The Sociopath Next Door

       

 Have you ever wondered how they do it? How a politician, without batting an eyelash or breaking a sweat, votes to push millions of disadvantaged citizens under the proverbial bus simply to enhance his power and prestige? How a businessman, with the stroke of a pen, closes a factory that's been a community mainstay for generations, furloughing hundreds or even thousands of lifelong employees and moves the factory overseas so he can save a few bucks on labor costs? Do you wonder how they sleep at night?

I can assure you they sleep very well. They're sociopaths. You'd be surprised how often this species of crazy occurs in the world. I read here that up to 4% of all people (mostly men) are sociopaths. This figure amazed me the first time I read it because, like many, I though sociopaths/psychopaths were automatically violent and/or serial murderers and a rare breed. That's absolutely not true. The vast majority of sociopaths never kill or even physically molest those they come in contact with. However, the opposite is almost always true … serial sexual killers tend to be sociopaths.

What identifies a sociopath? There are many characteristics one finds in sociopathic personalities (now called antisocial personality disorder or APD) but the most prevalent (and disturbing) are:

1) narcissistic behavior - it's all about 'me',

2) a complete lack of empathy - the suffering of others rarely concerns them,

3) lying, even pathological at times - they can get caught in the lie and just lie their way out of it,

4) risk taker and sexually deviant,

5) challenge authority - they actually seek out confrontation with authority figures to validate their superiority,

6) highly intelligent.

You've probably worked for a sociopath (they tend to be in positions of power) or known one. The vast majority of politicians have this problem. Let's face it, you have to be either a masochist or crazy to take the constant abuse they experience and to ignore all forms of acceptable behavior. A sociopath has no problem with criticism because they don't normally even see it as such. Look at the number of sexual excapades we've seen in Washington lately and tell me these guys are firing on all cylinders. Similarly, most senior business leaders are adherents to this illness. They have no limits, no little voices telling them they can't do something. Normal people have barriers they won't cross … not so with a sociopath. They only think about themselves and don't let the potential impact of their decisions dissuade them from going forward. Certainly those ruthless bankers on Wall Street and London didn't feel remorse after pushing the entire world over the edge. That's the certainty that divides a sociopath from the rest of us. They have no constraints on their actions.

When researching Anna N. I spent a great deal of time studying these special humans. I wanted to understand how they worked, how they interacted with normal people. As my studies progressed, I developed an idea based around a sociopath whose illness was nurtured by others to accentuate his insanity for their own nefarious purposes. The deranged sexual serial murder, the Avenging Angel, is the result. You see sociopathic tendencies in all of his actions.

For more on these interesting personalities, I suggest this research paper, and this website or search for "sociopath" on Google. Ignore the chaff about sociopaths/psychopaths and the APD designation which seems to be an argument raging within the community about just what to call them. See how many sociopaths you've known in your life. I suspect you'll be amazed how often one of these creatures has crossed your path.