trouble of having to find something better to do.
• Since hating (or shooting up) takes away the need to consider what they are doing, they never face up to the harm that they are doing to themselves as well as to others.

There's always another, smaller element in the hate groups. This is the group of psychopaths who use hate groups to 'justify' their desire to cause pain, suffering and destruction. A few of these in each hate group are also making a good living out of it. Hitler, Himmler and Goering lived very well for more than ten years.

Now, sometimes, what they are joining is not really a hate group, but something falsely labeled as such by folks with certain biases. Pro-family groups are generally not hate groups, for instance, yet most are listed as such by those who see their mere existence as offensive. A few of the groups that defend sexual minorities share similar characteristics with hate groups, but their rhetoric is politically correct and usually tolerated.

Then there are those who become a part of hate groups for seemingly noble causes or because they have genuinely been victimized by people of the targeted group. Some aren't really hardcore haters, but just lonely people looking for those who share similar interests. The problem is that more vocal or aggressive members drown out their voices and pressure them to do things that they don't want to do.

mythomania also known as pseudologia fantastica or pathological lying) is a condition involving compulsive lying by a person with no obvious motivation. The affected person might believe their lies to be truth, and may have to create elaborate myths to reconcile them with other facts

-Wikipedia

If they apologize, then they don't really mean it. A sociopath does not feel remorse so you can't get them to be sorry.

One has to have a conscience to "own up to" one's actions and theirdestructiveness, or else the confrontation will be perceived as anattack. This doesn't mean that sociopaths should not be confronted,only that until a way is found to change the way they learn, it won'thave the desired effect.

Sociopaths are the way they are because, from birth onward, the brainof a sociopath stores learning information in a random, chaotic wayinstead of in the usual designated places in the cerebral cortex. Partof this involves lack of crucial neurotransmitters, but as of yet noone knows whether this lack is caused BY the brain abnormality or is the cause OF it. It's probably the former.

Since their information -- including emotional information -- isscattered all over both brain hemispheres, it takes too long for thebrain to retrieve and process information, and the entire process ofsocialization becomes so ponderous that ultimately it fails. (See thebook "Without Conscience" by Robert Hare, PhD.)

Since the entire cerebral cortex of a sociopath is almost never ata normal level of alertness (their waking brain waves resemble thewaves of a normal person in a light sleep, alpha waves), this may bethe crucial deficiency that cripples the developing child's ability todevelop many aspects of the human mind. As the child grows, some of thebasic mental and emotional skills the rest of the world takes so forgranted never develop, and crucial among these is the thing calledconscience. That one never develops at all.

Some people may envy the apparent calm of a sociopath, but theirexistence is misery. They cannot connect with other human beings, andas babies they are so uncomfortable being held that they fight towriggle free of all but the most basic necessary contact. Theirheartbroken parents often blame themselves or the child, never knowingthat what is really wrong with the child is in his or her brain.

Under the almost somnolent calm sociopaths project is a constantsense of restlessness and unfulfillment that is nothing other than thebasic need all people have to receive stimulation and support fromothers. But a sociopath has no way of receiving this even if it'soffered. The endless frustration of this, and a discomfort that theyare utterly incapable of articulating or even really understanding, is the source of much of their chronic anger and aggression.

Plus, since they grow up in constant conflict with authority, theyare most often bitterly angry and sometimes violent adults, brittle andcombatative under a thin veneer of charm. Offered friendship, theyappear to respond, but quickly discover that they can get nothing fromit; they see the obvious pleasure of other people in such contact witheach other, and they often seek to "even it up" by stealing what theycan -- material goods, or even human lives. They are constantly toldhow "bad" they are, and by adulthood, most of them believe it. Andbehave accordingly.

Sociopaths rarely feel true happiness. If they do, it is usually inthe condition that some kind of intervention -- such as one of thesmall number of medications made for other conditions that may alsohelp somewhat with theirs -- has taken place, and it will be fleeting.For all their frantic racing around, they are really very dead inside,and this is tragic beyond description. Imagine spending your entirelife trying to get your brain to wake up! And failing. Thousands oftimes.

Only time will tell.

And some people have said that the only way to persuade a sociopath or psychopath to seek help is by threatening him/her with DEATH!!

One way -- or another...

And the main reason sociopaths don't usually seek helpfrom their fellow human beings is that they can'ttrust, rather than that they like being as they are. Plus, they canoften sense exactly what sort of a response any call for help on theirpart is most likely to elicit from professionals and lay folk alike.Sociopaths are not breezing along in paradise. It isn't all a game.It's a truly miserable existence. And it can be made better. It may notbe "curable" yet, but it most certainly isn't as hopeless as so manypeople say. There is therefore nothing to be gained and much to be lostwhen therapists and lay folk try to ostracize sociopaths from the humanrace entirely! Sensationalism and superstition will only preventprogress.

