Psychopathy has always generated fascination That is why characters with their own characteristics have starred in many works of fiction, some of them widely awarded.
These are individuals who have been portrayed as perverse beings, capable of the most disturbing acts and shrouded in a halo of mystery. But does this stereotype fit the reality of the problem?
In this article we will reflect on the issue and answer a question that is frequently asked: is psychopathy a disease?
To do this, it is essential to first go down to where it lives, to define it and draw a line that differentiates psychopaths from the rest of the people.
Below we present the most common features of this phenomenon, through which we can answer the question posed: Is psychopathy a disease?
The points that will be addressed describe ways of thinking, feeling and acting of these people; although they do not always occur in all cases.
1. Difficulty learning from the past
People with psychopathy have many difficulties learning from the events they experienced in the past and that they caused some harm to them. For this reason, although they are penalized for carrying out conduct that violates the rights of others, the punishment imposed on them does not have any deterrent effect on them. Thus, they tend to maintain their behaviors despite the efforts of judges to impose severe penalties for their crimes.
This feature has often been the subject of controversy, as it questions one of the basic pillars of the judicial system: the reintegration of people who commit illegal acts. This is an argument frequently used to defend the use of harsher measures for those criminals who commit especially tragic acts.
2. Low responsibility
People with psychopathy usually have a low sense of responsibility, so they may be unable to maintain their work or studies long enough to progress. A certain need for stimulation and a substantial ease of boredom also contribute to this.
This trait also has, as a counterpart, the tendency to attribute blame to others for all the setbacks and vicissitudes they may experience (which undermines the emotional state of those around them).
One of the most basic characteristics of psychopathy is the pragmatic view of social relations, which implies that they are perceived as a means to satisfy their needs. Therefore, they may strive to maintain a bond as long as it brings them some personal benefit, losing interest when it progresses to a point where a certain reciprocity is required or the deliberate imbalance to which they aspire is questioned.
This fact is enhanced by the particular profile of these people regarding empathy. Specifically, a deficit is observed in emotional empathy (ability to feel identified in the pain of others and to have compassion), but a total preservation of its cognitive dimensions (ability to infer the internal states of others and to foresee their conduct). They can, therefore, make use of this knowledge in their own interest (manipulation, lying, etc.).
4. Impulse control problems
People with psychopathy have notable difficulty controlling impulses, that is, to inhibit behavior that may have adverse implications (for themselves or for others). This inability (along with intolerance of frustration) makes it difficult to manage emotions in situations in which a goal that they consider important is prevented, facilitating the emergence of violent or dangerous acts.
The most frequent risk behaviors in these subjects would be: risky sexual encounters, substance use, seeking extreme sensations or fights. This is one of the reasons why comorbid mental disorders can appear, especially drug dependence.
5. Superficial charm
People with psychopathy can be attractive over short distances and in contacts that do not involve depth, such as exchanges that occur in the academic or work context. These are individuals who are described many times as charming, solicitous and polite; Therefore, when they commit some reprehensible act, the social environment is usually surprised or even upset.
This social mask is often used because it increases the probability of interacting with others in a beneficial way. However, if relationships reach a greater degree of depth, it is difficult to maintain them. This fact would explain why those closest to them highlight a series of traits that differ, or are even diametrically opposed, to those used by people whose relationship with the psychopath is merely superficial.
6. Antisocial behavior
Antisocial behavior is very common among psychopaths. It includes acts that generate some harm to third parties in the economic, psychological, physical or moral spheres; and which can be summarized as brawls, theft, destruction, abuse, harassment, scam, threat or other expressions of interpersonal violence. However, there is a high percentage of these people who never incur them, so they fully integrate into society.
The DSM5 manual includes antisocial personality disorder as the closest diagnosis to psychopathy (based mainly on the commission of crimes from an early age), but does not have specific criteria for the latter. This form of classification is the subject of much criticism, since not all psychopaths carry out criminal acts in their lives.
7. Strong aggressiveness
People with psychopathy can show very aggressive behavior, in the broad sense of the term These are not limited only to their physical dimension, but can also take on a covert and insidious expression (hostility), especially when their purposes are impeded. This aggressiveness is perceived by the person who receives it as excessive, and includes sudden outbursts of apparently uncontrollable anger.
8. Inability to experience guilt
Psychopaths have difficulty feeling remorse as a result of their actions Guilt is a feeling that arises when we do something that causes harm to third parties, and that is accentuated when we attribute voluntariness or when we perceive that the possible alternatives for action have not been exhausted. It is a painful and unpleasant experience for most of the population, and it reduces the probability that on future occasions we will choose to repeat the behavior that motivated it.
Thus, guilt allows us to learn from past mistakes and is connected to empathy. It is one of the main reasons why psychopaths are insensitive to punishment, as they perceive it as an injustice that merits rebellion. It is a way of processing information in which responsibility is excluded from the equation through which reality is attempted to be explained.
There are many experimental studies that indicate that people with psychopathy show low electrodermal reactivity to scenes of violence. This means that, when they are exposed to images in which the majority of people report an aversive emotion (mutilations, attacks, abuse, etc.), they feel indifference.
9. Egocentrism
Egocentrism implies a special emphasis on the importance that the person attributes to himself, in contrast to that assigned to the rest of the individuals around him. This way of thinking usually translates into a preference for relationships in which a dynamic of evident hierarchical inequality can be established. The psychopath would be located at the top of this pyramid, promoting an asymmetry in the rights and duties attributed to all parties.
Egocentrism can be accompanied by emotional immaturity, a tendency to devalue others, exaggeration of self-worth, and the use of blackmail or extortion. This is why it ends up triggering conflicts within the family, which further degrade coexistence.
10. Possibility of adaptation
Many people with psychopathy are placed in high positions in the social hierarchy, including political or management positions (with a higher prevalence detected in these populations). In these contexts, asymmetric relationships with subordinates or with people under their charge can develop in a socially acceptable way. This ability to adapt occurs among less impulsive psychopaths with a superior planning capacity.
Psychopaths adapt to future demands easily. This fact is due to an almost exclusive orientation towards the immediate, so that what will happen later is relegated to a second (or third) order of importance. As a consequence of this way of facing reality, these are people with a low level of anxiety.
Is psychopathy a disease?
As noted above, The current diagnostic manuals (DSM-5) do not incorporate the figure of psychopathy among their proposals, so a diagnosis for this cannot be clearly established. Approaches to the phenomenon (such as antisocial disorder) are insufficient, since they focus their entire clinical description on purely behavioral aspects that do not capture the complexity of the phenomenon at hand (especially at a cognitive and experiential level).
The truth is that most people sometimes react impulsively, or act indifferently in situations where they should not (according to social norms). It is also very common to seek stimulation to escape boredom or monotony. Thus, the traits of psychopathy describe behaviors that occur (in general) in the entire population, although qualified by the fact that in their case they extend absolutely to all daily experience (they are not a specific exception).
Many studies are currently focusing their efforts on the study of the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex and the limbic region as the structures that could explain the particular affective and behavioral pattern of psychopathy. Advances in neuroimaging technologies will make it possible to forge greater knowledge about this issue and determine an underlying cause, finally clarifying whether we are facing a pathology or a particular way of being and feeling.
