Sociopathy (Psychopathy)

If the victim has not seen this by now (and I sure they have) they either are too frightened or are in denial. It's best to keep out of it because it's a no win situation. Sometimes as much as it hurts us when we see a good friend or family member in a bad situation a few words of wisdom are good, but if they choose not to do anything with your wise words, then it's time to butt out and let them deal with it as best they can.

Except if the person being abused is in real physical danger, in which you might very well notify the authorities and be prepared to offer whatever kind of help is feasible without putting yourself in danger; check out websites for domestic abuse survival.

The current wisdom is not to "back off" but for friends and family to get, if necessary, very aggressive about helping the abused person break free. Where someone's life is in danger, who cares about propriety?
And if the abused woman in that question has children, that makes calling the authorities mandatory -- literally. At least here in New York State, it's ILLEGAL to ignore and fail to report child abuse!

How can you tell if someone is a sociopath?
So, ask yourself. Is he/she scatterbrained and flighty? Does he have trouble in concentrating on more than one thing at a time, to the point that he can endanger his safety or that of others? Does he fly into a rage at the slightest thing? Is he controlling and manipulative? Does he "have to" get rough to have sex? Does he lie a lot, or, if not, at least does he twist and slant the truth and leave out crucial details?

Even if it's "yes" to most of these things, it could be something else.

But it is best to find out.

Numerous websites on the Internet will tell you that research using brain scanning technology has recently revealed that the brain of a psychopath functions and processes information differently.

Are you involved with a psychopath (extreme sociopath)? You may not know because they can be very charming and friendly and can appear to be altruistic, until you get close and inevitably they do something threatening or immoral and then you must set limits that disappoint them. The near-constant state of frustration and dissatisfaction felt by a true psychopath is the source of not only their rages but those eerie, on-and-off-like-a-faucet tears. (Yes, tears are seen even in some men, though of course still more common in children and women.)

But, don’t assume anyone is a psychopath based only on the person’s apparent attitude and behavior. It is far more complex than that, including factors in the pattern of the person's life and many other characteristics. Please don’t go around assuming or calling someone a psychopath just because he/she may have some of the warning signs. Get a professional opinion from a qualified mental health professional if you think you are involved with a psychopath. And then ask what to do, not only for the psychopath but for yourself, because being involved with a psychopath is risky.

No, sociopaths by definition are incapable of loving...


Sociopaths usually neglect or even abuse their children, because they are not able to form attachments to any other human beings if not treated.

Crippled as they are neurologically, sociopaths are yet shrewd, and they're always looking out for themselves in a way similar to that of a loner predator. Seeing others like them actually benefiting from treatment will have to start persuading them that there's something to gain in going for help after all. Not being rejected or met with "We can't help you; you're evil incarnate," or the equivalent thinly disguised in euphemistic psychology jargon; NOT being met with a situation where they'd have to substitute symptoms of an "acceptable" illness in place of those they bear in secret -- that would almost certainly, if gradually, have an effect: if a sociopath can clearly see a benefit coming from admitting his or her real situation, there's nothing to stop him or her from doing just that.

It's already started to happen, if in a tiny, barely perceptible trickle.

Right now, all science has at the ready for them is to use various types of preexisting medication given in attempts to counteract the chaotic way the brain of a sociopath functions. That and types of talk therapy carefully altered to avoid the pitfalls that have in the past caused regular therapies to make sociopaths worse instead of better. But the more that scientists such as Robert Hare and his colleagues delve into and experiment with the new types of brain scans and learning what makes sociopaths tick like human bombs, the more likely that it becomes with each passing year that a means will soon be isolated to defuse those bombs.

The primary source of a sociopath's infamous rage is frustration, of a sort so alien and so extreme that almost no one else can understand what it means. Once they start getting taken seriously, that frustration, and the wild rage it provokes, will lessen, and since it is a primary source of the constant distrust that makes regular therapy fail sociopaths, the defusing of that rage and its maddening causes will be a huge step in the right direction.

And that will benefit everyone involved.

That's basically the whole world!

Some newer studies indicate that the real total of psychopaths (for both genders) is FOUR percent of the population.