This was written on another question on the same essential topic as this one, by a self-confessed sociopath who was officially diagnosed (other than me!) --

• Sociopaths, though born that way, are people too. To avoid anentire group of people is absurd. That's like saying, "Since thesepeople have dark skin, everyone should completely avert themselves fromthem." I am a moderate sociopath, and though part of me doesn't want tochange, another does. Many times it is really entertaining to see howstupid people can be, especially when they're so gullible as to believeevery word that mellifluously flows from my lips. Yes, I am parasitic,but even so, there are some people I would like to stop hurting. Ican't find any websites that can provide a way to help my sociopathy.Maybe people like you should stop your self-victimisation and starttrying to actually help people like me! I knew I was a sociopath beforethe age of ten but have only recently had it officially diagnosed. I ameighteen years old now, and I have been lying and destroying others'sanity for a long time. So, please post some helpful tidbits that mighthelp sociopaths resist the sweet urges we get when we encounter weakhuman beings. When you cut us, do we not bleed? When you kill us, do wenot die? Do you honestly think that you're being lied to andmanipulated when we sincerely ask for help. Listen to yourselves! Thisis the internet; ergo, you're safe from our fortified mental grasp.

The essay that follows was written in another answer by anotherself-admitted sociopath, who actually might not be a sociopath. Stillanother person added the brief comment to that effect after her tragic essay.

• umm... i kindof am one... just so y'all know, it's not so muchfun being one either. i read that sentence up there, "Incapable of realhuman attachment to another." i don't even know what that is, i see it,i approximate it... it's like being outside a door looking through adirty window and watching re-runs of people I've seen in love or withchildren or with friends, and scratching, sometimes banging at theglass to get in and... nothing. I'm fond of people in every sense ofthe word, their little quirks and habits, the way they see life, exceptif they went away it wouldn't bother me much other than finding someoneelse to be fond of. i don't have friends, i only date military menbecause they're ok with only having a girlfriend for a couple monthsand i tell them in advance i won't wait for them... i don't know whatelse to do to limit the damage i inflict on others just as a result ofthem knowing me, short of moving to the mountains... but i still movebetween 2-5 times a year :( it's kindof hard walking around knowingi'll never have what i see making other people so happy and runningwhen i can tell someone is getting close just because i don't want tohurt them more later down the road... i'd like it alot to settle down,i WANT to be able to feel more with people, but it's hard to miss whatyou never had. i want what i THINK it would feel like... it'd be easyto give in and let someone stay because I'm so lonely... but hey, i'vewritten enough, just know i try to be a responsible little sociopath, iwon't ever get married or have kids, i practice safe sex, i won't stayin one city for long... everything you all take for granted i willnever let myself have just because i WANT to take it for granted. beinglike this won't go away so hopefully i can limit the amount of hatethrown my way by limiting my interaction with people, i don't know whatelse to do. and you all might not belive this, but i am sorry,hopefully i can speak for the other people who have damaged your lives.

Comment: The above testimony is clearly not indicative of asociopath because she seems to make efforts to keep from harmingothers, even if it doesn't benefit herself.

There are stories of people diagnosed as sociopaths who did improveto some degree, with the most ceaseless and diligent help. But sincethe vast majority of this huge body of people (there are more thanthree hundred million sociopaths on Earth) cannot get that kind ofattention, they turn to abusing those they envy, and often to crime. Itis certainly vengeance: "If I can't have any of this, why should you?"This is the real reason sociopaths lash out at strong and kind people.No matter what they say, they know that inside, they are always emptyand damaged beyond repair.

Only in neuroscience is there hope for these incomplete people. Thekey lies in awakening the brain, which is risky because sociopaths aremuch more prone to seizures than the rest of the population, and that-- an uncontrolled blast of electrical discharge spreading through thebrain and causing violent convulsions -- is likely to be the firstresponse from brain pathways that, after years or even decades ofsilence, are suddenly flooded with impulses. But if the devices ofneurosurgeons can be tweaked to avoid this shock, and all else relatedto this idea is workable, it's feasible that small electronic devicesplanted in the brain (these already exist, but are not yet being usedfor mental illness) could open up a closed connection.

That leaves us with the problem of whether a lifetime of scatteredinformation can ever be set into order. Probably the best that could behoped for would be a kind of retraining -- like what is now done withstroke survivors and head injury patients -- that would be bothintensive and compensatory.

One of the things that would be necessary would be to try to socializethe person whose congenital birth defect made such a thing completelyimpossible before. Whatever intervention is used, be it drugs orcomputer chips or what have you, it would probably -- I'd say certainly-- be excruciating for the patient at first. With no knowledge of howto cope with the emotions the rest of the world has been dealing withall their lives, the recovering sociopath would be rendered asvulnerable as a baby. Which makes sense, because some of the most basicaspects of the human mind would be developing from the primordialstasis in which they had remained since birth!

A person thus treated would never be fully normal, but the humanbrain is amazing in the way it adapts and continues to develop allthrough life. And given the utterly joyless and meaningless existence asociopath leads, any improvement is better than none.

