Public Interest Blog focusing on the Occult, Education and American Pop Culture.
(I'm an asshole!)
What pisses me off is when guys suddenly become attentive listeners and are available way too much and want to listen to my problems. It’s not because they actually give two shits that I am upset but the fact that they know I am upset because of *boyfriend troubles.* I can see your ulterior motives dickshines and all your trickery earns you is a nasty backlash from me. Be lucky I can’t reach you to dropkick your asses.
Both the financial elite and their servants who maintain this system, appear to exhibit behavior that is consistent with symptoms associated with a medical disorder known as psychopathy.(*) Psychopaths, also called sociopaths, are categorized as those who exhibit superficial charm and intelligence, and are absent of delusions or nervousness. Their traits include:
Psychopathy is basically an emotional disorder. The book, The Psychopath, by James Blair, Karina Blair, and Derek Mitchell, states, “The crucial aspect of psychopathy is … the emotional impairment.” According to Dr. J. Reid Meloy’s book, The Psychopathic Mind, although psychopaths don’t feel emotion in a normal sense, they do experience boredom, envy, exhilaration, contempt, sadistic pleasure, anger, and hints of depression.
Generally, those who believe it’s caused by environmental factors use the term sociopath, and believers of the biological theory use the term psychopath. Psychopathy closely resembles Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD or APD) or Conduct Disorder (CD) as outlined in the DSM-IV. These disorders are detected using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revisited (PCL-R), the DSM-IV, and other diagnostics.
These character types, comprise about 4% of the population and span every level of society. Psychopaths can be found in every race, culture, profession and class. Because the term psychopath has been used to describe APD types and sociopaths, in this chapter I’ll use it as a universal label for these three character types.
Later when I’m explaining how psychopaths always mask themselves when seeking positions of power, it will help to remember the following: If a rational person tries to apply their logic while trying to understand the reason for an objective or act of a psychopath, they will fail. This will be explained in more detail later. Likewise, when a rational person hears of the possibility that a massive lie has been told to a population by a trusted leader, and they attempt to use their logic to determine weather or not such a lie is possible, they will usually not believe the truth (that they have fallen for a huge lie).
The reason for this is that although most of us can identify with small lies, we find it difficult to conclude that such a massive lie is possible. When I use the term massive lie, I don’t just mean a complete falsehood regarding a major event, but also the scope of its influence (global) and the amount of people that have fallen for it.
In his book, The Mask of Sanity, Dr. Hervey Cleckley, says that even during the most “solemn perjuries” they show “no difficulty at all in looking anyone tranquilly in the eyes.” He adds that that they will “lie about any matter, under any circumstances.” He explains that it is difficult to express how completely straightforward they appear when telling a blatant lie.
“The great masses of people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.”
-Adolph Hitler
“Lying, deceiving, and manipulation are natural talents for psychopaths,” agreed Dr. Robert Hare, in his book, Without Conscience. “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.”
Psychopaths are always able to justify their actions, no matter how brutal. They have, “an ability to rationalize their behavior so that it appears warranted, reasonable, and justified,” says Dr. Cleckley. Dr. Hare added, “Psychopaths show a stunning lack of concern for the devastating effects their actions have on others. Often they are completely forthright about the matter, calmly stating that they have no sense of guilt, [and] are not sorry for the pain and destruction they have caused,” which, says Dr. Hare, “is associated with a remarkable ability to rationalize their behavior.”
Psychopathy is usually untreatable. Most therapists won’t work with them because they often end up damaged in the process. Dr. Hare explained, “Such counseling would be wasted on psychopaths.” Some of them will even reflect the wishes of the therapist and pretend to be getting better.
In his book, People of The Lie, psychiatrist Dr. Scott Peck had this to say: “Among themselves therapists will not infrequently refer to a patient’s psychopathology as being ‘overwhelming.’ We mean this literally. We literally feel overwhelmed by the labyrinthine mass of lies and twisted motives … into which we will be drawn if we attempt to work with such people…”
Wikipedia describes that, “traditional therapeutic approaches actually make them, if not worse, then far more adept at manipulating others and concealing their behavior. They are generally considered to be not only incurable but also untreatable.” Basically psychopaths are the way they are for life. In most legal jurisdictions they are considered sane. So technically, they’re not mentally ill, just different.