Two books just out, Martha Stout's "The Sociopath Next Door" and Robert Hare, PhD.'s "Without Conscience," are very informative and readable, if disturbing.

A sociopath is a person who, usually due to a congenital brain disorder but sometimes due to trauma to the brain suffered after birth, cannot process emotional information the way other people do. The resulting lack of connection to other people, and the terrible frustration this brings, are the reasons for the behavior of a sociopath.

The two books mentioned tell a lot, but they do not tell everything. On the Internet there are actually blogs by diagnosed sociopaths aimed at getting other people to try to grasp what is going on with them.

Sociopaths understand intellectually (cognitively) what they cannot understand emotionally. So, depending how you look at it, they do not KNOW the harm they do, but they are aware of it in the most detached and unemotional sense.

People are liars because they can't handle the truth. Lying is not limited to a single gender. Why a man might tell lies could include the following reasons:

1. He feels his ego is threatened. He is invested in a certain image of himself, and when there are inconsistencies, he may resolve them by lying.

2. He may lie to protect his privacy or to create distance. Men typically don't like being mothered, and they may find being taken care of to be demeaning. So he may lie to attempt to prevent nurturing behaviors in others.

3. He may lie to keep others from worrying needlessly. A public servant might tell their spouse on the phone something other than the true nature of their work to try to shield them from some of the worry. What wife wouldn't worry if her husband called her and said he was in the middle of defusing a bomb?

4. Sometimes he may lie for noble reasons. For instance, a police officer called a man to tell him something happened to his family. There were 2 fatalities and the officer just said everyone was injured and to come to the hospital. The officer admitted he lied and said it was for the father's own good, that he didn't want him to wreck on the way.

5. He did something wrong, broke a vow, or has a guilty conscience.

I am a diagnosed sociopath so I answer this question from my own experience.

This is a yes and no sort of question.

With some people I drop them on the dime when they have nothing more to offer to me. That was the entire person of getting ahold of them first. I can look right through people and I love the pleasure of pain and gain.

Be it, their pain helps me gain what I want and I either find their suffering amusing or I don't care. I never have. If you have nothing more for me to take, I leave you behind. You are, and always have been, worthless. A pawn in my game.

Now go to the next part and I have 'broken it off' with this man many a time before... but I always yank him back because it excites me. I enjoy the thrills of our relationship and I love the thrill of him cheating on his girlfriends and I love it even more when they find out and they are broken hearted. I won. I won. I won. He's mine, not yours.

But I only keep him around because he offers something, entertainment. Even if he were to stop talking to me today I would feel a jolt of agitation or sadness for a moment, but not for the reasons a normal person would. Then just like that it is gone. The feeling is there but its so remarkably short lived that it does not effect me.

So yes and no is the answer.

It all depends on the person, and the taste the sociopath has.

Speaking from my experience I think that there probably are different levels. However they are so clever at disguising their behaviour and have you have been so sucked into believing in them that you will think that they are over it. I thought so as I believe there were times when it wasnt in full swing. Clever manipulative abusive (verbally ) controlling and great at mirroring you or someone they like. Even down to the same haircut. To answer the question then ..................I am really not sure. As I said i though that we were over the lying behaviour but I was to find out that it came and went. Mostly came with other people as he lied to them like you wouldn't have believed. His final words were This town is doing my head in. No his head was already done in. I have studied a lot about the life of a sociopath and I reckon there is a core personality disorder which is the same in most sociopaths. Enviroment has a lot to do with the way they react. But remember they are secretive and have no conscience so how will we ever know what level they are??

Unfortunately, sociopathies are character disorders, and cannot be cured, at least by any technique known at this time. What you can do is try and set a specific set of "rules" of behavior a true sociopath can learn by rote. If this is done well, it can ease a lot of the difficulties the sociopathic client experiences.

See the Related Links for "deviantcrimes.com: sociopathy" to the bottom for the answer.


The primary source of a sociopath's infamous rage is frustration, of a sort so alien and so extreme that almost no one else can understand what it means. Once they start getting taken seriously, that frustration, and the wild rage it provokes, will lessen, and since it is a primary source of the constant distrust that makes regular therapy fail sociopaths, the defusing of that rage and its maddening causes will be a huge step in the right direction.

