How many times have we heard on the news: an apparently normal man, who enjoyed a good reputation and who had never aroused suspicion, one day is brought before the court to testify for a series of crimes that not even those closest to him would suspect that he would be capable of. commit. Someone totally integrated into the community becomes, overnight, a criminal.
These types of things can lead us to ask ourselves a somewhat macabre question:
Would I be able to recognize a psychopath?
And, although psychopaths do not have to commit criminal acts or crimes, it is true that due to their characteristics they are capable of breaking the rules of coexistence just as someone who is isolated, desperate and without resources would do. However, psychopaths do have social resources: they are charismatic and know how to make a good impression. That is why, many times, identifying a psychopath who is preparing to commit an illegal act is complicated.
So, is it possible to identify psychopaths? Of course, “there is a way from saying to doing” and, regardless of the characteristics listed in diagnostic manuals or the number of experts who affirm that the unequivocal features of psychopathy are “X” or “Y”, the truth is that Each psychopath has a different way of functioning in society. And, of course, it seems that psychopaths willing to commit crimes learn to go more unnoticed every day.
What are psychopaths like? 10 characteristic features
However, Yes, there are certain tendencies and patterns of behavior that, based on statistics, make it somewhat more possible to detect a psychopath. Here you can find 10 keys that experts often find useful.
The psychopaths They tend to lead a lifestyle based on immediacy so tomorrow worries them relatively little compared to goals closer in time (especially if these are very primary and based on impulses). They tend to satisfy their most basic needs (hunger, sex, shelter, etc.) so they do not tend to plan their future meticulously.
They can organize themselves to pursue a goal that they consider important, but generally these goals always pursue short-term results. For example, a crime-prone psychopath might steal a fancy car to impress a girl and get her into it so he can sexually abuse her afterward.
2. Mythomania
Let’s make something very clear: everyone lies. Some more, some less. Now, a “small” or “white” lie is not the same as telling lies in a pathological way.
Psychopaths have a great facility for lying, and Sometimes they do it to get what they want even if it means harming other people. since they do not foresee the nature of the consequences of said lies. Furthermore, they always tend to justify and rationalize their actions.
3. Irresponsibility
The classic description of psychopaths characterizes them as people who do not feel tied to “contracts” or “pacts” with the rest of humanity.
This means that they have difficulty repressing certain behaviors so as not to harm others. It is for this reason that they have the peculiarity of being sporadic in the jobs they do, as well as constantly moving residences. In the life history of a psychopath it is common to find that the jobs he held were held for short periods of time.
4. Superficial charm and false adaptation
Psychopaths tend to navigate everyday life with relative adaptability because They have ingeniously learned to gain the trust of others with their fake charm.
These attitudes are simply stratagems used to hide their true intentions. Such is the case of John Wayne Gacy “the killer clown” in which the police were amazed after hearing neighbors refer to Gacy as a kind and courteous man. Or that successful businessman who shakes hands politely while laundering money in his company.
This point is intuited in the previous ones. The sentimental instability It is an almost unanimous characteristic in people who have been diagnosed with psychopathy.
6. They are problematic
The DSM-IV states that people with antisocial personality disorder are characterized by their inability to understand the norms and rules of society, as well as a general pattern of contempt and violation of the rights of others.
The psychopaths They tend to be conflictive and in their history it is not surprising to find that they have been sentenced for a crime on more than one occasion. They frequently get into trouble and the punishments and consequences seem not to matter to them at all.
7. They tend towards parasitic life
Things that have to do with routine and responsibility (like a legal and stable job, for example) are boring to them, so they They prefer to lead a parasitic lifestyle. That is, living at the expense of others.
8. They are manipulative
Psychopaths have an incredible, almost innate capacity for persuasion and seduction, tools that they frequently use to manipulate others and achieve their perverse ends.
They do not skimp on treating others as objects who can use this charisma to get what they want, even if this leads to harm or damage to other people. That is why They like to “relate” to submissive and dependent people to be able to take advantage or abuse them.
9. They lack empathy
This is probably the almost unequivocal characteristic of a psychopathic disorder in the person. The psychopaths They do not have the ability to “put themselves in someone else’s shoes.” to feel what the other person feels. However, psychopaths can understand other people’s emotions, identify what physiological changes a mood entails, and even imitate it.
For example, a psychopath will know that someone who is smiling is probably happy, or someone who is crying is sad, however these foreign emotions are unintelligible to them beyond their understanding of them on a theoretical level. They cannot understand the joy or pain that the other is experiencing.
The psychopaths They do not regret their actions, because they lack moral conscience since they live under their own scheme of values, doing what they consider necessary to satisfy their needs. However, they know how to use guilt against other “good” people and in their favor with an impressive mastery of manipulation.
On the other hand, psychopaths often look for actions that are exciting, which is why routine tends to bore them. The above leads to the search for striking and even reckless activities, since they do not experience fear or feel intimidated by anything or anyone.
Who to trust?
It is currently estimated that The number of psychopaths (their prevalence) could be in the range between 1% and 3% of the population total world. However, and although only experts can diagnose and identify cases of psychopathy, there are lessons we can learn from all this. Among them, the fact that some human beings (although few in number) can go very far in harming others, and not all of us have immovable moral brakes.
Dr. Ana Beatriz Barbosa Silva, for example, recommends that when we must decide who to trust, we must keep in mind that the coherent combination of evil actions with frequent scenic games that appeal to pity are like “a luminous sign planted on the forehead of a person without conscience”. And the combination of emotional manipulation and lack of impulse control can be very dangerous.
Despite this, of course, People who have these characteristics are not necessarily serial killers. and, perhaps not even violent. However, they are individuals with whom it can be very difficult to form emotional bonds and manage to consolidate a healthy and symmetrical relationship in which we can trust the other with our assets, leave them in the care of our children, do business with them or share secrets. After all, Not all psychopaths are criminals, not all criminals are psychopaths.