Dr. Scott Peck concludes, “I have learned nothing in twenty years that would suggest that evil people can be rapidly influenced by any means other than raw power. They do not respond,” he says, “to either gentle kindness or any form of spiritual persuasion with which I am familiar with.”
When people hear the word psychopath, most think of the famous serial killers locked away in prison. However, most don’t end up in prison or mental hospitals. Dr. Cleckley wrote, “The true difference between them and the psychopaths who continually go to jails or to psychiatric hospitals is that they keep up a far better and more consistent outward appearance of being normal.”
“This outward appearance,” says Dr. Cleckley, is essentially a mask, which, “may include business or professional careers that continue in a sense successful, and which are truly successful when measured by financial reward or by the casual observer’s opinion of real accomplishment.”
“Many psychopaths never go to prison or any other facility,” agreed Dr. Hare. “They appear to function reasonably well—as lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists, academics, mercenaries, police officers, cult leaders, military personnel, business people, writers, artists, entertainers, and so fourth—without breaking the law.” He continued, “Their intelligence, family background, social skills, and circumstances permit them to construct a facade of normalcy.”
“Corrupt and callous politicians, social or career fast climbers, authoritarian leaders, abusing and aggressive persons, etc., are among them” wrote Dr. Renato Sabbatini in his article, The Psychopath’s Brain. “A common characteristic,” says Dr. Sabbatini, “is that they engage systematically in deception and manipulation of others for personal gain. In fact, many successful and adapted non-violent sociopaths can be found in our society.”
Most of these people are not just right in your churches, schools, charitable organizations, and workplaces, but by their very nature, they are likely running them. It is a core trait of the psychopath to place themselves in positions of influence, not for public service, but for power. “The experience of pleasure is not reciprocal for the psychopath,” stated Dr. Meloy, “it is available only through sadistic channels of power and control.” Achieving power for the sake of having power is the nature of the psychopath. “They love to have power and control over others,” agreed Dr. Hare.
The need for absolute power over others and the wish to inflict pain for the enjoyment of watching others suffer, are almost never apparent to the casual observer. The reason for this is that another core trait of the psychopath is disguise. So unfortunately, these individuals usually mask themselves as good-natured people. If they have tremendous wealth, you can bet that they’ll create charitable organizations as part of their mask.
They are well aware that their mental makeup is drastically different from the majority. They have a sixth sense for detecting and exploiting any weakness you may have. At a very early age they learn that they can inflict mental and emotional harm on others with ease. They also learn how to detect others like themselves out of a crowd of normal people. Beginning in their childhood, most of them learn to mimic normal emotional reactions in order to blend in with society.
An article on Dr. Hare’s website called, Psychopaths Among Us, by Robert Hercz, describes how Dr. Hare was contacted by Nicole Kidman, who wanted his advice on how to play the part of a psychopath for her film, Malice. Dr. Hare uses the anecdote of a psychopath who had just witnessed an accident where a mother watched her child get killed by a car. There’s blood all over the place, and the psychopath experiences no emotion, but instead, is trying to avoid getting blood on her shoes. The psychopath notices the mother’s emotional reaction to the accident and is fascinated. She goes home, looks in the mirror, and begins to mimic the facial expressions of the mother. “That’s the psychopath,” revealed Dr. Hare.
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, states that, “any emotions which the primary psychopath exhibits are the fruits of watching and mimicking other people’s emotions.” They are adept at, “using their charm and chameleonlike abilities to cut a wide swath through society and leaving a wake of ruined lives behind them,” Dr. Hare warns.
“More often than not,” says Dr. Cleckley, “the typical psychopath will seem particularly agreeable and make a distinctly positive impression when he is first encountered. Alert and friendly in his attitude, he is easy to talk with and seems to have a good many genuine interests. There is nothing at all odd or queer about him, and in every respect he tends to embody the concept of a well-adjusted, happy person.”
“Psychopaths are often witty and articulate,” concurred Dr. Hare. “They can be amusing and entertaining conversationalists, ready with quick and clever comeback, and can tell unlikely but convincing stories that cast themselves in a good light. They can be very effective in presenting themselves well and are often very likable and charming.”
Remember, most of them don’t psychically hurt people, so this is about mental and emotional domination. To accomplish these objectives, they will use their mask of sanity to place themselves in positions within your community. These positions may include school boards, charitable organizations, churches, politics, law enforcement, or any position which they believe will offer them power over others. These are the places where most psychopaths end up, not jail.