In her book, Martha Stout expresses the hope that people in general will stop excluding groups of other people as less than human -- ethnic, racial, the disabled, and even the mentally ill -- except for one group among the latter. It's apparently perfectly okay to dismiss one group alone of people as less than human, and she does: the sociopaths. And many other people do, too.

And sociopaths know that. And people whose messed-up brain circuitry makes it almost impossible for them to trust others certainly aren't ever going to try again after getting hit with THAT.

Sociopaths don't always behave as though they're invulnerable. Some have said, "You don't know this, but it hurts to be me." People sneeringly say to this, "Another of your miserable lies!" But it is in fact a miserable truth.

Being angry at them is understandable, but why do people insist on justifying their anger by dehumanizing the object of their rage? Sociopaths may seem like aliens, but they aren't. Perhaps what really galls the others is that when they look at sociopaths, in certain tiny ways they see aspects of themselves, for everyone has some antisocial thoughts.

Also, sociopaths hurt a lot of people. What seems to hurt most is the idea that the sociopath is breezing happily through life having a blast while a trail of wounded victims struggle to put their shattered lives back together.

No sociopath breezes through life. They just know how to make it look like they do. It's part of the sick game they play because they can't do much of anything else, as they are.

If sociopathy is treated instead of ignored and shunned, this won't have to happen.

Those who would have been hurt by sociopaths might not be able to fully appreciate that they escaped harm because neuroscience finally found a way to treat these people who would otherwise have hurt them, but the thing that makes the most difference is that, in the final analysis, they wouldn't have to know.

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

I have commented elsewhere that the human brain is the greatest new frontier in many ways. (Although I certainly have no lack of interest in space.) Sociopaths, along with other "hopeless cases" like people with Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, Asperger's, ADD, ADHD, autism, and the schizophrenias, along with more common disorders such as depression and addiction, and so on, are a mystery, but scientists have 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.

And that will benefit everyone.

If you were involved with one and he/she is a chameleon and fools others (only for a short time usually) then worry about getting on with your own life and realizing that others can look after themselves. Sociopath/narcissist will hang themselves every time ... they just have to open their mouths!

