Explaining the sociopath Archives | Page 82 of 94 | Lovefraud | Escape sociopaths

Sociopathic children and psychopathic traits during childhood

October 10, 2008 // by Liane Leedom, M.D.// 249 Comments

This is a very tragic story left by one of our readers: My daughter was misdiagnosed with ADHD. Then bipolar disorder, then Oppositional Defiance Disorder. I stormed out of her psychologist office when she told me that she saw something “dark” in my child. That was when she was 7. When she was 8, her sociopathy increased and she purposely drowned my poodle. She also tried to smother my baby by my second husband. The strain of her and my carrying the baggage from my last relationship has driven he and I apart and we currently trying to file for divorce. She steals daily, has even stolen as much as $500 from my wallet. I lock things away, and she will simply pry open the lock, break the …

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The Sociopath Next Door? Probably Not

October 9, 2008 // by Steve Becker, LCSW// 120 Comments

Clearly the LoveFraud community, better than anyone, can testify to the reality of sociopaths and the damage they can inflict on others. Sociopaths exist. That is inarguable. The sociopath is someone, as we know, with a grossly deficient respect for the integrity and boundaries of others; someone who sizes others up principally as assets to be exploited for his or her own whims and needs. The sociopath is a remorseless user and taker. At the same time, I think it's worth noting that sociopathy, in general, makes for sensational copy, as a result of which estimations of its incidence in the general population are at risk, I would argue, of being dubiously, irresponsibly inflated. Martha …

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Can victims become like the psychopath?

October 3, 2008 // by Liane Leedom, M.D.// 163 Comments

This week we received the following email: My daughter is married to a man I consider a psychopath. My daughter has not spoken with me for many months. She has totally changed her personality, voice, she says things she never would have said before, she attacks me to my friends. My daughter and her husband seem to have their own version of reality, truth, and morality that is not consistent with those outside her marriage or in the world. My husband doesn't want to invite them to our house for the holidays or have anything to do with them. I feel the same way, too, because of their attacks and saying things that are not true about us. I have gotten advice on this blog to try and have a …

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Philadelphia parole board must learn how to spot psychopaths

October 1, 2008 // by Donna Andersen// 14 Comments

On Sunday, I wrote about the case of Daniel Giddings, a violent criminal, recently paroled, who executed a Philadelphia cop. Yesterday, the governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, requested a "top-to-bottom" review of Philadelphia's parole process. And, the governor put a moratorium on paroles until the review is complete. John S. Goldkamp, head of Temple University's criminal justice department, got the assignment of conducting the parole system review. According to an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, Goldkamp plans to "focus on how other states release violent offenders into society and whether those practices can be used here." Professor Goldkamp, let me save you some …

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When judges and parole boards don’t understand psychopaths, cops die

September 29, 2008 // by Donna Andersen// 29 Comments

Tomorrow, the city of Philadelphia is burying a police officer killed in the line of duty. Last Tuesday, Highway Patrol Officer Patrick McDonald was shot to death after a routine traffic stop in a bad neighborhood. The city is furious, and rightfully so—the killer, Daniel Giddings, had an extensive and violent criminal history. He was convicted of robbery and aggravated assault in 2000 for carjacking and kneecapping the victim in the process. Yet Giddings was paroled from a maximum-security prison to a halfway house on August 18, 2008, which he promptly fled. On August 27, Philadelphia police pulled Giddings over for a traffic violation in a car that was later discovered to be stolen. H …

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Accepting the sociopath/narcissist’s blame to preserve the relationship

September 25, 2008 // by Steve Becker, LCSW// 250 Comments

Here's a theme I think we can relate to: Your partner (a male in this example, strictly for convenience's sake)—a narcissist, or perhaps sociopath—blames you for his misery, bad moods, bad decisions, frustrations, dissatisfactions, disappointments and underfulfillment. From his perspective, if he cheats on you—or deceives and betrays you—you will have deserved it, because you will have been responsible for the discontent that necessitated his violating behaviors. Remember he feels entitled to have what he wants; he deserves what he wants, when he wants it; and if he's frustrated, it must be someone's fault. Someone must be blamed, and you, his partner, will be his odds-on choice to o …

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When psychopaths compare notes

September 24, 2008 // by Donna Andersen// 117 Comments

Lovefraud recently received an e-mail from a reader telling us about discussion on another Internet forum called PsychForums. Here's what he wrote: Found an interesting set of postings. On PsychForums. "Craving for Antisocial Behavior." With postings between four psychopaths. Arguing for various positions With general agreement that society has infringed on them. And so deserves the revenge. Sounding like people are viewed similarly to enemy combatants. And deserve what they get. Alternate view is that people's revulsion against psychopaths is understandable. That people don't want bad things to happen to them. So don't be a fool and don't get caught or cry unfair. There are plenty of …

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Reflections on antisocial behavior (Part 3): Is that person a sociopath/psychopath?

September 19, 2008 // by Liane Leedom, M.D.// 160 Comments

Five and a half years ago I started a quest to understand sociopathy/psychopathy and antisocial behavior. Long before that, in 1981, I attended a lecture by Dr. Sarnoff Medick at USC. During that lecture, he presented the results of his research. His research on adopted children indicates that antisocial behavior has a strong measurable genetic basis. His studies did not single out anyone “diagnosed” a sociopath/psychopath they only examined antisocial behavior in parents and their biologic and adopted offspring. Remembering these studies, I read them again and found many others demonstrating the genetic basis for antisocial behavior and sociopathy/psychopathy. Also at the beginning of my …

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Young pop star scores with sociopathic hit song

September 15, 2008 // by Donna Andersen// 29 Comments

Lovefraud recently received the following e-mail from a reader in the UK: I wonder what your take on this pop-music video is? This song is played ad-infinitum on radio stations in the UK; you simply can't escape it. What disturbs me is its indifference toward the glorification of sociopathic, even psychopathic, behaviour. Clearly the character the singer is playing out has a taste for control; inflicting degrading, humiliating behaviour, even torture, pain and —as the finale of the video suggests—murder; everything the UN Convention on Human Rights was meant to prevent. The reader included a link to the song Sweet About Me, by Gabriella Cilmi, on YouTube. Here it is: …

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Reflections on antisocial behavior (Part 2): It’s genetic!?

September 12, 2008 // by Liane Leedom, M.D.// 93 Comments

Behavior genetic studies of children, adolescents, and adults all report that the overlap of antisocial tendencies (broadly defined) with other psychopathic traits (e.g., interpersonal, affective) can be explained by common genetic factors.-Robert Hare, Ph.D. The most profound things researchers say about reality are often so difficult to understand that the average person wants to turn and run away when the researchers begin to speak. The statement above might have that affect on you but stick around because I want to explain it this week. This statement gets to the heart of the most important controversies regarding sociopathy/psychopathy. First I will give you a definition of …

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jhmb6 on Narcissists and hoarding disorder: “This article suggests that all narcissists are not simply narcissists. There always seems to be a co-occurring disorder. All evidence…”
Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.ED, LBS, CCBP on Narcissists and hoarding disorder: “Happy Sunday Donna, and I am not surprised based on the story of your ex that he may have been…”
Donna Andersen on Narcissists and hoarding disorder: “Hi Joanie — thanks for this article! My ex was a complete pack rat. I converted my basement into an…”
Donna Andersen on When bad behavior shows symptoms, not flaws : “Emilie 18 posted the following comment in the Forum. Eleanor Cowen posted a beautifully said piece in the Blog about…”
Donna Andersen on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “Hi Samson75 – My paper was peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. There’s…”