An aggressive or impulsive woman may be suffering from a condition such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and as a result could be subject to hormonal impulses which can result in negative behaviour. They must have the other four of the five Absolute traits (no remorse, invented persona(s), using pity and strange or contradictory life stories), before you can determine you may be dealing with a psychopath. One swallow does not a summer make.
The hormone testosterone is the key to recognising female psychopaths. They all have the same elevated levels of the hormone as male psychopaths. Higher testosterone levels are associated with increased sex drive, increased sexual activity and as a result a desire to hold power over men. Vicious bullying and aggressive exploitation of non-psychopathic females in workplaces and organisations is also common with the pathology. Testosterone may also be related to the lack of parenting behavior seen in many psychopathic women. Psychopathic females have been found to be less interested in motherhood—even when they have children.
Typical Female Psychopathic Traits
If you are a nice guy you are more of a target—they will often remark how kind and nice you are. This makes you easy prey. You will also find that the early sweet loving kindness performance of the female psychopath will be interrupted now and again with a nasty and mean performance. Then a cycle develops where the frequencies of the nasty state increases—while the kindness state become less and less. Eventually, from the height of loving, idealisation and adoration the female psychopath obsessively showered you with in the early days—you will find yourself trapped in a negative, unloving and exploitative lifestyle not of your making.
SMEAR CAMPAIGNS
She will spread negative and false rumours about you to her friends while garnishing sympathy from her on-tap, plethora of female pity enablers who believe every negative statement about you which she tells them. The female psychopath also generally befriends less attractive, overweight, ‘frumpy’ and unstylish women in order for the female psychopath to look more attractive when in their company.
“FALLS IN LOVE WITH YOU” INSTANTLY - WANTS TO GET ENGAGED/MARRIED ON IMPULSE
Do not fall for the female psychopath telling you she has falling in love with you as soon your meet her. It’s just words. You are nothing ‘special’ and there is every chance of contracting a STD from the event. So be careful. You might also find your wallet with less cash in the morning when she has vanished and an unexpectedly huge credit card bill at the end of the month. Worst still, she may claim to be pregnant by you if she senses you can provide her with free food and accommodation for a while. Female psychopath are as numerous, and operate under the same predator mindset as male psychopaths.
In the public imagination, a “psychopath” is a violent serial killer or an over-the-top movie villain, as one sometimes might suspect Frank to be. He is highly impulsive and has a callous disregard for the well-being of others that can be disquieting. But he is just as likely to be a next-door neighbor, a doctor, or an actor on TV—essentially no different from anyone else who holds these roles, except that Frank lacks the nagging little voice which so profoundly influences most of our lives. Frank has no conscience. And as much as we would like to think that people like him are a rare aberration, safely locked away, the truth is that they are more common than most would ever guess.
The word psychopathy dates back in an early form to the 19th century, but as a modern term it’s primarily used in reference to the work of Canadian psychologist Robert Hare. Hare’s PCL-R tool (Psychopathy Checklist – Revised) was developed to test for a wide range of socially deviant behaviors and personality traits, the most important being the absence of any sense of conscience, remorse, or guilt. The result of this combination is a destructive, self-serving, and often dangerous individual sometimes called “the born criminal.”
The psychopath’s world is a strikingly skewed one in which the normal laws of human emotion and interaction do not apply—yet it serves as reality for a sizable portion of humanity. Spanning all cultures and eras, roughly one man in every 100 is born a clinical psychopath, as well as one woman in every 300. They are so common that every person reading this sentence almost certainly knows one personally; indeed, a significant number of readers are likely psychopaths themselves.
Many potential psychopaths might not even realize they have the condition, nor has there traditionally been any easy way for others to recognize them. The leading scientific test is Hare’s PCL-R, but to be valid it must be performed by a qualified professional under controlled conditions. For those who can’t be bothered with such expensive frills, we present the PCL-DI: an alternative, PCL-inspired test guaranteed to appear scientific.
How well do the following factors describe the purported psychopath?