Here is some advice and input: * The best way to help a sociopath: If you are married to one give him/her an ultimatum of either getting help or ending it (the relationship). Hopefully, you have support from family and friends that will help you through this. As you are probably aware, a sociopath believes their own lies and does not think that they are a problem. They think everyone else is the problem. If you have any children, then the best thing you can do for them is get out of the relationship, especially if your partner has no interest in going for therapy. I did and still have four children, and my biggest mistake was believing that things were going to get better, and I kept trying harder and harder. My two teens have many problems now and are both in therapy. My 15 year-old especially has no respect for me and thinks that I am the liar because, as you might know, the sociopath can be very manipulative. I also have been going for therapy, and my therapist told me that in order for a sociopath to get help they need to go for A LOT of intensive therapy sessions, and they have to want to get help. Most of the time they do not get help because they do not think they have a problem. My exhusband tells me that he just has issues with me he doesn't need to get help. "I am the crazy one." I have heard it all. No matter what your situation is at this moment I was there to I have four children two that have autism. If you partner is not willing to go and get help GET OUT! Do whatever you have to do especially if you have children. You don't want them to grow up to become like your partner and repeat the cycle. There are a lot of resources out there check them out if you don't have a support system. Its been about 2 years now I don't have much contact with my ex, and I have never felt better. It's like being let out of prison! I promise you will feel the same way. Maybe not at first, but you will. Life is too short to spend it with someone that treats you badly, and you will discover life is wonderful and fun and you won't look at a new day dreadfully as you once did. My suggestion is to tell them to get help if they are sincere, and if they do it then great! It's going to take a while. Remember, they did not become that way in a day, but if they don't want to get help, then GET OUT! * Most "experts" say that there is no help for a sociopath. They are born that way and will die that way. It is best to avoid them. * You cannot help a sociopath. They are incurable, manipulative and inherently evil. My only advice is this: -Avoid them at all costs. Even if it is family involved. -Set some rules. Tell family members that you want nothing to do with their issues and that you dont want to hear about her. When they start fighting amongst themselves just stay out of it. Completely! -Hope to God that whomever is with her will wake up and see what they are involved with. This will take some time, but rest assured that a true sociopath will eventually destroy her own marriage. Their life goes in cycles. You my friend, are unfortunatly just a temporary rest stop on their lifelong road to destruction. * I know there must be some way to have at least some improvement. I am bipolar and my medication helps me but doesn't fix me. Nothing will ever take my disease away. And I imagine that it is the same way for people who are sociopaths. * The book "The SocioPath Next Door" did wonders for me. * Sociopaths are taught at a very young age that they are close to worthless. They believe this and they then reject love and don't really understand it. They say, no no no I really don't deserve your love, I'll even prove it and then they do something horrible like lie or cheat or leave you. It has been said numerous times that the patient has to want treatment. That is probably the first and most difficult hurdle. But with enough love and faith and preserverence, I think you can help them. * Even psychologists must assess their patients in a scientific, controlled manner to have any hope in attaining accuracy. Our society should keep self-help books to rule our own actions and cease trying to apply limited, contextual information to label and control others for our own advantage. * Sociopaths, though born that way, are people too. To avoid an entire group of people is absurd. That's like saying, "Since these people have dark skin, everyone should completely avert themselves from them." I am a moderate sociopath, and though part of me doesn't want to change, another does. Many times it is really entertaining to see how stupid people can be, especially when they're so gullible as to believe every word that mellifluously flows from my lips. Yes, I am parasitic, but even so, there are some people I would like to stop hurting. I can't find any websites that can provide a way to help my sociopathy. Maybe people like you should stop your self-victimisation and start trying to actually help people like me! I knew I was a sociopath before the age of ten but have only recently had it officially diagnosed. I am eighteen years old now, and I have been lying and destroying others' sanity for a long time. So, please post some helpful tidbits that might help sociopaths resist the sweet urges we get when we encounter weak human beings. When you cut us, do we not bleed? When you kill us, do we not die? Do you honestly think that you're being lied to and manipulated when we sincerely ask for help. Listen to yourselves! This is the internet; ergo, you're safe from our fortified mental grasp. * I don't think there's enough support on the internet for the children of sociopaths. Lots of adult women are dating and marrying them. Not so many kids are trying to detach from them. I would like to change that.

There is nothing you can do. this is causedby a damaged brain .the brain pathways are dead ends . at birth until teen years you can probably make the connection for the brain to fire right by lots of love and teaching . lies are a key you also must teach them honesty .dysfunctional family's do not have a chance. written by frank lombardi

habitual

chronic

compulsive

pathological

and

pseudologia fantastica

ASPD is one of several names for emotional disorders in which the subject lacks empathy and conscience, and no regard for the rights of others. You can read more at the link below. Antisocial personality disorder is a type of mental condition where the affected person shows no regard for the rights of others. Characteristics of the disorder include aggressive behavior and a history of problems with the law.

