Lovefraud receives many letters from people who want a sign. Readers ask, “How do I know whether or not someone is a sociopath?” There is one behavior that every sociopath engages in to extreme excess. If I were only allowed one criteria for the diagnosis I would choose this behavior. If someone does not do this thing to extreme excess he/she is certainly not a sociopath. Those of you who have been involved with a sociopath know too well what this one thing is. It is lying.
I enjoy reading old religious texts because I believe there is truly nothing new under the sun. It is comforting to get reassurance of that fact. I mentioned some time ago that female sociopaths are described in the Bible. The cardinal symptom of sociopathy is described best in the Babylonian Talmud! One source I found dated this document to the 6th century.
The Babylonian Talmud describes something called geneivat da’at (literally, theft of one’s mind, thoughts, wisdom, or knowledge), i.e., fooling someone and thereby causing him or her to have a mistaken assumption, belief, and/or impression. The sages believed that there are seven types of thieves and, of these, the most egregious is the one who “steals the minds” of people.
Anyone who has been in contact with a sociopath has had his/her mind stolen. Sociopaths do not interact with anyone without stealing a mind.
Although sociopaths are very proud of their ability to steal minds, this behavior does not make them unique, talented or special. Sociopaths are just the worst species of thief!
Many are baffled by the lying sociopaths engage in. A reader who wrote me recently commented that they lie even when the truth sounds better. Sociopaths continue to lie even after their lies are discovered. This often makes them look silly.
Sociopaths lie in order to steal the minds of others. They do this because of an unrestrained drive for power and control. This drive is present in all of their dealings with others.
The best thing to do if your mind has been stolen by a sociopath is Take it Back! Don’t have any more interactions with that person. Accept that you can never deal with a sociopath without experiencing the theft of your mind.
WhyMe –
Here it is! A new day. A new year. x
We will be fine….in time.
A Spath-free New Year to all in LF land. xxx
Happier New Year to you, too, bluejay & aussiegirl! I saw this quote on a friend’s FB page yesterday……I think it’s a good one for us at the end of this year, as we work toward healing & wholeness:
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Happy New Year to all my brothers and sista’s out here in LF land. Let’s hope that we all make decisions with OUR own best interest at heart! Time for us to be selfish about ourselves.
Soimnotthecrazee1!
Happy New Year Notcrazze!
Hi Whyme – good to see you here! my courage says that. yup.
Happy New Year!
Thanks One! Yep my courage tells me the same thing… there is always time tomorrow to get stronger!
That’s what I am working on now!!!
hadn’t read this article before. Thanks Dr. Leedom – it’s short, sweet and spot on.
Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmPDGZPnYl0
a spath, caught out in a 2 year con of a woman. The spath pretended online to be a guy and his extended family. the dupes friend’s chucked the spath out when the spath came to live with the dupe, posing as the best friend or the now dead boyfriend.
Her response to being asked why she had done what she had done for two years: ‘2 years! nu uh, 18 months!’
‘Silly’ is an understatement.
Onestep,
Hey happy new year. love you lots. xxxxxooooo
Happy new year to you sky, and thanks for the love!
and may you have a spath free new year!