I am a psychopath, and it scares me. Most people don't understand what it means to be self-divided and always in conflict with internal demons. When you see me walking down the street, you may see an average guy, somewhat normal. But what you don't see is the un-Godly war going on inside. It's daily. Trust me, it's something you don't want, but you can't get rid of. You can only hide it, mask it away. I never wanted to be this way, and I'm trying my damnedest to find a way to beat it before it kills me, or it explodes into something completely uncontrollable.
To give you an idea of the type I am, here's that list from an earlier post, with my own comments. I've removed the characteristics that don't apply to me:

Traits
Hare Psychopathy Checklist
Factor 1

Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt ( I am this way, but when I do it, it only applies to things I do or feel in relation to bad people and bad events. I don't get anything from hurting good people or animals. )
Emotionally shallow
Callous/lack of empathy ( I am this way, but when I do it, it only applies to things I do or feel in relation to bad people and bad events. I don't get anything from hurting good people or animals. )
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Factor 2
Socially deviant lifestyle (I'm not deviant, but I am on Long Term Disability due to my inability to hold focus for things that do not interest me, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions.)

Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom (Extremely So)
Poor behavioral control
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsiveness
Irresponsibility
Many short-term relationships

SO, I guess, in a way, if I think about it really hard, I'm kind of a good psychopath. At least that's how I would like to justify my tormented existence.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. This might be good therapy for me. Please don't be asinine about it either.

One last post...if you want to be surrounded by psychos join the army, or police force.

Originally posted by pasiphae
i'd like to hear some other experiences with psychopaths. i'm not talking about people who are just mean.... but people who have no conscience. they fake emotion to fool people and have no other mission than self "pleasure". they aren't all killers. some never physically harm anyone. many do.

have you known one? are you one? (since this site is essentially anonymous i figure it can't hurt to ask - some like to boast about it). were you married to or were you in a relationship with one?

I had numeral experiences with psychopaths. One was a girl, she wasn't really special but she never agree with you and when people didn't do what she wants she started to cut herself with a knife, or showed aggressive behaviour. Something very remarkable was that she never takes the blame, it was always someone else who "had done it". I had somekind of similar experience with another girl, but she was more the "groupie" type of girl who really digged guys in bands...

I once knew a guy and at first he looks cool and relaxed, but he was a lair on a pathalogical level, this was really weird but only dangerous for himself.

So, that is my story, and I must say tat those people who have this kind of "sickness" aren't worth the attention and time. It sounds pretty hard but when you put to much time and kindness in those people, you will lose their games and become somewhat depressed.

I'm rather puzzled as to why most of you associate psychopaths and sociopaths with evil, or seem to think that they are the way they are by choice or deliberately. In my opinion, the true psychopath/sociopath has a mental defect and can not be judged or condemned for what they are, any more than a person who is MMR can be "blamed" for being unable to interact "normally" with other people. Yes, they can be dangerous, but so would a 2 year old be if you stuck him in an adult body and let him go. We have all BEEN psychopaths at some age, we just outgrew it.

While working as a houseparent at a boys' home in 1983, I had a young man assigned to my cottage who was a psychopath. Patrick was 15, nice looking, and outwardly quiet and comparatively well-behaved. But there was something about him...

Eventually Patrick grew to trust me and we had some very long, serious, and revealing conversations. Patrick was completely unable to empathize; in fact he couldn't really comprehend that the rest of us were actually people just like him. In his own mind, he was the only "real person" in existence, the rest of us were .. well, something different, and not "like him."

Patrick was highly intelligent, good at games, and particularly liked both chess and Monopoly. One day we had a conversation in which I asked him "If you cheat and get caught, do you win or lose?" "Lose," he answered promptly, and suddenly I had a "handle" on Patrick. I explained that life is like a game, and if you want to win you have to play by the rules, even if they don't make any sense to you. Unfortunately, other people - in some cases people who lived and died many years ago - got to make all the rules and generally you can't change them. If you want to "win," you just have to accept them as they are. This concept was very comprehensible to Patrick, and in a strange way made much more sense to him than all the people who kept telling him what he SHOULD feel or think. I think Patrick did have some limited concept of gratitude and I think he felt some of that towards me, as well as a level of dependency for a while as I taught him "rules" and guidelines for getting through life and dealing with people - rules that I was able to articulate as such because I am a high-functioning autistic (Asperger's or something like it) myself and needed those same rules to navigate my own life and social interactions. I do not believe, however, that he ever developed anything like affection for or attachment to me, or anyone, because I think he is simply incapable of those feelings.

Imagine yourself unable to understand that other people are like you, unable to empathize or 'put yourself in someone else's shoes" in any sense other than perhaps on a purely intellectual level. Although "normal" people can have relationships of a sort with animals, our truly significant and important relationships are with other humans - those who we come to understand as we mature are LIKE US. Patrick will have a very sad and lonely life in spite of the best anyone could do for him or he could do for himself, but we did the best we could.

Coincidentally, I know where Patrick was at least as of 10 years ago (by which time he was in his early 30's) because I heard him. He is a successful radio DJ in the nearest city to where the boys' home was, and apparently managed to stay out of trouble after leaving the boys' home.

People who have these disorders and have not internalized a set of rules by which they can successfully live in society may rightly be feared because they can be dangerous in the same way that a bull may be dangerous if you enter his field, or a tiger can be dangerous if you encounter one in the jungle, but they are not evil, mean, or malicious. In fact, they are just as incapable of malice as they are of most other "normal" human motivations and emotions.

Imagine for a moment that you're having a dream and become aware that you're dreaming. You now realize that all the "people" in your dream are not real, independent beings but simply figments of your imagination (or, as Scrooge might say, a bit of undigested food from supper). Therefore, it just doesn't matter what you do to them or how you treat them - they aren't real - not like you are real, in the dream. That is my best approximation of how the true psychopath perceives the world, and us. In his mind, he is the only real person who exists....

Originally posted by pasiphae
there's also the issue of impulse control. psychopaths/sociopaths tend to have a big problem with that.

so moving on from diagnosing another memeber...

here's my moral dilemma with the whole thing. the advice is usually "run as fast as you can and never ever look back" if you've met a psychopath. however, how do i do that when i know lives are at stake (i can't explain that publicly) ? currently my hands are tied because i have no proof. the police won't listen (done that).

i think there is one person who can fill in some missing information but i would either have to find someone willing to contact that person for me (who couldn't be traced back to me) or figure out how i can do it myself and be COMPLETELY anonymous. i have no idea how i would do that.

Find out if said person has a social network site facebook myspace ect..If so go to an internet caffee or somewhere you can use an anonymous pc.Set up a facebook ect acount under fictional name .An comunicate with them thus,

Yes, I have known and worked with psychopaths, for 10yrs.
committed sex offenders at the Minnesota Sexual Psychopathic Personality Treatment Center.(now known as MSOP, Minnesota Sex Offender Program)
I read a handful of the posts in this thread hoping to find a kindred spirit or peer....nope...just opinions on what they think a psychopath is.
But then again, I only know the ones that have been permanently removed from society.

Originally posted by hhott
That night his bed was short-sheeted and seeded with something that gave him a sleepless and uncomfortable night. Call me names now if you like or accuse me of "descending to his level," but he never messed with me again.

'Games' are the trait of a psychopath, just saying.
Remind them to be responsible, and that they're not a kid anymore.
Holding your ground as a adult role model
reflects a state of mental stability.

______________________

Originally posted by hhott
Patrick was 15, nice looking,

and a minor (just saying)

___________________