• Trick them, maybe, but you can definitely "catch" them in lies. If you pay careful attention you'll notice events and stories and so called "facts" not making sense. Regarding "tricking" them, since sociopaths are notorious for their promiscuity, you could have another member of the opposite sex come on to them and see what happens. They'll most likely take the bait. Some sociopaths aren't promiscuous. In fact some are or pretend to be stern puritans.
• I'd avoid trickery. Look out instead for lack of conscience, inability to learn from life (experience), extreme callousness. Sociopaths treat others as their playthings and are often intensely sadistic. Sociopaths are steeped in dishonesty. If unmasked, they may rant, rave, rage and turn extremely violent. If you defend yourself they will have no hesitation in telling the police that you attacked them and that they simply defended themselves. They have no qualms about perjuring themselves, either. What's more, many aren't particularly afraid of punishment. Be careful before about using trickery on a sociopath. Sociopathy is probably on a continuum, a degree to which someone, under certain conditions manifests concern or lack of concern, empathy, or conscience in a given situation. To trick a sociopath into revealing their lack of conscience, ask them about their favorite animals and pets. Ask them why? I know one sociopath who really likes her Preying Mantis and doesn't like dogs. An enjoyment of dogs generally requires some degree of caring, empathy--characteristics devoid in sociopaths. If you are close to the sociopath, perhaps you are acting as "supply" for them, as in the comorbidity of narcissism and narcissistic supply. Cut off the sociopath's perceived supply, and the sociopath will fluster and will probably need to find another source. Another trick is to watch them respond to an enfant or toddler. As the subjective observer, do you feel they are emotionally present for the child or vice versa?
• Some sociopaths drop numerous hints about the way they are; rarely, some come right out and admit to it (including several WikiAnswers members)! In the very rare event that a sociopath doesn't have to hide what he/she is, the dynamic can change. To put it bluntly, they usually seek to camouflage themselves because they at least know that, as they truly are, they are unlovable. That doesn't, however, stop some particularly nurturing sorts of people from offering a known psychopath succor and friendship! One never knows. The near-constant state of frustration and dissatisfaction felt by a true psychopath is the source of not only their rages but those eerie, on-and-off-like-a-faucet tears.
• Don't assume that anyone is a psychopath based only on the person's apparent attitude and behavior. It is far more complex than that, including factors in the pattern of the person's life and many other characteristics. Please don't go around assuming or calling someone a psychopath just because he/she may have some of the warning signs.
• For information on what the warning signs are, look up other questions with answers on sociopaths, psychopaths, and antisocial personality disorder herein. Get a professional opinion from a qualified mental health professional if you think you are involved with a psychopath. And then ask what to do, not only for the psychopath but for yourself, because being involved with a psychopath is risky. The main reason sociopaths don't usually seek help from their fellow human beings, is that they can't trust, rather than that they like being as they are. Plus, they can often sense exactly what sort of a response any call for help on their part is most likely to elicit from professionals and lay folk alike. It's a truly miserable existence. And it can be made better. It may not be "curable" yet, but it most certainly isn't as hopeless as so many people say. There is therefore nothing to be gained and much to be lost when therapists and lay folk try to ostracize sociopaths from the human race entirely! Sensationalism and superstition will only prevent progress.
• Sociopaths, though born that way, are people too. To avoid an entire group of people is absurd. That's like saying, "Since these people have dark skin, everyone should completely avert themselves from them." I am a moderate sociopath, and though part of me doesn't want to change, another does. Many times it is really entertaining to see how stupid people can be, especially when they're so gullible as to believe every word that mellifluously flows from my lips. Yes, I am parasitic, but even so, there are some people I would like to stop hurting. I can't find any websites that can provide a way to help my sociopathy. Maybe people like you should stop your self-victimization and start trying to actually help people like me! I knew I was a sociopath before the age of ten but have only recently had it officially diagnosed. I am eighteen years old now, and I have been lying and destroying others' sanity for a long time. So, please post some helpful tidbits that might help sociopaths resist the sweet urges we get when we encounter weak human beings. When you cut us, do we not bleed? When you kill us, do we not die? Do you honestly think that you're being lied to and manipulated when we sincerely ask for help. Listen to yourselves! This is the internet; ergo, you're safe from our fortified mental grasp.
• Dealing with a sociopath is nothing but a mind game. They find out your likes and dislikes and act accordingly to give you that "soul mate" impression. I dated a guy for a year an a half, we met on a social network site. He said all the right words, painted the perfect pictures of love and emotion, and even considered going to church. He did actually, but that's when I started seeing the signs. After church service, he'd be ready to leave at the very last word. He had no problem with leaving church and going home to drink alcohol heavily. He took pleasure in watching me give in to my weaknesses which was smoking and it showed. He acted as if he cared and even used encouraging words, but then turn around and bring boxes of cigarettes around. He was a porn addict and denied it constantly until he got caught watching it. Numerous videos were in this nasty profile that he secretly had. All his money went to porn videos, and he purchased a new laptop behind my back just so he can have a webcam to have cyber sex with it. Any how, of course my feelings were involved so I decided to go ahead and let them show, because they were REAL. He was the type to show a sense of relief when I was either down, or seemingly slacking off on handling my business, so......that's what I pretended to be when he came around. I'd invite him over when there was no food in house, just so I could watch him "act" like he wanted to be there. When it came down to his sociopathic sexual fantasies, I played along with them to see if he'd care about my walk with Christ, and of course, he didn't. Then I told him that I didn't want to have sex with him any more and this made him feel like he had a physical problem and started working out more lol, and I started to talk about The Lord more which basically made all his evil intentions show in his face, literally. When he wasn't around, I'd handle my business secretly, buy food for the house, cook our favorite meals then call him and tell him, do fun things by myself that we would normally do together. I'd make sure he saw me wear a sexy pair of matching bra and underwear before his departure back to his house, so that he can wonder, lol......I must say that as I flipped the script it did become sort of fun because I was no longer the person worrying with confusion, but he was. But I didn't do this with the same evil intentions that he had, but rather to get away from him. In the end I basically used my tears, the same way he used his, to make him feel like breaking up would be the best thing to do, but of course that crazy jealous monster that I created in him came out and he threatened me with violent acts which resulted in me calling the police. So, I got what I wanted, he can't come near me if he tried, I have an order of restraint on him. Bottom line: Sociopaths are liars, they have no feelings, they do really want to rule the world, and they really CAN'T fight off temptation. They are weak human beings who can't do a thing for themselves (or more so, choose not too because they are lazy), so they find other individuals weaker than they are to make prey out of them. They talk a lot but can't back it up with their actions. They are like high school kids who gather in circles and "wish talk" but never do a thing to make those wishes a reality. Sociopaths get bored easily, don't really care about the well being of others or children, steal things, or worse, watch a person drop his/her wallet and does not give it back but rather steals it. These people appear to be charming, but are NOT; and are said to be dangerous but are really corny and weak and the worse thing you can do to make them feel cheap is expose their corny-ness and they will feel less than a person.
• Sociopaths come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from passive to aggressive and sometimes somewhere in-between. The lack of empathy, guilt and conscience isn't weakness, but rather in all aspects a curse. With a low or average intelligence this results in a dangerous individual, do not confuse being clever with intelligence. Depending on many factors those with high intelligence can be worse, or sometimes rarely better. An expert liar, perfectly displaying faked emotions, a true chameleon... An extremely intelligent sociopath is all these things, catching them in a lie is nigh impossible because they'd only twist the truth enough to make the lie believable. The capacity to choose is ever present, be what you are, or who you want to be. We have emotions, we think, we know what's right and what's wrong, but there is a difference between knowing something, and feeling it. 'Good' emotions as normal people call them are felt, but the feelings are numb, felt through a dense fog, barely visible. Our strength is our curse, while yes it's fun to toy with you simpletons, going too far is an easy way to expose oneself and from there life is ruined. We can't help what we are, but a few choose to give in a little less then most. A constant a pointless battle it may be... The world, ignorant fools the lot of them, doesn't like what we are, for good reason, you fear what you don't understand, and many abuse the gift/curse we have. A sociopath with a brain, hides in plain sight, chooses who they want to be, and fights what they are. Not for all of you, but to stay alive and hidden. Don't ever think its for you. "Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts."
• Sociopathy is not a "game" people play, it is characterized as a disorder called Antisocial Personality Disorder. If people have empathy for others who have this disorder, why do they feel a need to "trick" them at all? Perhaps attempting to mess with a person who has a personality disorder speaks volumes about you in contrast to them and their "lack of empathy" think about it. Perhaps the sociopathic person poses a burden on you, in this case it would be better for you to separate yourself from them and think twice about your reactions as they are probably what triggers the sociopath to behave in certain ways that you dislike.

