5 common misconceptions about psychopaths.

The inspiration for this post came from the new Netflix series 'YOU'. It's not new anymore but the second season recently came out and since I am a busy person (of course), it reached me late. The show's lead tilts between being a sociopath and psychopath, thou mostly he shows signs of the former. Joe shows signs of antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders but mainly signs of an attachment disorder. Analysing Joe's character gave me the idea of writing about psychopaths as there are many misconceptions related to them. So now let's get into the topic.

Psychopaths are feelingless duds!

It's somewhat true but that's not the whole story. They might not feel emotions the same way as we do when it comes to fear, anxiety, etc, but they do get a dopamine rush which means they can feel happy, motivated and valuable rewards. The difference is that where normal people might get happy with a small compliment or on finding money in their washed jeans, psychopaths generally need something bigger, much bigger. Its like drugs, the only way to get a kick is to get a bigger dose.

Psychopaths are never found in places full of people.

Thou many probably like to stay alone most of the time, they prefer to live in areas where there is a fast lifestyle. I read this recently that psychopaths like to live where there are more chances of short term success. Instead of long term goals, they usually want continuous options, moving from one mate to the other, one workplace to the other, etc (btw this might sound familiar to some of you as those are also the ideas that are everywhere in the society nowadays). And of course, if you don't feel fear or anxiety at all, why wouldn't you take risks continuously. Like I have mentioned in a previous blog, these negative emotions play a massive role in keeping us in order.

Also, more people means more games and manipulation, more minds to feed on. In short, more fun.

All psychopaths are killers and don't fit in well.

Movies and TV shows portray psychopaths as killers. While there is truth in that, not all psychopaths are killers. Thou they do tend to enjoy manipulation, they have the ability to be productive members of society.

Psychopaths are attractive.

Well, this portrayal in movies is somewhat accurate. As mentioned above, they usually don't feel any fear or anxiety hence their risk-taking traits. These traits make them appear attractive and confident, and are just the right traits for some risky jobs as well. They also appear very calm and goal-oriented. Sounds like the perfect mate doesn't it! The problem arises in the goals and the type of risks they are willing to take. If being determined towards putting someone else in great misery and fulfilling it seems attractive to you then good luck, because that's the type of goals they usually enjoy.

Some people naturally have psychopathic tendencies while others don't.

This one is starting to change now that the movies have started to show normal people ending up being psychopaths but I thought it should be mentioned. Though most colors are shades of black and grey, psychopathy is like a rainbow, and we all are on this spectrum somewhere. Showing a lack of remorse, not feeling empathy, charming or manipulating someone else into getting what u want, all these traits are psychopathic (sound familiar?). Unless you do it too often, there is nothing to worry about as sometimes that's what the situation requires from us and most probably you are on the lower end of the psychopathic spectrum.

Bonus point!

Don't call a psychopath, a psychopath.

Well, this one is spot on. Nothing more to say.