Glibness/superficial charm = YES Egocentric, exaggerated self-image = YES Need for stimulation/bored easily = YES Pathological lying = YES Conning and manipulativeness = YES Lack of remorse or guilt = YES Shallow emotions = YES Callousness and lack of empathy = YES Parasitic lifestyle = SOMEWHAT Poor behavioral controls = YES Sexual promiscuity = YES Childhood behavior problems = YES Lack of realistic long-term goals = SOMEWHAT Impulsivity = YES Irresponsibility = YES Failure to accept responsibility for actions = SOMEWHAT Many short-term relationships = YES Varied criminal behavior = SOMEWHAT Posts 'first' messages = YES Probable diagnosis = Psychopath
Early Life; the Trauma of Child Abuse
The borderline early in life learns they are ‘bad,’ that they cause bad things to happen. The child begins to expect punishment and may only feel secure when being punished. Later, self-mutilation may sometimes be the borderline’s way of perpetuating this familiar, secure feeling of being chastised. They may see abuse as as kind of ‘love’ and may repeat the abuse to their own children. As an adult the borderline remains locked in a child’s confusing world, in which love and hate co-mingle, only good and bad exist with no in-between and only inconsistency is consistent.
Abuse can take subtler forms such as emotional abuse; expressed as verbal harassment, sarcasm, humiliation, or frigid silence can be equally devastating.
For example; Stephanie could never please her father,. When she was young, he called her ‘chubby’ and laughed at her clumsy tomboy attempts to please him by playing sports. She was ‘stupid’ when her grades were less than perfect and when she broke dishes while clearing the kitchen. He ridiculed her her style of dress on prom night and on graduation insisted how she would amount to nothing.
As an adult, Stephanie was always unsure of herself, never trusting flattery comments and hopelessly trying to please people who were impossible to please. After a long string of destructive relationships, Stephanie finally met Ted, who seemed caring and supportive. At every turn, however, Stephanie tried to sabotage the relationship, constantly testing his loyalty and questioning his commitment.
Recognizing Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence
By definition, the struggles of adolescence and BPD are extremely similar; Both the normal adolescent and the borderline struggle for individuality and separation from parents, seek bonds with friends and identification with groups, try to avoid being alone, tend to go through dramatic mood changes, and are generally prone to impulsive behavior. The teenager’s easy distracted mind-set is analogous to the borderline’s difficulty to commit themselves to a goal and follow through. Adolescents’ eccentric dress styles, prehistoric eating habits and piercing music are usually attempts to carve out a distinctive identity and relate to specific groups of peers, efforts similar to those of borderlines.
A normal adolescent may listen to gloomy music, write pessimistic poetry, glorify suicidal celebrities, dramatically scream, cry and threaten. However, the normal adolescent does not cut their wrists, binge and/or purge several times a day, become addicted to drugs, or attack friends/family etc. Typically others recognize when a normal teenager crosses the line into borderline behavior (even before the adolescent themselves). Continuous drug abuse, serial tumultuous relationships are good indicators of deeper issues. Typical self-destructive behaviors such as mutilation coupled with anxiety driven compulsions (ie; scratching, cutting, biting nails, pulling hair.).
The Maturing Borderline Patient
High-functioning adult borderlines may have successful careers, assume traditional family roles and have a cadre of friends and family support systems.
Lower-functioning borderlines, however have difficulty maintaining a job and friends and may lack family and support systems; they may inhabit lonelier and more desperate ‘black holes’ with in their own personal universe.
Common to all borderlines is an element of unpredictability and erratic behavior. It may become more obvious in the lonely isolate, but those who know the contented borderline well can also detect inconsistencies in their behavior which belie the superficial rationality. In a workplace setting the borderline although successful may be known by those whom work close with them to be a bit strange, if not mad. As many borderlines grow older, they may ‘mellow out’ to some degree. Impulsiveness, mood swings and all self-mutilating and destructive behaviors seem to diminish with dramatic intensity.
There are many theories to this degrading behavior change, the pattern might be an objective reflection of change or a subjective evaluation of those living an working with the borderline. The borderline’s friends/family/spouse may adjust to the erratic behavior and no longer notice or respond to the outrageous behavior. Perhaps the borderline settles into a more routine lifestyle that does not require erratic outbursts, binges, suicidal threats or other dramatic gestures. A possibility of a healing process may occur as borderline’s matures. In any event those sharing a life with a borderline can expect their behaviors over time (sometimes a very long time) even without treatment to become tolerable. At this point of healing the borderline can learn how to love and be loved in a more healthy fashion.