  It seems this is written with an intention to undermine someone with a condition that is hardly. Their fault, as if a lack of empathy would be something someone could even consciously choose? Choosing this would only denote a lack of empathy to begin with. If the intention is to trick someone into feeling something then perhaps re-think the aim here ask yourself weather or not it is morally ethical and what it reflects about you and your intentions, are they just a bit hypocritical? Have a bit of respect for your fellow human being as they are; not as what you would prefer them to be. It's not a trick, but you might just ask whether the sociopath is "messing with your head." Ask, don't accuse. The arrogance of some sociopaths allows them to accept the challenge that they can continue to play mind-games with you even if you are well AWARE of their proclivity to take advantage of others. Reveling in their victories, handing you a weapon with which to defend yourself can be tempting for these people. A suggestion for those who need to "expose" a sociopath may be to offer some humility to remove some of the sweetness of the victory. "Look, half of what you say I don't understand. If this is a mistake, I could use some help avoiding it. What should I do?" Admitting you're an easy target removes the challenge. They've won already. What's the point? The other side of it is you've asked for their help. Sociopaths may lie by omission, use info you don't have, or deceive in innumerable ways, but if you ASK them, straight out, to guide you? Again: too easy. You are no longer a "challenge" or opponent. You become someone seeking his or her protection. This feeds their ego in a way different from hurting you. No longer perceiving you as a threat or even a target worthy of their intellect, you are in a position to be defended. This can mean they are ready to hurt others who threaten you. This approximates affection and caring for them. You may not like what they do on your behalf and they are all too ready to turn on you if you become an obstacle to other plans they have. Just so you know, if you tame the beast, you're not "out of the woods." It's in their nature to take down threats and they're on guard for what they perceive as "changing circumstances". Imagined betrayal to the point of paranoia is a possibility.