The matter of missing neurotransmitters in a sociopath is, ofcourse, another problem. Would "waking up" the cerebral cortexeventually stimulate production of these? Or would they have to besynthesized? Only time will tell.

Just as science understands that epilepsy is not demonic possession,that people with dissociative conditions are not harboring ghosts ordevils in their bodies, and that depression is not a "deadly sin," itwould and will be able to prove that sociopathy happens for a reasonand that it can be dealt with. Sociopaths do very bad things. Butbranding them all "pure evil" isn't going to help anyone. It's justmore hate.

I have commented elsewhere that the human brain is the greatest newfrontier in many ways. (Although I certainly have no lack of interestin space.) Sociopaths, along with other "hopeless cases" like peoplewith Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, Asperger's, ADD, ADHD,autism, and the schizophrenias, along with more common disorders suchas depression and addiction, and so on, are a mystery, but scientistshave a way of hammering away at mysteries until they unravel them, and,be assured, they are well on their way to the core of this one.

Its very strange to me, however, that I wasn't happy being on the emotional roller coaster he had me on and yet HE left ME and I haven't heard from him in weeks. He's telling everyone how great this new woman is and falling all over himself to make her happy. They've been together almost two months now. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to get over him -- the good AND the bad.

Maybe I need to know that I am lucky that he's out of my life and it didn't get to the point of him being physically abusive towards me (I've been told that had we moved in together or gotten married, the physical abuse would have started within a short time). I miss him, can't believe that he's with someone else and its like I never existed to him. I can't seem to get past this.

They don't change and he will continue to leave a trail of hurt people. I am guessing he is narcissistic also....sociopaths usually are. He wants his life to look like a fairytale (perfect)....because he is perfect and wouldn't settle for less than this. I am sure you were the perfect girl once too and all his friends said how he has never been this way before...blah blah blah. Hang in there and don't be jealous....she can have him and hopefully she figures him out sooner than later too but you worry about you and get out there and get your life back!

Last week I found a card from a girl he has been seeing for almost three years! He tells her the same thing. I think he was actually going to propose to her though, because with her he also got instant friends (he had none of his own), and even a dog he told me was his but is actually hers! When he found out I exposed him for the liar and cheater he is, he called and told me I was evil and ruined his life! That probably hurt the most, to realize that the other relationship ending was so devastating for him. But again, it's also about outside appearances and she and her friends and family had really only seen one side of him.

So here he is in this so-called perfect new relationship, yet he was still cheating on her and lying to her face when she would question him about anything, and now we know he has also been with other women since she has seen him (and most definitely there were more girls he was involved with since I've known him). Those new relationships are always perfect from the outside (wasn't yours?) but you know the new girl has her suspicions--she just doesn't have the proof yet. I think you should have a nice little conversation with her.

Also, the way healthy people have relationships is so different from the way sociopaths have them: normal people connect on many levels and tend to have a feeling of some connectedness with the human race; sociopaths don't, period. A sociopath can only have a thin thread of connectedness to persons he or she uses for whatever stimulation they can provide. A healthy person finds that hard to comprehend, and even they can be pulled in.

If you sociopaths are so perfect and strong then why are you always running away from everything? Strong people fight and stick it out through the hardest situations and by this they benefit by learning and they grow stronger in the process.... even if it is an inconvenience for them...and, my dear, that is what you people are...inconveniences to us. Then again, perhaps we shouldn't demonize you because it's your brain chemistry that is the issue from a physiological and psychological standpoint...factors such as inadequate amount of stress hormones etc..etc.. I will not judge you or any of your kind because we all have our little deep dark secrets hidden within our ID and I'd like to think of the "sociopath" as the ultimate personification of the ID where life is all about ruthless gratification no matter how illogical or harmful "It's" actions may be...Looks to me like the ID and the Ego are having a hayday with tugging each others strings...and the superego? pssshhh it's in a caged little box somewhere in the dark crying. You people need to remember that sooner or later, you always get caught and one day you just might get the needle or a bullet lodged into your head from a so-called victim. Hey, we can think about the pleasures of murder too...everyone does now and then...it's completely...human. Your not perfect...infact, you are classified as a person with brain deficiencies so obviously that's not perfect. After being exposed to your brilliance...we learned a thing or two and are able to mimic such behavior ourselves to break out of a dangerous situation...so keep teaching us, Master... and we shall prevail! Just remember that there are psychology books up-to-date, circulating around the world in every language that lists every little detail that describes what you truly are so in reality...you are just playing a very stupid, pointless game that makes up for your lack of whatever it is that you secretly lack. We all have special abilities and manipulation is just another card in the deck for the human race. In case you haven't noticed, there are many normal functioning people who manipulate and get away with it. It's everywhere. You just major in it.

The best way you can send a huge blow to a sociopath is to walk away. I like this one saying "You can fool people some of the time, but you can't fool people all of the time." If you are involved with a sociopath, eventually you will wake up . The things that they say won't add up and their charming façade will fade.