I Have a Question Regarding Sociopaths

[stepnw1f]

If there is no cure for it, how are patients treated?

[Horse with no Name]

1. Not very easily

Management rather than treatment is likely the most appropriate term. Since these individuals will inflict rather than experience suffering, it is exceedingly rare that they seek treatment except to access prescription drugs. Clearly, early identification and attempts to contain their victimization of others and misuse of resources becomes the primary goal. Since true remorse does not occur, motivation for change is absent.

http://psychological.com/april_01_newsletter.htm

[killbotfactory]

2. They are given jobs as CEO's

Or hired by right-wing think tanks.

[EFerrari]

5. Or they are selected to sit as pResident. n/t

[cassiepriam]

3. They aren't usually in treatment

They are either breaking the laws and in jail.
Or making the laws and running the country.

Seriously few sociopaths ever get into treatment.
The bad ones are in prison, the good ones have a very
nice life. The only people upset are friends and family
members and they are the ones who get into therapy.

[NYC]

4. Not all sociopaths are violent.

I guess a nonviolent sociopath can get through life without treatment. It's up to people around them to recognize them for what they are, and deal accordingly. (As you would with any acquaintance you find untrustworthy or dislikable, etc.)

[sandnsea]

6. They aren't really

They either run right into jail, end up dead, or keep hurting other people until they die. Some people believe they can change to the extent they get tired of personal consequences, in order to keep themselves out of jail, but they don't tend to develop empathy for others. My husband was a chemical dependency counselor and he doesn't believe true sociopaths ever change.

[rman]

7. Many sociopaths are good at pretending they're normal

Being deceptive is one of their main traits.

[pitohui]

8. what horse said

the sociopaths i know have had some brush w. the prison system but they don't seek out change or treatment except for pretending to be sad or depressed abt what they did in order to score drugs legally

some sociopaths specialize in fucking people over nonviolently and they can go decades before being arrested, esp. if they are white, an acquaintance of mine was into every type of rip-off and scam for two decades before being taken down for blackmail, the blackmail victim instead of paying informed the fbi who arrested her when she went to make the pick-up

if she had kept it to the little rip-offs or to the bigger rip-offs of only her own relatives or lovers she would have gone her whole life w.out getting caught & many do, look at all the sociopathic old coots who rip off widows and never get in the least bit of trouble, if you confine your sociopathy to those you pretend to love then the law usually takes no action

the smart con artist doesn't go for the straight blackmail, he pretends to care abt the person so that they feel like too much of a fool to prosecute

rich sociopaths can buy their way out of trouble and learn how to avoid trouble, of course, i knew a man in college who hunted down his ex-wife and tried to kill her, even then, thanks to $$$ splashed around by his parents, all he got was probation

not aware of any treatment or cure and i suspect most sociopaths would not be interested in a treatment or cure if there was one, they find our emotions a weakness to be exploited, not a strength to be desired

[Divernan]

9. I treated my ex's sociopathy by divorcing him & having NO further contact.

This was after wasting five years of my life trying to get him into some kind of therapy that would help him. How cute is this? While he was in counseling with one (male) psychologist (who was a professional colleague of my ex, and had personal knowledge of his sociopathic personality), he simultaneously started sessions with another (female) psychologist who had no prior knowlege of the man. Then he started trying to play the psychologists off against each other. Typical defense mechanism of the cornered sociopath - distract and try to change the subject by pointing elsewhere!

It is unfortunate that we can become emotionally entangled with someone before seeing through their brilliantly constructed public persona to the diseased psyche. At one level, I still care for him and would like to know that he is all right. However, when a person lies about EVERYTHING - even what color socks he's wearing or what he had for lunch, there's no point in asking them how they are. I think they feel that the less anyone else knows about them, the more control they have over relationships.

At least I learned to recognize them right off the bat. Watch out for anyone who has tons and tons of charm - whether man or woman. They develop it to manipulate people, and the manipulation will always be to the sociopath's advantage and only coincidentally to anyone else's. I avoid them like the plague, whether in social or professional situations. If you have the misfortune to be involved with a sociopath, just get yourself into therapy to help you face and deal with it.

[LunaC]

17. If it makes you feel any better

Sociopaths have a hardware problem direct from the factory…

Brain abnormalities linked to pathological lying
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/print?id=1223519

Liars had 26 percent more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than people with antisocial personality disorder, and 22 percent more than normal people. But they had 14 percent less gray matter than normal individuals.


My experience is similar to yours. All anyone can do when encountering a sociopath is run like hell, slam the door shut and never, EVER open it even a crack or risk getting sucked into their black vortex in the abyss.

Innocently falling in love with a sociopath once brought me to the most gut-wrenching decision of my life….walking away from someone I loved with all my heart in order to save myself. You only need to live through that once to “get” it!

[katinmn]

19. I had the similar misfortune of getting involved with a sociopath

and it was the low point of my life. Took me over a year to extricate myself. Was ripped off monetarily, lied to and berated all so the sociopath could feel control. They are gifted manipulators who often portray themselves as victims as they swoop down like a hurricane to destroy everything in their path.

I'm glad you both got out!

[stillcool]

10. They cultivate

a public facade that is not only acceptable but admirable, in this society of winning. Empty suits void of the slightest recognition of those, not necessary to their own well being.

[MichiganVote]

11. They don't usually stay in treatment. Most of the time they are

court ordered into treatment, whereupon therapists work on drug/alcohol issues, taking responsibility for their actions, getting their life in better working order. They don't relate well, they don't express feelings and they lie like dogs. Often they bring their wives, husbands or children in as "the problem". Its all a chess game and if they are not court ordered, they will find a way to fire you, usually for being incomepetent in their opinions.

One more thing, they stubbornly refuse to pay their bills, if any. And these are the non violent types.

[H2O Man]

12. To a large extent,

only with "structure" in cases where a court order allows it. That is best done in one-on-one treatment. Having a true sociopath in a out-treatment, forensic group offers little benefit for anyone involved. "Consequences" and the aging process are the therapist's only real friends when dealing with sociopaths.

[stepnw1f]

20. That's Truly Horrible

I can't imagine not having empathy for other humans.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. I believe that Neo-Cons and right wing Christians are sociopaths

I think anyone who is authoritarian and cannot feel compassion for those who suffer (for example, gay people, the homeless, etc.), is a sociopath.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. In general, sociopaths aren't treated as they are in denial of their

problem. However, they tend to drive YOU crazy, and you end up in therapy because of them.

[LunaC]

15. You can’t “cure” a sociopath and there is no treatment

Sociopaths exhibit hardware problems direct from the factory...

Brain abnormalities linked to pathological lying
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/print?id=1223519

Liars had 26 percent more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than people with antisocial personality disorder, and 22 percent more than normal people. But they had 14 percent less gray matter than normal individuals.

[jukes]

16. permanent lockdown

is the ONLY safe way to protect society from the most heinous psychopaths.

BTW, 1/4 of Americans have recently been considered to fit the criteria for sociopathy; not ALL sociopath are serial-killers, most just view "straights" as a means to achieve they're desires and lack empathy/sympathy w/ their victims.


think used-car salesman.

[Octafish]

18. You just found Bushler's '36-percent'' approvers.

My fuzzy math:

25-percent of Merkuns sociopathic + 11-percent idiots = 36-percent who approve of Smirko the crazy monkey.

An example of Sociopath:

[earth mom]

21. That's along the lines of what I've been thinking too. eom