To use the medical phrase...........They have POOR outcomes, due to their lack of motivation to change their behaviors.

Sociopaths have NO FEELINGS , and no sense of "being sorry for what they do". The only time that they are "sorry" is when they are caught, and have to face being locked up, or being executed for their crimes. Then they can cry like a baby.But all the time that they are crying, they are thinking " how can I get out of here"?

Sociopaths lack all empathy for others. So, they will cry if hurt, but will honestly not understand why someone else would cry if THEY are hurt. Like very young children, they really don't understand that other people are real, valid human beings instead of cardboard cutouts. In a way it's like a birth defect (although psychologists don't agree on if it's inborn or from early socialization.)

Sociopaths tend to use others for their own purposes. So, it's not entirely accurate to say they don't feel emotions. They still get angry or feel sad. They just don't understand other people's emotions. They will never feel remorseful or guilty for hurting someone else.

It is now known that there is a brain defect present in all adult sociopaths that is probably congenital. Neuroscience is seeking ways to correct it before the growing child learns to manipulate others instead of relating. Sociopaths go their whole lives without ever feeling that warmth, pretending to be outgoing and charismatic, but really being introverted and intractable. They watch others and imitate the feelings that happen only in connection with people, but cannot feel them. Hidden envy of healthy people is often at the root of their attacks; they seek to ruin what they cannot have. Martha Stout, author of "The Sociopath Next Door," says that it is akin to a person parched with thirst and unable to satisfy it by drinking anything. Some say that sociopaths feel either nothing, hateful spite, or a strange, incomprehensible "static" that is their brain's attempt to process what it cannot. This latter is part of the restlessness that drives them to seek excitement -- and, perhaps, victims.

I was diagnosed in 1992 as a primary psychopath (sociopath); it took me a decade to find anyone who would treat me.I'm a pariah, yet there are still some people who are willing to deal with me, KNOWING about this, and carry no prejudice into the dialog.People say NOTHING CAN BE DONE. Except for one thing: the mere fact that some scientists know as much as they do about the brain of a sociopath means that solving the problem is no longer an impossible and obscure wish -- it's moving within the realm of concrete possibility.As soon as large numbers of sociopaths begin to be treated in a way that actually helps them, that corrects as much as possible the chaos of misdirected signals in their confused and disorganized brains, and then a form of therapy that in addition to that, by necessity, teaches them to cope with the resulting maelstrom of emotion and impression that was formerly impossible, so that they can put it in order and start to develop the heretofore dormant and silent segments of their brains and better use those formerly mixed-up areas where no recognizable order ruled, THEN THE OTHERS MAY BEGIN TO NOTICE WHAT IS GOING ON...and they will know at least this much: instead of "the kiss of death," a diagnosis of ASPD (the DSM-IV way of saying sociopathy or psychopathy) will lead someplace; that there will be things done that actually make a difference.Crippled as they are neurologically, sociopaths are yet shrewd, and they're always looking out for themselves in a way similar to that of a loner predator. Seeing others like them actually benefitting from treatment will have to start persuading them that there's something to gain in going for help after all. Not being rejected or met with "We can't help you; you're evil incarnate," or the equivalent thinly disguised in euphemistic psychology jargon; NOT being met with a situation where they'd have to substitute symptoms of an "acceptable" illness in place of those they bear in secret -- that would almost certainly, if gradually, have an effect: if a sociopath can clearly see a benefit coming from admitting his or her real situation, there's nothing to stop him or her from doing just that.It's already started to happen, if in a tiny, barely perceptible trickle.Right now, all science has at the ready for them is to use various types of preexisting medication given in attempts to counteract the chaotic way the brain of a sociopath functions. That and types of talk therapy carefully altered to avoid the pitfalls that have in the past caused regular therapies to make sociopaths worse instead of better. But the more that scientists such as Robert Hare and his colleagues delve into and experiment with the new types of brain scans and learning what makes sociopaths tick like human bombs, the more likely that it becomes with each passing year that a means will soon be isolated to defuse those bombs.The primary source of a sociopath's infamous rage is frustration, of a sort so alien and so extreme that almost no one else can understand what it means.

