What is A Psychopath?
Psychopaths cannot be understood in terms of antisocial rearing or
development. They are simply morally depraved individuals who
represent the "monsters" in our society. They are unstoppable and
untreatable predators whose violence is planned, purposeful and
emotionless. The violence continues until it reaches a plateau at age
50 or so, then tapers off.
Their emotionlessness reflects a detached, fearless, and possibly
dissociated state, revealing a low-state autonomic nervous system and
lack of anxiety. It's difficult to say what motivates them - control
and dominance possibly - since their life history will usually show no
long-standing bonds with others nor much rhyme to their reason (other
than the planning of violence).
They tend to operate with a grandiose demeanor, an attitude of
entitlement, an insatiable appetite, and a tendency toward sadism.
Fearlessness is probably the prototypical (core) characteristic (the
low-fear hypothesis). It's helpful to think of them as high-speed
vehicles with ineffective brakes.
Certain organic (brain) disorders and hormonal imbalances mimic the
state of mind of a psychopath.
There are four (4) different subtypes of psychopaths. The oldest
distinction was made by Cleckley back in 1941 between primary and
secondary.
PRIMARY PSYCHOPATHS do not respond to punishment, apprehension,
stress, or disapproval. They seem to be able to inhibit their
antisocial impulses most of the time, not because of conscience, but
because it suits their purpose at the time. Words do not seem to have
the same meaning for them as they do for us. In fact, it's unclear if
they even grasp the meaning of their own words, a condition that
Cleckley called "semantic aphasia." They don't follow any life plan,
and it seems as if they are incapable of experiencing any genuine
emotion.
SECONDARY PSYCHOPATHS are risk-takers, but are also more likely to be
stress-reactive, worriers, and guilt-prone. They expose themselves to
more stress than the average person, but they are as vulnerable to
stress as the average person. (This suggests that they are not "fully
psychopathic." This may be due to distinctive genetic variations.)
They are daring, adventurous, unconventional people who began playing
by their own rules early in life. They are strongly driven by a desire
to escape or avoid pain, but are unable to resist temptation. As their
anxiety increases toward some forbidden object, so does their
attraction to it. They live their lives by the lure of temptation.
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Compare there are similarities between these two pictures of a
psychopath.