“Psychopaths kill more people in North America every year than the number killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.” This fact is quite scary and comes from the book The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience by Kent A. Kiehl, PhD. Are you a psychopath? Is your neighbor a psychopath? Is your mother-in-law a psychopath? I think that we have all at one point in time used the “psychopath” word to describe someone we have encountered. There is a definitive way of assessing this disorder and it is called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. This assessment is performed by a trained interviewer and rates a person on categories known to be present among psychopaths: Glibness/Superficial Charm, Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth, Need for Stimulation/Proneness to Boredom, Pathological Lying, Conning/Manipulation, Lack of Remorse or Guilt, Shallow Affect, Callous/Lack of Empathy, Parasitic Lifestyle, Poor Behavioral Controls, Promiscuous Sexual Behavior, Early Behavioral Problems, Lack of Realistic Long-Term Goals, Impulsivity, Irresponsibility, Failure to Accept Responsibility for own Actions, Many Short-Term Marital Relationships, Juvenile Delinquency, Revocation of Conditional Release, and Criminal Versatility. Holy Cow! Don’t worry if you identify with some of these categories because you need a fairly high score on the overall assessment to be considered a psychopath. In addition to this identification process, new research is showing that the brains of psychopaths are actually abnormal compared to the general population. More specifically, the paralimbic system, which is responsible for processing emotional stimuli, is atrophied and less active in psychopaths compared to non-psychopaths. Functional MRI scans of the brain can accurately assess the activity of the paralimbic system and if a person scores high on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist it is almost always the case that their paralimbic system is compromised.
Psychopaths are normally very smart individuals but what they lack is emotional intelligence. Since their paralimbic system is less functional they are unable to sufficiently process emotions; this is like reading the lyrics to a song but never hearing the music. They are extremely literal and have great difficulty with abstract thinking. Their limited emotional capabilities are why many psychopaths commit unthinkable crimes and seem to have no remorse or care for subsequent punishment. This is why psychopaths are repeat offenders and usually have a very long list of committed crimes. Punishment in general does not work with psychopaths and going to prison for them is no different than going to a condo in the Florida Keys. What is really scary is that researchers believe the paralimbic system may be atrophied in psychopaths since birth. There are many parents that have children that do not respond to punishment, abuse animals, enjoy arson, and have several other traits on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. So is a child who exhibits psychopathic tendencies destined to be the next John Wayne Gacy? Yes and no. The chances are higher but with the correct atmosphere and positive behavioral reinforcement a callous and unemotional child can become a functioning member of society. In the future, hopefully we can prevent the next Ted Bundy by identifying high risk children and putting them through research-proven treatment. Sadly, we currently are reactive when it comes to mental illness (remember all the public shootings last year) and need to be more proactive in helping individuals who are struggling. In the end, psychopaths make up a small percentage of the population but they are a real threat and more awareness of treating mental illness is needed to prevent heinous crimes from occurring. What is your take on mental illness? How can we improve the treatment process? Do you suspect a psychopath lives next door?
SAPERE AUDE 
Reblogged this on Marilyn Munrow and commented:
Oh my goodness, this is scary.
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It is scary and I commend the author for being able to do the work he does.
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Me too
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Reblogged this on galesmind and commented:
Scary thing is they look just like everyone else until they go off.
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There are so many mentally ill people that don’t seek treatment for various reasons–including governmental budget cuts. The clown picture unnerved me, not because I’m afraid of clowns, but rather because, I knew it depicted John Gacy. …A true, demon clown, serial killer.
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The unfortunate thing about John Wayne Gacy and other psychopaths is that they can appear to be completely normal citizens. This makes preventative treatment that much harder. Mental illness is still stigmatized in our culture and this is especially apparent among minority males. Thanks for the comment and the great points.
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We fear, and focus on, the evil that firs stories we understand. Such a thin slice of the evil out there.
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A very thin slice but it grabs a lot of attention because we are fascinated by societal extremes.
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Reblogged this on How to Stop Pornography Addiction and commented:
Unbelievable and hopelessly troubling, psychopaths harm society. Is it their fault? Does it matter? Scary!
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Two very good questions. I think that a psychopath is responsible for their actions even though they may have been born with impairments. A conundrum comes about when sentencing is teetering on life in prison or the death penalty. Should we treat a psychopath with a low emotional IQ the same as a mentally disabled individual who has a low functional IQ (who are exempt from the death penalty)?
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I believe that all of us are capable of these tendencies but we choose to make Acts of kindness and love over evil thoughts and actions
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You are right. Everyone has a choice and everyone is responsible for their own actions.
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Reblogged this on Cristian Mihai.
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It’s hard not to conclude that our increasingly ungrounded and unbounded culture doesn’t contribute to mental illness, adding fuel to the fire of disorder instead of providing security and stability as it should.
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Completely agree. Because of our increasing isolation theses “traits” are getting worse and more frequent. Our super connected world really leaves us staring into screens more then actually socializing. Thanks for commenting.
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Psychopaths are so scary and intimidating, yet such unusual and curious beings! I enjoyed the television series on Hannibal and I quite liked it. In fact I am very curious about what must go on in their minds and why they must behave the way they do. At the same time, if I were in presence of one, I’d probably pee in my pants!!!! I did not know though that their brains are wired differently right from birth! Thanks for the post and the fact. I may not sleep sound tonight for I will be worried about who around me could be one. 😀
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It sounds like you would like the TV show “Dexter” 🙂 When you look at the probability of being killed by a psychopath it is still really insignificant. It is creepy to think about thought.
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I have watched Dexter and yes I loved it! The finale was a total let down though.. Nobody expects him to just sail away… He’s more kickass than that!!! 😉
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For years I worked with children and adults who suffered from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Due to the neurologic impairment which is FASD, the constellation of emotional/intellectual/behavioral traits exhibited my many (most) with FASD is pretty much identical to the checklist given in the article. Due to familial, societal, nurture, and other (?) factors, not all individuals with FASD become hardened criminals. Most engage in some criminal behaviors at some point. Not all psychopaths have FASD. However, FASD certainly predisposes someone to psychopathic behaviors. If you’re pregnant, don’t drink alcoholic beverages!
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That is extremely interesting. I’m sure the same applies for drug use during pregnancy. I believe that we are predisposed to all sorts of behavior but our environment is key in suppression or encouragement of our underlying traits. Thanks for reading.
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