Once they start getting taken seriously, that frustration, and the wild rage it provokes, will lessen, and since it is a primary source of the constant distrust that makes regular therapy fail sociopaths, the defusing of that rage and its maddening causes will be a huge step in the right direction.

Being that I am a person that had a strange father I can relate to this question. Depending on the severity of your case, I would just say that you should look on his behavior as unexceptable and carry on in life teaching your children good values not like the ones you have seen with your father. My father was abusive and an alcoholic. I promised myself that I would never be like him but still love and forgive him. Years have passed and being able to heal from time itself has helped me. I realize sometimes it's hard to bounce back but there are alot of great listeners our there. Always remember to talk to someone and face your fears and problems head on. It will all work out. Go to a therapist who specializes in child abuse and PTSD. There are many and they can be of great help.

A narcissist can also be a sociopath or psychopath. But "just" suffering from narcissism does not inherently come with the same personality defects of a sociopath.

A narcissist can cause others pain by putting someone down; it is done with the intent of making himself appear to be better, smarter, faster... For all their bravado most narcissists claim, they actually suffer from a very poor self esteem and much of their behavior is an attempt to show off to others and to make themselves look good.

A sociopath hurts others because they have no moral compass. They enjoy watching others suffer and this behavior can almost always be traced back to a very young age. They generally start small, torturing bugs, hurting small animals and they move on to hurting people - generally starting with children younger than themselves.

What narcissists and sociopaths/psychopaths have in common is the ability to make a great first impression. The narcissist in an attempt to gain a new fan - a sociopath in an attempt to gain a new victim.

Oddly even the worst of the worst can behave when they want to, Ted Bundy had a girlfriend who had a small daughter. She had no clue to the real personality of the beast within.

Most often talk therapy is used, and that involves a psychologist, life coach, or even an psychiatrist. What ever method of talk therapy you choose that feels right to you. It is also important to find a massage therapist/body worker to accesses the parts of your body that have 'muscle/tissue memory and help you work through the emotional aspects that may be blocked and releasing them will hallow you to heal in both body and your mind.

Completely cut all ties. Block the number. Block from facebook. Block the email. If sociopath doesn't get the message and tries to contact you by coming to your house, get a restraining order. Do not EVER talk or communicate with sociopath again. You do not owe sociopath an explanation.

Do not look back and surround yourself with people that actually care about you.

Not everything you read is true, we do have some emotions, mainly when we feel that we have been wronged.

Most shows of empathy towards others is a mask though. Our masks allow us to be seen as 'normal' to others, they help us to squeeze through the cracks in society to get to our prey. They are a very useful mechanism, and we mainly only use them when we can get something out of it.

The most famous early sign is torturing small animals or peers. Physical torture. Big red flag. Additionally, lack of regret for bad actions (which most children display very clearly); but this is not a sure sign, don't automatically diagnose the child. Really, it takes a professional to make a complicated diagnosis like psychopathy.

From all the research I've done in the field of mental illnesses, I would have to say the answer is no. A sociopath has little or no conscience, little or no sense of guilt. Brain scans of sociopathic brains have shown differences between their brains and those of non-sociopathic brains.

Maybe